Winter Games #12 Read online

  “Okay, okay. I surrender!” Jenna laughed breathlessly.

  Tori whipped out her cell phone and snapped a picture. Last night, all the 4A and 4C girls had made a pact to keep in constant touch for the rest of the weekend, and it was already working. Alex had sent them a short video this morning of Chelsea snoring away as Priya and Sarah covered her hair with shaving cream. “Since Jenna’s not here,” Alex had text-messaged, “we decided to do one eensy-weensy prank in her honor.” And Valerie had taken some snapshots of the girls devouring massive Reuben sandwiches for lunch at the Carnegie Deli in Times Square.

  “What a great candid for the girls back East,” Tori said, checking out her shot of Jenna covered in snow. “What do you always say, Lyss? A picture’s worth a thousand words?”

  “You got it,” Alyssa said, rubbing a little more snow into Jenna’s hair before Jenna wrestled her down onto the snow, too. Grace was nearly doubled over laughing, but when Tori looked for Nat, she saw her standing a few feet away, pale and frowning, her cell phone to her ear.

  “What’s wrong?” Tori asked, and the other girls stopped fooling around when they saw Nat’s serious face, too.

  “Simon called a little while ago,” she said, hitting the speaker on her phone so they could all listen to his message:

  “Hey, Nat. I missed you at the reunion yesterday. We had so much fun, but it would’ve been great to have you there, too. The guys and I are taking the train into the city from Blake’s place right now. We’re going to play paintball at Chelsea Piers, so I thought I’d call now before we get too busy. I guess if I don’t talk to you before then, I’ll see you tomorrow after your flight. Um . . . there’s something I wanted to talk to you about, so it’ll be good to see you face-to-face . . . finally. Bye.”

  “That’s not so awful,” Alyssa said. “You need to talk to him, too, right? Wasn’t that your plan?”

  Nat nodded miserably. “But what if he’s going to tell me he . . . you know . . . loves me, or something? And then I go and break his heart by telling him our long-distance dating thing isn’t working?”

  Tori’s mouth dropped. “Is that what you’re going to tell him?”

  Nat swallowed and took a deep breath. “I think so. I’m really not happy with the way things are right now, and it wouldn’t be fair to hold off on telling him that any longer.”

  “That’s major,” Jenna said. “I never thought you guys would break up.”

  “I don’t really want to break up yet,” Nat said. “It’s more like I want us both to relax and spend time with our friends, and not worry so much about getting together for dates and stuff. Then, whatever happens, happens.”

  Alyssa put her arm around Nat. “It’s good that you’re going to get it all out in the open.”

  “Yeah,” Nat said, “but how am I going to say it without passing out and without breaking his heart?”

  “Hey, you didn’t faint the first time you saw mess-hall food, did you?” Jenna teased. “So you’ll be fine.”

  “And give Simon a little credit,” Alyssa said. “He might handle it better than you think. I bet you he’s worrying about a lot of the same things you are.”

  “You could always try doing what I do when I’m in an embarrassing situation,” Grace said. “I just pretend I’m playing a role on stage, and that it’s not really me who just tripped going up the stairs, or who spilled milk all over the cutest guy in school. Everything is easier to do when you’re in character.”

  “You can do it,” Tori said, hugging Nat. “If you’re brave enough to try skiing for the first time in a blizzard, you can definitely handle a talk with Simon.”

  “I hope so,” Nat said, just as Tori’s cell rang. “Omigod, if that’s Simon looking for me, tell him I bit it on a black diamond.” She pushed off the snow and started downhill, wobbling unsteadily as she went.

  “Hey, Sarah!” Tori said into the phone. She tried to wave to Nat to stop, but Nat was already halfway down the slope. “Did you get the pictures I just sent?”

  “Yup.” Sarah laughed. “Jenna looked like a snowman after a bad hair day. None of us can stop laughing.”

  “She’d better not be laughing at me,” Jenna whispered to Tori.

  “Never,” Tori whispered to her. But when she saw Nat tumbling downhill with skis and poles all a tangled blur, Tori said to Sarah, “Um . . . I’d better go before Nat skis off the side of the mountain or breaks a limb.”

  She hung up after promising to call New York again later, and then skied over to help Nat to her feet.

  “I think I’m getting the hang of it,” Nat said optimistically. “Maybe all I needed was a little panic to motivate me. I might even be able to tackle some mole hills someday.”

  “I think you mean moguls,” Alyssa laughed. “But way to think positively.”

  “Last one down is a rotten egg,” Nat cried, taking off again.

  Tori giggled and started after her with the other girls following. As she raced through the snow, she started singing the Lakeview alma mater at the top of her lungs, and the other four girls joined in. As she sang and laughed with her friends, Tori thought that the only thing that could possibly make this day any more perfect would be to have all the Lakeview campers together, just like last summer. But for now, this came in a close second.

  Sarah leaned back against the velvet seat of the carriage and smiled as she listened to the happy clipclop of the horses’ hooves on the pavement. Sunday afternoon was cold but sunny, and there were patches of snow still on the lawns in Central Park, but even the bare trees were a pretty sight. After she and the other girls had slept in late this morning, Andie and Mia had had the great idea to take them to the Carnegie Deli for lunch and then for a carriage ride through Central Park. With the city looking postcard-worthy in the bright winter light and her friends by her side, Sarah felt like she was in the middle of a Norman Rockwell painting.

  “We are such ladies of luxury today,” she said, grinning at Alex, Brynn, and Abby, who were all seated in the horse-drawn carriage with her, wrapped under a cozy fleece blanket.

  “Yeah,” Brynn said, “now all we need is a penthouse overlooking the park and we’d be set.” She sighed dreamily. “And it would have been nice to have the guys along for this ride, too. How romantic!”

  Alex giggled. “Yeah, I’d like to see Adam and David give up paintball to go for a carriage ride. That’d never happen. They’re probably covered in paint like some warped rendition of Lord of the Flies right now.” She nudged Brynn. “I bet Jordan would’ve come along for this ride, though.”

  “Yeah, Brynn,” Sarah said, watching her turn red. “I think he would’ve done anything to keep you happy this weekend. And you haven’t stopped smiling since you guys made up. Are you sure you didn’t have any of Dr. Jekyll’s love potion last night?”

  “Look who’s talking,” Brynn teased. “I think I saw you holding hands with David last night, too.”

  Now it was Sarah’s turn to blush. “Only for a few minutes,” she said, to which everyone laughed. Sarah looked over at Valerie, Priya, Chelsea, and Karen, who were riding in a second carriage next to them, with the counselors in a third behind them.

  “Kodak moment!” she said, waving to the girls in the other carriage. “Say ‘Big Apple’!” She snapped a picture of them with their arms wrapped around one another, and then took one of her carriage and one of the counselors’. “I’m going to send these to Nat and Tori’s cells right now.”

  Less than a minute after Sarah sent the pictures, her cell rang. “Hi, Nat!” she said, clicking on speakerphone so that all the girls could talk.

  “We just got the pictures. You guys look like you’re living the high life in the city. Riding in carriages, ice-skating in Central Park. It’s a little touristy,” Nat teased, “but since you don’t have a native city slicker such as myself to show you the ropes this time, I guess you’re doing okay.”

  “Hey, you can’t blame us for being sucked into New York tourism,” Abby s
aid. “A horse and carriage is just way too good to pass up.”

  Nat laughed. “That’s okay, we’re doing our fair share of touristy things here, too. We’re at the snow tubing park right now. See?”

  A video clip of Jenna and Alyssa sliding down a hill in a huge inner tube flashed across Sarah’s screen. “Awesome!” Sarah said, giggling with Abby as she watched the inner tube collide with Tori and Grace’s.

  “Yeah,” Nat said. “I’ve discovered that crash landing is much better in an inner tube than on skis. You don’t have as far to fall.”

  “When do you guys fly back?” Brynn asked.

  “Tomorrow morning,” Nat said, “but we don’t land back East until the afternoon.”

  “We’re leaving tomorrow afternoon, too,” Alex said. “We’re going to the butterfly exhibit at the Museum of Natural History later today, and then to the ballet tonight at Lincoln Center. And tomorrow morning we’re going shopping in the East Village.”

  “Hey guys, it’s me, Tori. I just heard the magic word, ‘shopping.’ I want to hear all about it so that whenever I get out to New York I can hit all the cool consignment shops you find.”

  While the other girls talked, Sarah went quiet at the thought of having to leave all of her friends tomorrow. She’d probably see a few of them before camp started again, but summer still seemed like a long way away. And since she hadn’t gotten to see Jenna, Nat, Tori, Grace, or Alyssa at all at the reunion, it would be even longer since she saw them.

  “We miss you guys,” she said, “but at least on this trip we didn’t have to worry about Jenna raiding our candy stash in the middle of the night, or sticking our hands in ice water while we were sleeping . . .”

  “Actually,” Abby admitted, “I even sort of missed her pranks.”

  “Really?” piped up Jenna in the background, sounding delighted. “In that case, I’ll have some ready and waiting for you on the first day of camp.”

  “Jenna!” everyone cried at the same time, and then broke into giggles.

  “I took a lot of pictures with my digital camera this weekend,” Nat said. “I’ll e-mail them to you guys next week.”

  “Great!” Sarah said. “We’ll send the ones we took, too.”

  After they hung up, Brynn said, “You know, I never thought I’d be saying this, because I really did want to go on that ski trip with Grace and the other girls. But now I’m actually glad I didn’t get invited to go. Because I wouldn’t have missed out on this weekend with you guys for anything.”

  “Me neither,” Sarah said, smiling. “But next year we have to make sure we’re all here, no matter what. We’ll have to break into Dr. Steve’s secret camp files to find out the date of the next camp reunion so there’s no chance of us double-booking two things in the same weekend ever again. Lakeview get-togethers just aren’t the same without all of the Lakeview campers.”

  “Do you wish you’d gone to Tahoe instead of the reunion?” Abby asked, looking at Sarah with a seriousness she rarely had.

  “No way,” Sarah said. “I wouldn’t have had much fun in Tahoe anyway, without you. Where you go, I go.”

  “So,” Abby said, “do you still want to give skiing a try? I could see if my parents can take us up to Vermont for a weekend before the season’s over.”

  “That would be great!” Sarah said, her mind already spinning with possibilities. “Of course, I returned the ski jacket I bought, and it’s going to take me into the next century to pay my mom back for the Tahoe ticket I canceled. But somebody at school might have ski stuff we can borrow for the weekend.”

  “I’ll talk to my parents about it this week,” Abby said.

  “Great!” Sarah said. “Of course, you know I’m going to smoke you on the slopes, but as long as you’re okay with that . . .”

  “Ha. I think you mean I’m going to smoke you,” Abby said.

  “We’ll see about that,” Sarah teased.

  As the carriage slowed to a stop, Sarah clicked one final picture and stepped onto the sidewalk.

  “Come on,” she said, wrapping her arms around her friends. “This weekend’s not over yet, and we owe it to the girls in Tahoe to pack in as much as we can, so let’s go.”

  chapter TWELVE

  As Nat looked up at the Manhattan skyscrapers through the window of her cab, she let out a little sigh. It was good to be coming home to the city she loved, but saying good-bye to the other girls earlier this morning had left her feeling sad, too. Now, as the cab pulled up in front of her apartment building, all she wanted to do was unpack, slip into her comfiest yoga pants, and log onto the camp blog to talk to everyone.

  The last thing she expected to see when she stepped out of the cab was Simon. But there he was, sitting on a bench near the front entrance of her apartment building, obviously waiting for her. What was he doing here? She’d said that she would call him once she landed, and that they’d pick a time to meet before he headed back to Connecticut tonight. But it was only three in the afternoon. She wished she could dive into the cab and have the driver take her around the block a few times, at least until she figured out how to plan the talk she needed to have with him. But then Simon glanced up and spotted her, and Nat knew it was too late for stall tactics.

  “Nat!” Simon rushed over to her, but when he got within a few feet, instead of giving her a hug like he normally would have, he stopped short, hesitating. “I know I probably should’ve called you first, but I checked with your mom earlier, and she said your flight was on time, so I figured I’d just stop by your place and wait.” He brushed a hand through his hair nervously. “I hope that’s okay.”

  “Sure,” Nat said. But she wasn’t sure . . . not of anything. As she paid the cab driver and collected her bags, her stomach churned uncomfortably, and she knew it wasn’t jetlag causing it. “Um, were you waiting long?”

  “No, only about twenty minutes.” He swooped down to grab her suitcase and carry-on from her hands. “I’ll get these.”

  “Thanks,” Nat said, leading the way into her building. They rode up the elevator in silence, while Nat tried to think of what to tell her mom about Simon’s surprise visit. Simon, too, seemed lost in his own thoughts.

  “Mom!” Nat called out when she opened the door. “Guess who’s here?”

  “Um, let me see,” her mom called from the kitchen. “My estranged daughter turned ski pro?” But when she stepped into the living room, there was no disguising her surprise. “Oh, Simon! How nice to see you! I thought you and Nat were going to see each other a little later on today.”

  Simon blushed. “Well, I . . .”

  “He wanted to surprise me,” Nat interjected, hoping to stop any of her mom’s questions before they started. “Is it okay if we hang out in my room for a little while?”

  Her mom nodded. “Sure, hon. I’m just putting together a snack for myself, so I’ll bring some in to you guys in a few minutes, too.”

  “Great,” Nat said, trying her best to fake like everything was okay, but she was pretty sure her mom was picking up on the weirdness of this whole situation, too.

  Once she and Simon were safely in her room, Nat took a deep breath and sat down at her desk. It was better to start this now, and get it over with, hard as it would be.

  “Simon,” she began, “thanks for stopping by. I know you’re probably missing out on some stuff with Blake and the other guys to be here.” Her heart knocked around like crazy. “There was something I wanted to talk to you about . . .”

  “Me too,” Simon jumped in, perching himself nervously on the very edge of her bed. “I’ve been thinking . . .” He sucked in a ragged breath. “I know we’ve been dating for a while and everything, but lately I’ve been feeling like . . .”

  He paused, and Nat closed her eyes, dreading the L-word that she was sure was coming next.

  “Like this long-distance thing is just too much pressure. For both of us.”

  “What?” Nat blinked. Well, this was a shocker.

  “Yeah.”
Simon gulped, then rushed on. “I’ve felt like lately you might have been a little . . . frustrated that we weren’t seeing each other that much. And I know you have tons of friends here in the city. And I’m super busy with my friends up in Connecticut, too. And I guess I just want us to slow down and just have some fun, without worrying about this whole dating thing so much.” He dug his shoe into the carpet and stared out the window.

  “I can’t believe this,” Nat said.

  “I know. I hope you won’t be too mad at me, but I think it’s the best thing to do. ’Cause your friendship means a lot to me, and I don’t want to mess that up with too much serious stuff.” He stopped and chanced a look at Nat.

  Nat took a deep breath, and then . . . she smiled. “Simon,” she said, “I’m not mad at you. I’m actually totally relieved. This is crazy, but I was going to tell you the same exact thing tonight. I’ve been worrying about it for weeks. I didn’t know how to talk to you about it, because I was afraid of hurting your feelings.”

  Simon gave a small laugh. “Really? So you’re okay with this?”

  “More than okay,” Nat said. “I want us to stay great friends, too. And whatever happens down the road, or doesn’t happen, will be fine.”

  “Wow,” Simon said. “This is great. I was so afraid you’d hate me.”

  “Nope,” Nat laughed. “Not a chance. I’m just so glad we’re going to stay friends.”

  “Me too,” Simon said. “Hey, I didn’t even ask you how your trip was!”

  “It was great,” Nat said, “but I’m sorry I missed out on the reunion. I have lots to tell you about Tahoe, though.” And suddenly, she knew it was true. In the last few weeks, she’d dreaded talking to Simon, not knowing what to say to him. But now, it was like the dam had broken and she couldn’t wait to tell him everything, just like it used to be when they were first starting to become friends. “Hey, I have an idea. My mom’s probably making some tofu snack for us, but do you want to go grab a slice of authentic, thin crust New York pizza from the place around the corner? I can tell you all about the ski trip, and you can tell me all about the reunion.”