Camp Confidential 05 - TTYL (16 page)
Read Camp Confidential 05 - TTYL Online
Authors: Melissa J Morgan
“I guess so,” Jenna answered in her best sick voice.
Her mom put her hand on Jenna’s forehead. “You do feel a little warm. . . . Okay, honey. You should stay home today to rest. I have to go to work, but I’ll bring up some juice for you, and I’ll send a note to school with Adam.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Jenna croaked. “I think I’m just going to stay in bed all day.”
“I’ll bring home some soup for you on my lunch break, sweetheart.”
“Okay,” Jenna said, rolling over onto her stomach. “Bye, Mom.”
“Bye, sweetheart,” her mom said. “Feel better.”
She left, and Jenna waited until she heard the front door slam and her mom’s car pull out of the driveway before she got up and headed into the family room to watch TV.
At about nine thirty, just as second period was ending, she got a call from Nicole. “I can’t talk long,” her friend said. “I have to run to class. But are you really sick, or are you faking?”
“What do you think?” Jenna asked.
“Wow, your mom believed you?” Nicole asked.
“Yeah, she totally bought it,” Jenna said. “I coughed a lot, and used the ol’ warm-washcloth-on-the-forehead trick. You know, where you put it on your forehead, and then dry off your face, so it’s still warm? It was perfect timing, too—she came in like three seconds after I got back into bed.”
“Nice,” Nicole replied. “Well, you’d better have a miracle recovery. The party’s going to be tonight, instead of tomorrow.”
Jenna’s heart sank. “What? Why?” she asked.
“My parents are having a party tomorrow night,” Nicole said. “So they told me I couldn’t have my friends over at the same time.”
“Oh no!” Jenna responded. “Mom’ll never let me go!”
“Well, start working on it,” Nicole said. “You’ll work it out. Maybe when she gets home from work you could act like you feel better, or something.”
“No, that won’t work, because then I’ll have to go to my dad’s!” Jenna replied.
“Oh. Right. I forgot,” Nicole said. She paused. “Man. I wish I could think of something. I’ll let you know if I do. But now I’d better go—the bell’s about to ring. See you later!”
“Bye,” Jenna said weakly. She hung up the phone and stared blankly at the receiver for a moment. What was she going to do? She had to come up with a plan . . . and fast. No way would her mom let her go to Nicole’s party if she was sick . . . and no way could she stay home from her dad’s house if she wasn’t sick. She had a real problem.
When her mom came home at lunch, she’d decided what to do. Instead of watching talk shows, game shows, and soap operas all day, Jenna had been lying in her bed and thinking about the problem at hand. Once she remembered that her mom had planned on driving all four kids to their dad’s house, she had it all figured out.
Jenna’s mom walked into the house carrying a take-out container of soup. After setting it down on the kitchen table, she climbed the stairs to Jenna’s room and opened the door.
“Hey, Jen,” she said, sitting down on Jenna’s bed. “Are you feeling any better?”
“No,” Jenna replied, rolling over to face her mom. “You’re going to stay with me tonight, right?”
Jenna’s mom looked worried. “Well, I promised your dad I’d drive you guys to his house,” she said. “And I have to run some errands, too. You’ll obviously stay home, but you’ll be alone for a few hours.”
Jenna bit her lip. “Oh,” she said. “Okay. What time are you going to leave?”
“Matt has science club after school, so we’ll probably leave after dinner,” Jenna’s mom said. “At about seven or so. But I’ll be home before ten for sure, honey,” she added quickly.
“Okay, Mom,” Jenna said.
Her mom checked her watch. “I’d better get back to work, but I put your soup on the kitchen table. Do you want me to bring it up for you?”
“No, that’s okay, Mom,” Jenna replied. “I’ll go down and eat it in a while.”
“All right, sweetie,” Jenna’s mom said, leaning over and kissing her on the forehead. “Feel better. You feel a bit cooler already.”
“Bye, Mom,” Jenna said, closing her eyes and rolling over again.
“Bye, honey,” her mom said, getting up and closing the door behind her.
The phone rang about fifteen minutes later, and Jenna leapt out of bed to answer it. “Hey, Jen,” Nicole said. “Did you figure stuff out?”
“Yeah! I forgot that my mom is driving Matt, Steph, and Adam to my dad’s. She said she had some other stuff to do, too—which means that for a few hours, at least, I can come over!”
“Yay!” Nicole said. “I have to go to lunch, but I’ll see you tonight! What time can you come over?”
“I think seven or so,” Jenna replied. “See you then!”
“Bye!” Nicole said.
Jenna hung up the phone and traipsed down the stairs to the kitchen. She took the lid off her chicken noodle soup and dunked in the plastic spoon her mom had laid on top of the container. She was in a great mood—she couldn’t wait till Nicole’s party!
After eating, she decided to pick out what to wear. She dug through her closet for the better part of an hour, finally settling on a cute denim skirt and a yellow shirt that had a butterfly printed on the front. She checked her digital clock—it was only one fifteen. Six hours till party time . . .
FRIDAY
Grace was on her way home from school when Lara caught up with her.
“Aren’t you coming to drama tonight?” Lara asked breathlessly.
“No,” Grace replied sadly. “My parents made me quit.”
“What?” Lara shrieked. “You can’t quit! You’re my best friend in drama club! It won’t be fun without you!”
Grace smiled. “You’ll still have fun,” she said.
“I guess that means that they found out, huh?”
“Yeah,” Grace admitted. “I told them I was staying after school to study. They spoke to one of my teachers and he told them the truth.” She looked closely at her friend. “The thing is . . .” she began, then paused.
“What is it, Grace?” Lara prompted. “You can tell me.”
“I got some really bad grades in English last year,” Grace said quietly. “My parents made me do all this reading over the summer, which I thought would make up for the bad grades. But they said I couldn’t join drama because they didn’t want me to fall behind in school again.” She took a deep breath. It felt good to tell Lara the truth.
“Maybe I could help you,” Lara suggested. “I’m not so good at math, but I’m good at English and history.”
“You’re not good at math?” Grace asked incredulously.
Lara laughed. “No way, Grace,” she said. “I’m terrible, in fact.”
“Wow,” Grace said. “I sort of thought you were good at everything.”
“So you have to quit the club right away?” Lara asked.
“Yeah. I have to go straight home.” Grace checked her watch. “In fact, I have to leave now. My mom is coming home early to make sure I’m sticking to my punishment.”
Lara sighed. “Okay, Grace. But I really do want to help you with English, if I can. If you’ll let me, or if you want me to.”
“I totally do,” Grace replied honestly. “It would be fun!”
“It really would,” Lara agreed. “Well, I’m really going to miss you today. Do you want to hang out over the weekend?”
“Grounded,” Grace reminded her.
“Right. Well, I’ll call you tomorrow anyway,” Lara promised. “Just to say hi.”
“Sounds good!”
“Talk to you then. Bye, Grace!”
“Bye, Lara. Have fun at drama club.”
Despite not being allowed to participate in drama club, Grace was feeling cheerier. Lara knew her secret—that she wasn’t a great reader—and it didn’t make any difference in their friendship at all. As much as she would miss drama, she knew that having a new friend was much, much more important in the end.
At home, Grace’s mom was in the kitchen cooking. As Grace slid into her chair at the kitchen table, her mom plopped a full plate of apple slices and peanut butter in front of her.
“Mom, did I ever tell you about Chelsea from camp?” Grace said, digging into her plate of food.
“If I’m remembering correctly, she’s the one who wasn’t that nice, right?” her mom asked. She pulled a juice glass down from the cupboard and filled it with milk, which she set in front of Grace before sitting down across from her.
“Yeah. I mean, sometimes she could be snobby, but she wasn’t that bad. Anyway, Julie, our counselor, posted this thing on the blog yesterday about Chelsea, and Julie said that Chelsea’s dad is really sick.”
“Oh no!” Grace’s mom said, looking at her.
“Yeah. So we—all of us bunkmates, I mean—want to do something nice for her. I don’t really know what to do, though.”
“Well, whatever you decide on, I’m sure she’ll appreciate it. That’s a really sweet idea, and I’m sure you’ll come up with something great, Grace,” her mom replied. She watched Grace eat for a moment. “Honey, I thought a lot about what happened last night.”
Grace took a sip of her milk. “Me too, Mom,” she said. “I’m really sorry for lying to you and to Dad. I just thought I could do it all.”
“That’s you, Grace,” her mom said. “You
can
do it all, when you put your mind to it.”
can
do it all, when you put your mind to it.”
Grace picked up a slice of apple and popped it into her mouth. “This is really good,” she said, with her mouth full.
“Your dad and I talked about it, and we’ve decided that you can stay in drama club,” Grace’s mom said.
Grace was shocked—so shocked, in fact, that she coughed and then nearly choked on her apple. For once, though, she wasn’t joking around or trying to be dramatic. She was really that surprised! She swallowed quickly. “What?” she asked. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. You’ll have to keep your B average, like we talked about, and if at the end of the semester you don’t have a B average, you’ll have to quit the club. But we really are proud of you for the hard work you’ve been doing so far this year. I know you can keep it up.”
Grace couldn’t believe how happy she was. “Oh, Mom, you won’t regret this!” she cried. “Thank you!”
“You’re still grounded for the week, with the exception of school and drama club,” her mom went on. “And I am going to ask you to do some extra chores this weekend, which I’m sure you won’t mind since you’ll be here anyway,” she said, winking.
Grace laughed. “I’d do anything to stay in drama club, Mom,” she replied happily. “What do I have to do?”
“Well, the attic needs some cleaning out,” her mom said, holding up one finger. She raised another finger. “And you’ll do the dishes, and I’d like you to help me with the laundry on Saturday,” she finished, holding three fingers in the air. “Think you can handle that, practice your drama club stuff, and do your homework?”
“Definitely, Mom,” Grace said. She smiled. “My friend Lara is in drama club, and she said she’d help me with English. We can even study during our breaks!”
“That sounds great, Grace,” her mom said. She smiled. “I’m still upset with you for lying to us, Grace,” she went on. “But I know how important drama club is to you, and I don’t think it will help you to take it away. Especially considering how much it motivated you to work hard.”
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