Charmed Forces #19 Read online

  “What is his problem?” She nudged Alyssa, who turned around. “He is staring at me, right? I’m not imagining it?”

  “You’re not imagining it,” Alyssa said. “He’s staring.”

  Logan looked away. Whew. Natalie wasn’t sure why his staring made her feel uncomfortable. Maybe it was because she couldn’t figure out what it meant. He ran away from her every time she came near him. And he wasn’t shy, she knew that for certain. So why stare at her now? Did he hate her or something? Was he casting some kind of spell on her?

  No, probably not casting a spell, she thought. That was Alyssa’s amethyst talk getting to her. Still, it was annoying.

  When she’d finished her lunch, she got up to bus her tray. Logan’s campers were busy cleaning up their table. Logan was looking at Nat.

  Well, that’s it, she thought. She tossed her trash in the garbage and marched over to him.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.

  He went pale, which wasn’t easy considering how tan he was. “Nothing,” he said. “Eating lunch.”

  “Why are you staring at me?” she said.

  “Staring?”

  “Yes,” Natalie said. “You’ve been staring at me all through lunch.”

  “N-no reason,” Logan said, stammering slightly. Stammering was totally out of character for him. Logan was confident, a cool guy. He didn’t stammer.

  “There must be something going on,” Natalie said. “Are you mad at me?”

  “Not at all.”

  “Is there something weird on my face? Ketchup on my chin? The mark of Satan on my forehead? A ‘kick me’ sign on my back?”

  “No, Nat. Really. I wasn’t staring. I’m too busy to stare. See?” He grabbed one of his little charges and practically attacked the kid’s face with a napkin. “Let’s get you cleaned up, all right, buddy?” he said.

  The boy squirmed. “But you already wiped my face off five minutes ago.”

  “Well, it got dirty again.” He glanced up at Nat. “See? Not staring. Nothing going on. Your bunk is leaving. You’d better get going.”

  She frowned at him for a few long seconds, but he refused to look up at her again. So she marched off, totally unsatisfied. He said he wasn’t staring? A bald-faced lie! What was wrong with these stupid boys? Why did they all have to act like aliens?

  “Nice work today, Candace,” Hank said after sailing that afternoon. “You too, Valerie. Donovan, you’ve got your work cut out for you.”

  Candace grinned. She’d been a good sailor most of her life, but sailing every day at camp was making her really good. And Valerie had turned out to be a great first mate—she caught on to everything very quickly.

  “Gaby and I are faking you out,” Donovan said. “We’re just pretending to screw up, to give you a false sense of security. Right, Gabs?”

  “Right. Totally.” Gaby turned red. Poor Gaby. She was slowing Donovan down, and she must have been afraid he resented her for it. But Gaby had improved a lot. Candace thought Gaby was doing great, considering that when she started she didn’t know the bow from the stern.

  That day Donovan had called for another informal race around the buoys, and Candace and Valerie had blown past them from the start. Donovan and Gaby never had a chance to catch up. And from what Candace could see, Gaby hadn’t done anything wrong. She was beginning to know her way around a Sunfish. But Candace had the faster boat that day, that was all there was to it.

  “We are going to stun you at the regatta,” Donovan said. He was joking around, but Candace had a feeling that deep down he was very competitive.

  “Nice job from all of you,” Hank said. “See you all tomorrow.”

  Candace tossed her life jacket in the storage bin and started back to the bunk with Valerie.

  “Movie night tonight,” Valerie said. “Are you going to vote for Mean Girls or Cars?”

  Dr. Steve let the campers vote for the movie they wanted to see on movie night. Right before dinner he counted the ballots and announced the winner.

  “Mean Girls or Cars?” Candace said. “Mean Girls, of course.”

  “I heard some fifth-division boys are rigging the election,” Valerie said. “They’re bribing the little girls to vote for Cars.”

  “Bribing them? With what?” Candace asked.

  “Popsicles,” Valerie said.

  “Popsicles. We can do better than that,” Candace said. “Doesn’t somebody have a box of Mallomars around somewhere?”

  “Jenna does,” Valerie said. “She’s organizing a posse to stop the little girls on their way to the ballot box and show them the error of their ways. Want to come?”

  “Sure I want to come,” Candace said. “I’ll meet you up there.”

  They parted at a fork in the path. Candace walked on toward her bunk, past a pretty clearing with a small gazebo and a few benches surrounded by honeysuckle.

  “Hey, Candace!” Donovan chased after her up the path. “Wait up a second.”

  She stopped. What could Donovan want with her? She must have left her stopwatch on the dock or something . . .

  “Nice sailing today,” he said. His hands were empty. No stopwatch.

  “Thanks,” Candace said. “You too.”

  “I’ve got some work to do if I’m going to beat you,” he said. “But I will beat you.”

  “You’ll beat us? We’ll see,” Candace said. She waited for him to say something else. It was awkward. They stepped out of the way so two counselors could jog past them.

  “Can I ask you something?” Donovan said.

  “Ask me something? Sure,” Candace said.

  He gestured toward the benches. “Want to sit down a minute?”

  “Okay.” What on earth was this about? Donovan had hardly said two words to her since the first day of camp. Okay, he’d said a few more words than that, but they were always along the lines of, “Let’s race,” or “My boat’s going to whip your boat’s butt.” He spent most of his time fending off other girls.

  Candace sat on a bench. The smell of pine and honeysuckle filled the clearing.

  “Um, sorry,” he said. “I’m a little nervous.”

  “Nervous?” she said. “About what?”

  “About, like, asking people stuff,” Donovan said, suddenly uncharacteristically shy.

  “You don’t have to be nervous around me,” Candace said.

  “Thanks,” he said. “I mean, I know that. That’s why I like you.”

  Even after he said those words, “I like you,” Candace didn’t get it. The full meaning didn’t sink in until later, after she’d turned that moment over again and again in her mind. At the time she just thought he meant, “I respect your sailing ability.”

  She didn’t say anything. She sat still, waiting to hear what he wanted. Tacking tips? Hints on rigging? She wasn’t about to give away any of her secrets, that was for sure.

  “I was wondering . . . if you’d go to the Midsummer Dance with me.”

  Candace blinked. The what now? Did he say something about the regatta?

  No, he didn’t. He’d asked her to the dance.

  Candace felt a slight shock. Just as Alyssa had predicted!

  Wow. This was major. This was fate! She had vowed to stay boy-free all summer, to concentrate on sailing. But Alyssa had said Donovan would ask her to the dance. And now, because of sailing, he had! Life sure was weird.

  “I caught you off guard, didn’t I?” Donovan said. “Sorry about that. I just . . . I’ve met a lot of girls since I got to camp, and I know this dance is a big deal and all, and I thought you’d be the most fun girl to hang out with. At the dance. So what do you say? You’re being kind of quiet.”

  “Quiet. Sorry!” Candace was flustered and confused. What should she say? Her head was spinning.

  “See, it’s just that . . .” Donovan shifted on the bench and played with his fingers. “Ever since I got to camp, a lot of girls have been kind of . . . hanging around me.”

  Candace laugh
ed. “Hanging around? You mean chasing you.”

  Donovan laughed, too. “Okay, chasing me. And they’re all really nice, but, well, I don’t like being chased. It gets tired.”

  “I guess it could get old,” Candace said. “Not that I know from personal experience or anything . . .” She had never been the type of girl boys went crazy over.

  “You haven’t chased me at all,” Donovan said. “And you’re such a great sailor, we have so much in common . . . I just think you’re the coolest girl here. So . . . will you go with me?”

  Wow, she thought again. Donovan seemed like such a great guy. But what about her promise to her parents?

  She decided to be honest with him. That usually kept her out of trouble. “Um, can I think this over for a little while?” she said. “I like you and everything, it’s not that. But my parents are putting a lot of pressure on me to focus on college-related stuff, and they don’t want me dating any boys. Too distracting. So I kind of promised them . . .”

  “But they’re not here, right?” Donovan said. “It’s just a dance.”

  “I know, but—”

  He stood up. “It’s okay. Think about it. I understand.”

  “Thanks, Donovan. I appreciate that.”

  He trotted off, as if in a hurry to get somewhere. Candace walked slowly back to the bunk. She forgot all about helping Jenna and Valerie rig the movie vote. She hoped she’d find somebody in the cabin, and she was in luck. Alyssa, Natalie, Tori, Chelsea, Mandy, and Gaby were all there, reading, trying on makeup, and playing cards.

  Alyssa looked up from her book when Candace walked in. Candace knew she must have had an odd expression on her face, because Alyssa immediately said, “Candace, what happened?”

  Candace flopped down onto her bunk, feeling happy and confused. “Donovan asked me to the dance.”

  Everyone gasped. Then, for a moment, total silence reigned in bunk 6B. But only for a moment.

  “Oh my gosh!”

  “Alyssa was right again! I don’t believe it!”

  “Is it true?” Gaby stood over Candace’s bunk, staring down at her. “Tell me you’re kidding around.”

  Candace felt a pang of guilt. She’d forgotten about Gaby’s monster crush on Donovan. Of course this news would upset her.

  “I’m sorry, Gaby,” she said. “It’s true.”

  Alyssa jumped onto Candace’s bunk. The other girls gathered around. “What did you say?” Alyssa asked.

  “She said yes, of course,” Natalie said. “This is Donovan we’re talking about.”

  “Actually, I told him I’d think about it,” Candace said.

  “Are you crazy?” Alyssa said. “Why?”

  “Well, what about my vow?” Candace said. “I promised myself no boys this summer. That means no dates to the dance, doesn’t it?”

  “Good thinking,” Mandy said. “You have a good head on your shoulders, Candace. Boys can be distracting.”

  Tori rolled her eyes. “Vows are made to be broken. Especially when the cutest boy at camp asks you out!”

  “Hey,” Gaby said. “Don’t talk her out of her vow. If she wants to be a nun all summer, that’s her business. And that puts Donovan right back on the market.”

  “I agree,” Chelsea said. “Candace was never that interested in Donovan in the first place, right? So why should she pretend to like him when she doesn’t even want a boyfriend?”

  “It’s not that I don’t like him,” Candace said. “He’s a great sailor. And he’s really nice. I guess I just wasn’t thinking about him that way. In a crush way, I mean.”

  “But now you are, right?” Alyssa said. “I mean, now that you know he likes you, doesn’t that make you think of him differently?”

  “I guess,” Candace said. “I need a little time to get used to the idea.”

  “So what are you going to do?” Gaby asked.

  “I don’t know,” Candace said. “What do you all think I should do?”

  “Go to the dance with him,” Tori said.

  “Definitely,” Natalie said.

  “I’ll support you no matter what you decide,” Mandy said. “But I think your vow is a smart idea.”

  “Listen to our fearless leader,” Chelsea said. “Don’t go.”

  “Gaby?” Candace asked.

  “You really want my opinion?” Gaby said. “Because I’ll say right up front I’m totally biased.”

  “Give it to me anyway.”

  “Okay,” Gaby said. “Don’t go. If you’re not crazy wild for him like half the girls at camp, maybe you shouldn’t be the chosen one.”

  “Maybe that’s why he likes her,” Tori said. “Because she’s the only girl who’s not throwing herself at him. The only one without a boyfriend, anyway.”

  Gaby frowned.

  “What about you, Alyssa?” Candace asked. In her mind, Alyssa’s opinion carried the most weight. Since she’d found Amy, Alyssa had made so many amazing predictions. Including this one, which Candace would never have foreseen in a million years. Alyssa seemed to have a halo of wisdom over her head.

  “It’s totally your decision,” Alyssa said.

  Candace pressed her. “But what’s your advice?”

  “Well, when I had the amethyst, I saw you with Donovan,” Alyssa said. “That makes me think you should be with him. The way I think of it, your vow is fine for ordinary boys, but Donovan is no ordinary boy. For all we know, he may be the love of your life.”

  “That’s so romantic,” Natalie said.

  “So my advice is, for Donovan, forsake the vow,” Alyssa said. “Amy has spoken. Or would speak, if she were here. She was right about this, wasn’t she? And everyone doubted us.”

  “Go to the dance with him,” Tori said. “It won’t kill you.”

  Nat and Tori clapped with excitement. Gaby looked downcast.

  “I still think you should stick to your first decision, Candace,” Mandy said. “On the other hand, it’s always fun to have a date to a dance.” She went back to her cot and opened the book she was reading.

  “I’m with Mandy,” Chelsea said. “Everybody is way too impressed with Alyssa’s amethyst. Candace, you made a promise to yourself. Are you really going to break that promise because Alyssa says a rock told you to?”

  “Yeah,” Gaby said. “Are you going to let a rock rule your life?”

  “But she’s always right.” Candace felt confused. “I need to think this over.”

  Candace hadn’t believed in the amethyst’s powers at first, but so much had happened since then, and Alyssa and Amy had predicted all of it. Their success ratio was one hundred percent. It seemed foolish to bet against them. What if Alyssa was right and Donovan was the love of her life? How could she walk away from the love of her life?

  “Hey,” Gaby said. “Who won that baseball game last night, anyway? The one between the Phillies and somebody?”

  “The Arizona Cardinals,” Mandy called from her cot across the room. “The Cardinals won.”

  Candace looked at Alyssa. Everyone did. Alyssa went pale and picked at a thread on Candace’s pillowcase.

  “Hey,” Chelsea said. “You picked the Phillies to win.”

  “That’s right,” Gaby said. “You did.”

  “You were wrong,” Chelsea said. “Miss Psychic Hotline finally got one wrong.”

  “I—I know,” Alyssa said. “Nobody’s perfect, right?”

  “So you might not be psychic?” Gaby said. “You might just be a regular schmo like us?”

  Alyssa flashed Gaby a suspicious look, and Candace caught it. What was that about?

  “I am psychic,” Alyssa said. “I sometimes get a strong feeling about what’s going to happen in the future. But no one bats a thousand.”

  “Speaking of bats, what about the field trip?” Chelsea said. “To the Phillies game? You saw a pretty clear vision of me getting smacked. Are you saying you might be wrong?”

  “Anything’s possible,” Alyssa said. “But that dream felt very clear to me.�
��

  “Also, you had the amethyst stashed under your pillow that night,” Gaby said. “Maybe it heightens your psychic powers.”

  Alyssa shot Gaby another odd look. Was that because she suspected Gaby of taking the amethyst?

  “I’m just saying,” Gaby said.

  “Just saying . . . I wonder who took Amy,” Candace said. “Do you think we’ll ever get her back?”

  “I hope so,” Alyssa said.

  “The baseball game is only a few days away,” Mandy said. “We can still go if we want to. There’s nothing stopping us.”

  “Do you all want to change your minds?” Alyssa asked.

  “No,” Natalie said.

  “No,” Tori said.

  “No,” Candace said. “Your prediction about Donovan has me spooked. It’s too eerie.”

  “I agree,” Chelsea said. “I can’t go to the game now. It feels too dangerous.”

  “Alyssa has been right too many times,” Gaby said.

  “Okay, suit yourselves.” Mandy blew a strand of hair off her face. “Next year I’m going to request a less superstitious group of girls.”

  chapter ELEVEN

  “So, what have you heard about our bunk?” Brynn was interviewing Jordan as part of her ongoing investigation into the missing amethyst. She’d found him outside the main lodge and sat him down on the steps for a little talk. “Tell me everything you know. Who’s your source for that ridiculous gossip in Bunk Roundup?”

  “Brynn, you’re a reporter,” Jordan said. “You know I can’t reveal my sources.”

  Brynn took a deep breath. This was important. She needed to muster all her strength. I’m a reporter, she told herself. I can do this. I can get the information I need, even out of a seasoned camp newsman like Jordan.

  Besides being a reporter, Brynn was an actress. And that was a skill that could also come in handy right about now . . .

  “You’re right, Jordan,” she said. “I’m a reporter. And you’re a reporter. We’re both dedicated to finding the truth. Right?”

  “Right.”

  “I understand about protecting your sources,” Brynn said in her most coaxing yet serious “we’re all professionals here” voice. “But I’m not the enemy. I’m your colleague. We both work on the same paper. We should help each other out, not compete against each other, or keep secrets from each other.”