Politically Incorrect (16 page)

“Thank you, Miles,” Sloan said into the microphone. “Chairing the planning committee was both fun and challenging. I hope you enjoy the rest of the festival. Camp Walla Walla really appreciates your support.”

The audience applauded and Dr. Steve took her place at the podium. Sloan returned backstage to watch with Natalie and Miles.

“Now, without further ado, please welcome our keynote speaker. It has been a privilege to have her here with us, and we know her father would be proud of her,” Dr. Steve said, his voice lilting. “Ladies and gentleman, the First Daughter of the United States!”

The crowd erupted into a fit of cheers and feverish clapping when Tricia appeared onstage, looking like a trillion dollars.

“Thank you for the warm welcome, everyone. And special thanks to you, Dr. Steve, for all the work you and the people at Camp Walla Walla have done for the environment,” Tricia said with perfect diction.

Sloan still couldn’t get over how Tricia could turn this presidential persona of hers on and off. It was unbelievable.

“Today I was supposed to give a speech about what kids across the country are doing to protect the natural resources of our planet.” Tricia’s eyes scanned the audience, making a connection with everyone in the room. “And while it’s an important topic, I’m afraid that there is something just as pressing that I need to address.”

Sloan’s ears perked up. What was Tricia about to say?

“Would Natalie Goode come join me onstage?”

Everyone in the crowd started to whisper. But Sloan couldn’t bring herself to say anything—she stood there completely dumbstruck, helpless as Natalie approached Tricia from backstage.

“Natalie was asked to be my special guide here at Walla Walla, and she took her job very seriously, making sure to show me around and explain everything there is to know about the camp,” Tricia said.

Sloan thought back to the day that Dr. Steve had asked Natalie to step down as committee chairperson so that she could help Tricia. While Sloan was still pretty perturbed at Natalie for really bending the rules in the essay writing contest, she couldn’t help but think how nice Natalie had been to give up something that meant a lot to her so that she could make Tricia feel welcome. Didn’t that outweigh the sneaky thing she’d done?

“Well, I’m not proud to admit this, but up until now, I didn’t take being here or at the Green Festival very seriously at all,” Tricia continued. “In fact, Natalie took responsibility for a mistake that I made so that the camp’s image and my good standing among you all wouldn’t be damaged.”

“Wow, can you believe this?” Miles murmured to Sloan.

Sloan was completely stunned, and so was the rest of the crowd, if their whispers were any indication. To be honest, Sloan hadn’t given Natalie enough credit for telling the
Gazette
reporter that the trash heap was hers. And if Miles hadn’t come up with his great damage control plan, Natalie probably would have had to shoulder all the blame.

“So I’d like to offer a sincere apology to Natalie,” Tricia said, extending her hand out to Natalie. “And ask her and her friends for forgiveness.”

Natalie shook Tricia’s hand firmly and then tiptoed off as the audience clapped. As the applause died down and Natalie took her place backstage, Sloan turned and gazed at her friend. After hearing Tricia graciously apologize, she realized that she was definitely being too hard on Natalie. However, when Sloan glanced at the front of the room and saw Chelsea, her stomach rumbled. She just couldn’t let her anger at Chelsea go, and wasn’t exactly sure that she should.

Tricia pushed forward with her remarks.

“Making that apology felt really good,” Tricia said. “Actually, I don’t think I’ve felt this good in a long time. You see, I’ve traveled all around the globe, and while those experiences were extraordinary, there was one thing missing—friendship.

“If you think about it, friendship is the most organic, green thing on earth. The kinder and gentler and friendlier we are to Mother Nature, the more she gives to us, as well as to future generations,” Tricia went on.

Sloan couldn’t be more thrilled with how well Tricia was doing. So far, her impromptu speech was way better than what Sloan and Miles had written.

“The opposite can be true, too. When we take our relationship with the environment for granted and severely neglect it, our world breaks down, little by little,” Tricia said captivatingly. “I don’t want to wake up one day to find that there’s nothing left. Do you?”

Sloan wiped a tear from her eye. To her, Tricia’s speech seemed to have a whole other meaning altogether—Sloan didn’t want to wake up and find her friendships with Natalie and Chelsea were gone forever, regardless of what may have happened between them.

“So if we haven’t been good friends to Mother Nature in the past, we should forgive ourselves and start being good friends now.” Tricia paused for a moment and smiled. “And that’s what I plan to do here, at Camp Walla Walla.”

Sloan scratched her head, wondering what Tricia meant by that.

“Being here has shown me the power of friendship, especially today. In the spirit of honesty, I have to admit something else—I came close to ditching this speech because I was worried about what some of the campers thought of me. But a friend talked some sense into me, and then gave me this gorgeous shirt to wear.”

All of the audience members who knew about the Oprah shirt debacle laughed—and Chelsea laughed the hardest.

“So thanks, Chelsea, for being both a fan and a friend,” Tricia said. “I really appreciate it.”

Sloan’s brain nearly caved in. Chelsea was the one who got Tricia to reconsider making the speech? She was so touched by Chelsea’s gesture. Obviously, her friend had a big heart. In the grand scheme of things, didn’t that matter more than the mistake Chelsea had made?

“With all that said, long, lasting friendships are something that I really want in my life. So with my father’s permission, I will be staying at Camp Walla Walla for the rest of the summer,” Tricia said with a smile.

The audience cheered so loudly, they nearly blew the solar-paneled roof of the building. Sloan grinned when she saw the entire first row stand up and applaud. No one could be happier about Tricia’s announcement.

As Sloan listened to the remainder of Tricia’s speech, she felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Tricia’s words about forgiveness and the power of friendship really resonated with her. However, Sloan would have to put everything to the test in a few minutes when Tricia stepped offstage.

“I’d like to close with a quote from Walt Whitman, which Natalie told me came by way of our friend Chelsea, for whom she is very grateful,” Tricia said with a smile. “Give me the splendid silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling.”

Sloan was surprised once again. Tricia was doing everything she could to patch things up between her, Natalie, and Chelsea. Sloan was definitely grateful for that.

“Let’s go out into the sunbeams and enjoy the day,” Tricia concluded. “Thank you all so much!”

After a standing ovation and final round of applause, most of the crowd filed out of the building and outside to experience the rest of the Green Festival. The front row, however, stayed behind and assembled around Tricia, congratulating her on a job well done. Sloan slowly walked down the center aisle, hoping that Chelsea and Natalie were as affected by Tricia’s speech as she was.

“Seriously, I was two seconds away from sobbing like I did at the end of the Hannah Montana movie,” Priya said to Tricia.

“You actually paid money to see that?” Joanna asked.

“It’s not her fault. I dragged her there,” Sarah admitted.

“She dragged me, too. It wasn’t so bad,” Jordan said.

Everyone laughed but Chelsea. After the high of Tricia’s speech, Chelsea’s mood had dropped again, and Sloan could tell just how sad she was from a few feet away.

“Is it safe for us to come out now?” Miles was standing off to the side of the stage, behind a red curtain. Next to him was a wary-looking Natalie.

“You betcha,” Tricia said, her feisty voice returning as the last adult exited the room.

As Miles and Natalie walked over, everyone started clapping, a sight that Sloan was very happy to see.

Suddenly Chelsea piped up. “Nat, I’ve got something I have to say to you.”

Sloan held her breath. Chelsea wasn’t going to ruin their chances at reuniting, was she?

“I am so so sorry for how I treated you. I hate to admit this in front of everyone, but I was jealous of Natalie for getting to hang out with Tricia and, well, for others things, too. Can you forgive me, Nat?”

Natalie’s lower lip trembled. “I’m sorry, too, Chelse. I should have been more sensitive to your feelings and honored my promise to you.”

Then both Chelsea and Natalie turned toward Sloan, their faces remorseful.

“Sloan, I think we hurt you the most,” Chelsea said, her voice quivering.

“It’s true, we both let you down big-time,” Natalie said in agreement. “Do you think you could find it in your heart to—”

Sloan couldn’t contain her emotions any longer. “Stop it! You guys are breaking my heart!”

She pushed through the group and wrapped both Chelsea and Natalie in a three-way hug. The rest of their friends all seemed very befuddled.

“Um, did I miss something?” Brynn asked.

Jordan shook his head. “Yeah, what are you guys going on about?”

Tricia laughed. “Trust me, this story is juicier than anything you’d see on TMZ.”

“Really? Well then, you’d better start dishing,” Joanna said with interest.

“Joanna’s taste for gossip is insatiable, Tricia,” Sarah warned.

“Speaking of taste, can we do this over Dr. Steve’s winning organic corn on the cob? I’m starving,” Miles said.

Sloan smiled at Miles and playfully linked arms with him. “I’m hungry, too.”

“Great, let’s go find some chow!” Tricia said enthusiastically. “But first we have to head to the rock garden to watch Natalie’s skit.”

“Oh joy,” Connor said.

“Come on, Connor. Don’t you want everyone to see your awesome rap skills?” Natalie said while giving him a huge pat on the back. “Besides, it’ll be over before you know it.”

Everyone chuckled at Natalie’s joke as they filed out of the rotunda building, one by one down the center aisle. That is, except for Natalie and Chelsea, who walked together with their arms around each other.

Miles copied them and put his arm around Sloan. “May I?” he asked with a grin.

“Definitely,” Sloan grinned.

Once they got outside and into the sun, that beautiful Walt Whitman quote echoed in Sloan’s mind. After a great day at the festival with all her friends, Sloan had forgotten the exact words. But the sentiment of the quote—and Tricia’s speech—was sure to stay in her heart all summer long.

Priya woke up with a huge smile on her face. All night, she’d dreamed about Ben—having dinner with Ben, holding hands with Ben, chatting with Ben under the stars. She didn’t know much about him yet, but in her dreams they’d had a
ton
in common. And even though Priya knew those had just been dreams, she couldn’t deny that she just had a great
feeling
about this guy.

When she got into the bathroom to wash up, though, she suddenly felt confused. There was hardly anyone in there. At the sink stood Natalie, brushing her teeth, but she was still wearing her cute pink gingham pajamas. She paused, spit, and washed off her brush, then ran her hands under the water and tried to slick back her pillow-mussed hair.

“Hey, Priya,” Nat greeted her. “What do you have your clothes on for? Remember, it’s Opposite Day.”

Priya groaned. She couldn’t help it. Upside Down Day was supposed to be fun, but she’d woken up with plans to “dress to impress” a certain boy camper. This was about the
last
day she would ever want to wear pajamas to breakfast. She looked down at herself: She was wearing a holey T-shirt from her basketball championships and a baggy pair of boxers with little goldfish all over them.

Nat smiled at her. “Gee, you look disappointed,” she said, a spark of understanding in her eyes. “Does that have anything to do with a certain cute boy I heard you asking questions about last night?”

Priya felt her face flush. She wasn’t used to having crushes, and the idea of sharing this one felt a little scary, like it might lead to public humiliation. “Uh . . . um . . .” she stammered.

But Nat just looked sympathetic and patted her on the shoulder. “No worries, Priya,” she assured her. “Jenna told me you were asking about Ben. And I think it’s
awesome
you like him; you two will make such a cute couple!”

Priya smiled. She had to admit, it made her feel good that Nat had said
will
—“you two
will
make such a cute couple”—almost like it was a done deal!