Rumors (17 page)

We spent the whole morning at Sliding Rock, going down a dozen times. Sometimes we'd go down alone, sometimes in pairs, sometimes a bunch of us together. At one point, we got our whole group together for a
huge chain, with Lori and Rachel in front and Jerry as the last link at the rear.

Then we stopped and ate our sack lunches at the picnic tables in the park after changing out of our wet clothes. When we all got back into the van after lunch, I felt like I was ready for a nap.

At least we were able to rest during the van ride. When we turned onto a gravel road and pulled the van over, we all dragged ourselves out and put on our backpacks.

“Are we seriously going on a really long hike now?” Laurel-Ann asked.

“Hey, is that any way for the best hikers from Pine Haven to talk?” asked Rachel.

We really couldn't complain, because it was true—our group had gone on the most hikes of any of the other Middlers. Everyone was pretty quiet as we started up a road with tall trees along both sides of it. “Is this a hiking trail?” asked Brittany.

“It'll take us where we're going,” said Jerry.

We'd hardly gone far at all before we got to a clearing where we could see a log cabin at the top of a hill right in front of us.

“Uh, I think we might be on private property,” said Natasha.

“It's okay.” Jerry gave her a wink. “I know the owner.”

We had all slowed down because we were obviously walking into someone's front yard. But Jerry didn't seem at all worried.

Then he walked right up onto the porch, pulled out a set of keys, and unlocked the front door. “Ladies, welcome to my home,” he said, swinging the door open. “Please—try not to destroy it.”

“Is this a joke?” gasped Erin. “This is your cabin?”

“Yep. We're staying here tonight,” said Rachel with a laugh. “We just hiked up Jerry's driveway!”

“Well, what are you all waiting for?” he asked. “Go inside and have a look around!”

We all left our backpacks on the front porch and walked inside. There was a big open room with a stone fireplace, and a small kitchen at the back of the house. A narrow staircase led up to a loft above us. It had a real woodsy look to it, but it was also really cool.

“Oh my gosh! This is so adorable!” Brittany squealed. “You actually live here?”

Laurel-Ann nudged me. “Katherine is going to be so jealous when she finds out we got to spend the night in Jerry's cabin.”

I smiled and nodded. I hadn't told Laurel-Ann about
the conversation I'd had with Katherine at the dance Saturday night. I knew it would just upset her. I had the feeling that Katherine didn't want to come on the honor trip because she'd been really hurt by the way I'd acted toward her.

It was strange to think that Katherine had been coming to Pine Haven for years, but she didn't seem to have any friends. I was probably one of the few people who'd been nice to her. I was starting to feel a little sorry for her, remembering the time we'd played the piano together. But then I reminded myself of that mean streak of hers.

“Okay, here's the sleeping arrangement,” Jerry announced. “You girls can spread out sleeping bags down here in the living room wherever you can find a spot. And I'll be upstairs in my nice comfortable bed. Hope my snoring doesn't bother you.”

“I get the couch!” said Rachel, rushing over to plop herself down on it.

“No, you take the loveseat and give me the couch,” said Lori. “You're short enough to fit on it.”

The two of them were arguing playfully about who should sleep where.

Ashlin gave us a devilish grin. “Can you believe how perfect this is? It's even better than if we were camping
out. It'll make it that much easier for us to carry out our plan!”

“You love this, don't you?” I asked her. I couldn't keep from laughing.

Ashlin just smiled. “You know what they say. Revenge is sweet!”

Jerry, Lori, and Rachel had gone outside and were lounging on the lawn furniture under some shade trees while we were all inside trying to pick our spots for tonight.

“Look, we can line up four sleeping bags in a row right here in front of the fireplace,” Ashlin suggested.

“Hey, can we squeeze in here too?” asked Erin, coming through the front door with her sleeping bag. Brittany was right behind her.

“No, you can't,” said Ashlin. “There's not enough room. You and Brittany can sleep back there.” She pointed to the far corner of the living room, on the other side of the couch and loveseat.

Brittany dropped her sleeping bag at her feet.
“Okay, what's going on? You're all being really cold to Erin and me. What are you so mad about?”

Ashlin raked one hand through her hair. “You should know!”

Brittany and Erin both stood there with confused looks. “No, we don't know,” said Brittany.

“Just forget it,” Ashlin said. “Everything will be fine if you two stay over there in your spot and we'll stay in ours.”

“Whatever,” said Erin, shaking her head and walking away so she could spread out her sleeping bag.

“The backpacks are all out on the porch,” Ashlin whispered to us. “As soon as we get our hands on the book, we can get started. Let's go.”

We followed her out the door. Luckily, Brittany and Erin had stayed inside after that little exchange we'd had with them.

“Somebody guard the window in case they try to spy on us,” said Ashlin.

I stood in front of the window, and Natasha pressed her back against the front door. “If they come barging through it, I might not be able to stop them. You know what a mouse I am.”

“Shhh!” said Ashlin. She had crept over to where all the backpacks were lying in a jumbled pile. “Which one's Brittany's?” she hissed at us.

“I don't know. They all look the same,” I murmured. We watched as Ashlin dropped to her knees and unzipped one backpack after another.

“What if she didn't bring it?” Laurel-Ann reminded us again.

“I told you. I've got that covered.” Ashlin fumbled around through the backpack in front of her.

“This is making me so nervous!” said Laurel-Ann. “I just know they're going to catch us!”

“Here it is! I got it!” Ashlin whispered, pulling the pink book out of one of the backpacks. She looked around nervously. “How are we going to do this without anyone seeing what we're up to?”

“Stick it under your shirt,” I advised. “Then we'll just walk away. Casually. Very, very casually.”

So Ashlin tucked the book into the waistband of her shorts and pulled her shirt down. Then we all walked off the porch. Jerry, Rachel, and Lori waved to us as we strolled past them.

“We're just going to explore a little,” said Ashlin.

“Have fun,” they told us.

We walked across Jerry's backyard. When we were far enough away from the cabin and under the cover of some trees, Ashlin pulled the book out of her shirt. “Okay, let's just see what our friends had to say about us.” She flipped
to the pages in the back of the book and started reading. Natasha looked over her shoulder.

Laurel-Ann walked away from them. “I don't even want to see it. It'll upset me too much.”

I had no desire to see what they'd written either. Once was enough for me.

Ashlin slammed the book shut. “Okay, now I definitely want to do this!”

“I think we should rip those pages out,” Laurel-Ann suggested.

Ashlin nodded. “I think you're right. Because once we're finished making our little changes to the book, they're going to be really out of place in there.”

“Can I have the honor?” Laurel-Ann asked, holding out her hand.

“Okay, go ahead.” Ashlin handed her the book, and Laurel-Ann flipped to the back, then started ripping out the pages. She was about to tear them into shreds when Ashlin stopped her.

“Wait. Don't do that. Let's keep these as evidence. Things could get pretty ugly at some point, and we want to have proof of what they did to us.” Ashlin took the pages from her and folded them up neatly before sticking them in her pocket.

“Okay. Let's get started.” Ashlin sat down in the
grass, and we all took spots beside her. She pulled out the pen and opened Brittany's book to the very front. The first few pages were covered with the pictures Katherine had drawn of Jerry. She looked at us and smiled. “This is going to be so easy.”

Inside the front cover, Ashlin wrote in large letters: “Jerry's Fan Club. President: Katherine Sperling. Vice President: Brittany Choo. Secretary: Erin Harmon.”

On page after page of the drawings of Jerry, Ashlin wrote captions that were supposedly written by Katherine, Erin, and Brittany. Each one was about how great they thought Jerry was.

Then Ashlin ripped out the page where they had asked what they liked best about Pine Haven and the first overnight trip. She also tore out any pages of cartoons that didn't feature Jerry. “I don't think we need those. But we can definitely add a little here.”

Ashlin added new pages asking more questions: “What do you like most about Jerry?” “Katherine: His smile.” “Brittany: He has a great tan!” “Erin: His nice eyes.”

“When did you first realize you had a crush on Jerry?” “Katherine: The first time I laid eyes on him.” “Brittany: YES!! Definitely the moment I saw him.” “Erin: Me too!”

I laughed when I saw what she'd just written. “How did you come up with all this?” I asked.

“Oh, I've been planning it all day,” said Ashlin gleefully. She went on writing more questions and answers while the rest of us kept quiet and watched.

“Okay,” Ashlin said finally. “I think that's pretty good. The whole book is dedicated to how wonderful Jerry is from his not-so-secret admirers.” She passed it around for all of us to read.

“Now for the delivery,” said Ashlin. She hid the book under her shirt again, and we all walked back toward the cabin.

“How are we going to do this?” I asked. “We can't all four go upstairs to Jerry's room and leave the book there. That will look really suspicious.”

“I'm not going to do it!” said Laurel-Ann. “I know I'll get caught. I'll do something clumsy like knock over a lamp and break it and everyone will come running to see what's going on and—”

“Shhh!” warned Ashlin. “I'll do it. The rest of you act as lookouts.”

Brittany and Erin were now sitting in the grass talking to Rachel, Jerry, and Lori when we walked past them. We went inside, and Ashlin asked us to stand guard while she tiptoed up the stairs and left the book on Jerry's bed.

I was starting to have second thoughts about this. Yes, they'd written mean comments about us, but they hadn't gone out of their way to embarrass us in front of everyone. And Laurel-Ann was probably right—Katherine likely was the one who'd started it all. But it was too late now. Ashlin was determined. So who was I to stop her?

Ashlin came tiptoeing back down the stairs with a big grin on her face. She gave us a thumbs-up. “Let's go back outside,” she suggested.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the woods around Jerry's cabin. Erin and Brittany stayed away from us, and we avoided them, too.

Laurel-Ann was really quiet, and I could tell she was upset about something. But with Ashlin and Natasha always around, it was hard for us to talk. I knew it bothered her that Katherine wasn't here. She would've loved to see Katherine embarrassed to death in front of Jerry. It would've made up for the whole Rainbow Trout incident.

For dinner, we were grilling hamburgers and hot dogs. The whole group was sitting around outside while Jerry lighted the grill.

“Hey, would one of you ladies go to the shed and get the new bag of charcoal in there?” he asked. “It's on the bottom shelf just inside the door.”

“I'll do it,” said Laurel-Ann, jumping up.

She motioned for me to follow her. As we walked across the yard together, she started whispering. “I have to tell you something. But you have to promise not to get mad at me.”

“Okay, I promise.”

We got to the shed and opened the door. Laurel-Ann had a completely panicked look on her face. “We have to get that book back. We have to! Erin and Brittany didn't write those things about us.”

“You think Katherine did it by herself?” I asked.

Laurel-Ann grabbed one of her braids and twisted it so hard I was afraid she might pull her hair out. “No. It wasn't Katherine, either. I was the one who wrote them.”