Winter Games #12 Read online

  “Pizza or tofu,” Simon said. “It’s not even a question. Pizza all the way.”

  “I hear you.” Nat grabbed her coat and told her mom where they were going. As they stepped back out onto the bustling city sidewalk filled with Presidents’ Day tourists, Nat broke into a huge grin. She had a feeling that everything between her and Simon was going to be just fine. It was the start of a whole new type of friendship for the two of them, and with any luck, they’d be closer than ever before. The ski trip had helped clear her head, and now she was ready to face the spring and the summer and all the new adventures waiting for her. And she couldn’t wait to IM the girls tonight and tell them all about it.

  That evening, Brynn double-checked the train schedule on the board at Penn Station one more time, and sighed when she saw her boarding gate pop up.

  “That’s me,” she said, turning to rest of the girls, who were all waiting for trains to take them home, too. This was the moment she’d been dreading since yesterday, knowing it would probably be months before she’d see her friends again. After such an amazing weekend, it was hard to face the idea of heading back to school tomorrow, and even worse, going back home knowing how long it would be before camp started up again. She tried to muster up a smile, but she still felt a little teary-eyed, too.

  “All right, sweetie,” Andie said, handing Brynn her weekend bag. “Call me on my cell when you get home just to let me know you’re okay. You know how much Dr. Steve loves his head counts, and every camper has to be accounted for tonight.”

  “I’ll call,” Brynn said, then to Alex, Sarah, Abby, Priya, Val, and the other girls, she added, “And I’ll IM you guys tonight, too. I’m going to post my pics on our camp blog as soon as I get home.” She giggled. “Alex, I think I got a great one of you catching Adam when he started to fall at the ice-skating rink.”

  Alex laughed. “I’m sure Adam will really appreciate that photo going public.”

  “And I got one of you and Jordan holding hands,” Priya said, winking at Brynn. “My two favorite lurve-birds.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Brynn teased. “Just wait until I get ahold of a picture of you and that Riley guy . . . forget the camp blog, I’m going to send it in to Us Weekly.”

  “Um, considering that the only person who’s less of a somebody than me is Riley, I’m not too concerned about Us Weekly wanting my pictures.” Priya laughed. “But with your budding acting career, I really would keep an eye out for the paparazzi. Which reminds me, if you get the part in The Music Man, count me in for a ticket.”

  “Me too,” Valerie said.

  “It’s only a few hours on the train from Boston to Jersey,” Sarah added.

  Abby nodded. “We wouldn’t miss it.”

  “And you know I’m your biggest fan,” said Alex.

  “We’ll come, too,” Andie said, gesturing to Mia, Becky, and Sophie. “It’ll be like a mini reunion.”

  “Yeah,” Brynn said, loving the idea. “And maybe Grace, Nat, Alyssa, and Jenna can come, too. Tori won’t be able to, but we can send her a DVD of it.”

  “So now you have to get the part,” Alex said. “How else will we get to see one another before camp?”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Brynn said. She’d brought the script along with her in her weekend bag, but she hadn’t had a chance to look at it yet. But now, she was eager to dive right into it. It would be perfect reading material for her train ride home. Just knowing that her friends would all come to the play would make her try even harder for the part.

  The station’s intercom clicked on just then, announcing final boarding for Brynn’s train, and Andie said, “You’d better go. I don’t want to have to tell Dr. Steve that you missed your train.”

  “Okay,” Brynn said, and she gave each of her friends a huge hug. “We’ll see one another soon.”

  “And we’ll e-mail and IM all the time,” Sarah said.

  “Yeah,” Abby joined in. “It’ll be like we’re not even apart. You’ll see.”

  Brynn waved to her friends as she took the escalator down to the platform, and even after they’d disappeared from view, she kept seeing their faces in her mind as she boarded the train. She checked her cell phone as she sat down, and had two messages waiting. One was from Jordan.

  “I just got home a few minutes ago,” he said. “My grandpa’s going home from the hospital next week, so he’s doing much better. Thanks for being so understanding about everything. I, um . . . I miss you. Give me a call later.”

  Brynn blushed. He’d actually said he missed her. That was huge. And she realized that she really liked the idea of being missed by him. But hopefully now that things had settled down with his grandpa, they wouldn’t have to wait too long before they saw each other again.

  The second message was a text note from Nat. Nat had sent it to Brynn’s cell, and also to all the other girls from 4A and 4C. “Hi, girls,” Nat had written. “Let’s conf call 2nite . . . 8 P.M.! I have big news about Simon. Can’t wait to tell u all about it. TTYL.”

  Brynn smiled. The Lakeview girls might not live in the same place, but they shared the same spirit, and it was great to have everyone back together again. It was almost like they’d never be apart . . . not really. Even though the weekend was finally over, she’d go home with a lot of great memories of the reunion, of holding hands with Jordan under the twinkling lights of Manhattan’s skyline, and of filling up on great food, friendship, and fun. And this was just the beginning. She would have a great time over the next few months, waiting for warm weather to come again, and wondering what the summer would bring.

  camp CONFIDENTIAL

  A Fāīr to Remember

  available soon!

  chapter ONE

  Posted by: Jenna

  Subject: Memorial Day fun!!!

  Hey there, peeps of 4A and 4C, have I got a surprise for you! This Memorial Day weekend my father has offered to take us all up to the family’s lake house so we can pig out, stay up all night talking, and make up for lost reunion time. Ladies . . . pack your bags! I mean, even though the reunion weekend turned out all right in the end, we WERE split up. And that, we all agreed, was no good. I think it’s about time we got back together for a little two-bunk bonding, don’t you? Plus, Memorial Day at the lake is out of control. They do this whole old-fashioned weekend-long picnic/carnival thing with tons of food and rides and tons of food and shows and tons of food and fireworks.

  Did I mention the TONS of FOOD?

  (You know how much I love my stomach.)

  Anyway, the point is, you are all invited and I hope to see each and every one of you there. And for those of you who are wondering (and I know you’re out there), no, this is not one of my practical jokes. I can see why you would think so, but I’d never joke about a thing like this. I am perfectly and totally serious. But if you really need to confirm, you can have your parents call my dad. He’s totally willing to answer any questions.

  So pack your bags, ladies! It’s time to have the REAL reunion we’ve all been waiting for! Can’t wait to see you!!!

  “Bathing suit . . . check!” Jenna Bloom sang to herself as she shoved her one-piece into her duffel bag. “Greenwood Lake sweatshirt . . . check! Baseball cap . . . check!”

  She yanked open the drawer to her bedside table and considered her stash of practical joke paraphernalia. Should she bring the whoopee cushion? The foaming mouth gum? The skin cream that looked like it was from some chichi makeup counter, but in fact turned your skin green?

  That could be fairly hilarious if she could convince Tori or Natalie that it was the latest in makeup technology from France or whatever.

  But no. This weekend was not about pranks. It was about bonding with her friends. Being a “gracious hostess,” as her mother had told her ten thousand times. And she had a feeling that Martha Stewart had never purposely turned her guests’ faces green. With a deep breath and some serious willpower, Jenna slammed the drawer shut. No pranks this weekend.

  This Memori
al Day was going to be about good, clean fun.

  “Jenna! Are you ready yet?” her mother called up the stairs. “Your father is going to be here any minute!”

  “I’m trying, Mom!” Jenna shouted back, shoving her flip-flops into the bag. “But this packing thing is complicated.”

  “Your brother was done an hour ago!” her mom called. “It’s just three days!”

  Jenna rolled her eyes and yanked her bag off the bed where it dropped to the floor with a thump. How could Adam have been done an hour ago? They had just gotten home from school around that time. It had taken Jenna a half hour just to locate her duffel bag and find herself three T-shirts that weren’t covered in wrinkles.

  But it made sense that her twin brother was all ready to go.

  That was just the way he was. What Jenna couldn’t figure out was why he wanted to go at all. Did he really want to spend the entire weekend in a house full of girls? How could that possibly be fun for him?

  Well, at least we’ll outnumber him eight to one, Jenna thought with a smirk, dropping down in front of her computer.

  She had saved all the response e-mails from the friends who were coming to the lake and put them in their own little folder. On the list were Alex, Natalie, Grace, Brynn, Tori, Alyssa, and Valerie. Definitely a fun group. Jenna could not wait to see them all. She only wished that Sarah was able to come, but she had e-mailed a few days ago to decline. Apparently she had a big softball game that weekend that she just couldn’t miss. Jenna understood that, being a sports fiend herself. Plus, this was Sarah’s first year on her school team. She had tried out and made it after Abby, another camp friend who also went to Sarah’s school, had talked her into it. Jenna was happy that Sarah was finally using her sick softball skills somewhere other than camp, but Sarah was going to be missed over the weekend.

  “Jenna! Please finish up and come down!” Jenna’s mother shouted. “Your father is going to want to hit the road as soon as he gets here.”

  “Just have to shut down my computer, Mom!” Jenna yelled back.

  She quickly typed up an e-mail to Sarah.

  To: SarahSports

  From: Aries8

  Subject: The Big Game

  Hi Sarah!

  Just wanted to wish you luck on your softball game this weekend! We’ll be rooting for you from Greenwood Lake. Wish you could be there! We’ll miss you!!!

  Love,

  Jenna

  Jenna quickly logged off and shut down her computer. She heard her father’s car pull up outside and her heart started to pound with excitement. This was it! The weekend was about to begin. In just a couple of hours she would be hanging out with all her friends.

  With some effort, Jenna hoisted her heavy bag from the floor and struggled through the door with it. She shut off her bedroom light and clambered down the stairs.

  “He’s here! He’s here! He’s here!” she cheered, jumping down the last few steps.

  Her feet hit at an odd angle and she tripped forward, taking out a potted plant with her bag and tripping right into someone’s chest.

  “Easy there, killer,” the victim said, steadying Jenna with his hands on her arms.

  Okay. That was not a member of her family. Jenna stood up straight and looked right into the light green eyes of David Carson. David, Adam’s friend from camp. David, Sarah’s boyfriend. Jenna’s heart took a nosedive and she stepped back. Practically jumped back.

  “What are you doing here?” she blurted.

  “Good to see you, too,” David said with a smile. His floppy brown hair had been cut so that it didn’t flop completely over his eyes anymore. It just sort of grazed his eyebrow. “And you’re welcome.”

  “For what?” Jenna asked.

  “For catching you,” he said.

  “I was fine, thanks,” Jenna said, straightening her T-shirt.

  “Yeah. Tell that to the wallpaper that almost rearranged your face,” Adam said from behind her. “And David is here because Dad said I could bring a friend this weekend. You know, because you’ve got, like, four thousand of them coming.”

  Jenna whirled on her brother, whose curly brown hair—so much like her own—was matted down by a Yankees baseball cap. “Maybe that’s because this whole thing was my idea. You should have told me you were bringing someone.”

  “Why? So you could stick itching powder in his bed or something?” Adam asked, glancing out the window. He lifted his backpack as their dad started up the front walk. “I don’t think so.”

  “No, I just . . . this whole weekend was my idea and . . .and . . . I would have wanted to know, that’s all,” Jenna said awkwardly, crossing her skinny arms over her chest.

  “Well, now you do!” David told her with a smile.

  Jenna narrowed her eyes at him. She just could not believe this was happening. Not just one boy on her perfect reunion weekend, but two. And why did it have to be this boy? The only boy she ever had a crush on? A totally humiliating crush that only ended when Jenna found out that he liked Sarah and Sarah liked him back. The two of them danced all night together at the camp social while Jenna looked on and tried not to be jealous. Now he was here and Sarah was not and the whole thing was just making her feel all hot in the face.

  The doorbell rang and Adam rushed to respond. There stood their dad, a huge smile on his face, his sunglasses perched atop his head.

  “Everyone ready for a fun weekend?” he asked, spreading his arms wide.

  “Yeah!” Adam and David cheered, crowding out the door.

  Jenna yanked her bag up off the tile floor and sighed, following after the boy brigade. So much for her perfect weekend.

  Grace sat at the breakfast bar in her kitchen on Friday afternoon, eating her afternoon snack and staring at her history textbook.

  She knew that she should be excited about her weekend at Greenwood Lake with her friends, but somehow she could just not get psyched with that big, ugly book laughing up at her. She took a sip of her milk and let out a huge, dramatic sigh.

  “Something wrong, Grace?” her mother asked, turning off the water in the kitchen sink. She wiped her hands on a towel and walked over. “Shouldn’t you be bouncing off the walls about now? Alyssa and her mom are going to be here to pick you up any second now.”

  “I know,” Grace said, tucking a stray lock of her curly red hair behind her ear. “It’s just . . . do I really have to bring . . . that?” she asked, throwing her hand out toward the thick book.

  “Grace,” her mother said in her stern, warning tone. “We’ve been over this and over this.”

  “I know,” Grace said. “It’s just this weekend is supposed to be fun. How am I going to have any fun if I have to study?”

  Her mother stood up straight and sighed. She looked, as always, perfectly put together in a pair of light khakis and a plaid button-down shirt. Grace wondered if she’d ever look that perfect and pressed in her life.

  “The only reason we’re letting you go on this trip is because we have a deal. Don’t tell me you’re trying to back out of it. Because if you want to stay home . . .”

  “No!” Grace blurted, suddenly on high alert. “No! I’ll make good on the deal. Two hours of studying each day.”

  “Exactly,” her mother said with a smile. “We only want you to pass that test on Tuesday. Because if you don’t pass the test, you might not pass history for the year. And if you don’t pass history for the year . . .”

  “I know. I know. Summer school,” Grace said, feeling heavy.

  “And if you have to go to summer school . . .”

  “It means I’ll have to miss the first three weeks of camp,” Grace finished. And that would be a nightmare. It would basically be the punishment to end all punishments. Grace could not miss out on camp. She only looked forward to it all year long from the moment she left her bunk for the last time in August until the moment she got back on the bus at the end of June. There was no way she could stay home from camp and study history instead.

  Grace k
new that she brought this upon herself. It was just that every time she opened her history textbook, something more important—and interesting—seemed to come up. Like IMs from her camp friends, or practice for the school play, or some great soap-opera marathon on cable.

  She’d just always thought she would have the time to catch up, but now time had pretty much run out.

  “But don’t you think it’s totally unfair to give a huge test the day after Memorial Day weekend?” Grace asked, getting up to put the bag of chocolate chip cookies back in the cupboard. “Come on, Mom. Even you have to admit that’s evil.”

  Grace’s mother hid a laugh behind her hand.

  “Doesn’t Mr. Joseph know that people have lives?” Grace added, throwing her hands out, hamming it up.

  Her mother shook her head and smiled. “I’m sure your friends won’t mind letting you alone for a few hours here and there this weekend,” she said. “After all, they’ve always helped you study in the past. Like that summer when you had to catch up on your reading?”

  Grace smiled. “Yeah. They were really great about that.”

  A horn tooted in the driveway and Grace’s excitement finally kicked in. “They’re here!” she cried, grabbing her mini suitcase and sleeping bag off the floor. “Bye, Mom!” she said, jumping up on her tiptoes to kiss her mother’s cheek. She turned and ran for the door, yanking her denim jacket from the hook in the hallway along the way.

  “Ahem!” Her mother cleared her throat loudly.

  Grace stopped in her tracks and turned around. Her mom was standing a few feet behind her, holding her history textbook up in one hand.

  Grace blushed.

  “Oops! Don’t know how I forgot that!” she joked, tromping back to her mother. She took the book in one arm and almost fell over from its weight. “That’s only the most important thing for me to bring!” she said.