Best (Boy)friend Forever #9 Read online

“If she doesn’t want to tell, she doesn’t want to tell,” Alex said, knocking a soccer ball back and forth between her feet under the table.

  “No, it’s okay,” Priya told her, deciding to go for it. This sitch was probably something she could use the girl-POV on. Even back at home, she didn’t hang with girls that much. She, Jordan, and her little brother—only one year littler—mostly did things together.

  “Well?” Gaby said again, her lower lip sticking out in a pout. She always pouted when she didn’t get what she wanted right when she wanted it. That or threw a tantrum.

  Priya sucked in a deep breath. But she still didn’t feel ready. So she took a long drink of bug juice. Choked on it. Then started to talk. “Um, you know that competition I have with Jordan?”

  “As in the competition that has required three visits to Nurse Helen?” Becky, their counselor, asked. It wasn’t all that much of a question.

  “Uh-huh.” Priya nodded. “But we aren’t doing anything that might require a nurse anymore. I swear. So, anyway, I was telling him that I’d give him three points if he’d eat a grasshopper—”

  “What?” Valerie burst out. Gaby’s pout opened up into an O of surprise.

  “Roseanne said she had chocolate-covered grasshoppers in the nature hut,” Grace explained. “Priya wasn’t going to just catch one in the field and make Jordan eat it with its legs kicking or anything.”

  “Oh, ew.” Abby wrinkled her nose.

  “Ew,” Candace echoed.

  “I’m sure they were sterilized or something,” Grace reassured Becky. “Roseanne wouldn’t offer us food—or whatever you call it—that would send us to the nurse.”

  “This doesn’t have anything to do with the grasshopper,” Priya said quickly. “See, Jordan said something after I gave him the grasshopper challenge. Something, um, weird. I don’t know what it means.” Her words came out faster and faster. “Maybeitdoesn’tmeananything.”

  “You should sign up for drama next time,” Brynn said loudly and slowly. “You need to do some work on your e-nun-ci-a-tion.” She winked.

  “So tell us what he said already,” Gaby ordered.

  Priya reached for her glass of bug juice again, then told herself not to be such a chicken. “He said that if I wanted to give him a really extreme challenge, I should make him kiss someone.”

  Sophie, their CIT, put a bowl of sort of old looking fruit on their table and lingered, ears wide open.

  “Ooooh.” Grace leaned closer.

  “Yeah, ooooh,” Candace said.

  “I need more details,” Valerie told Priya. “Was there anyone else in the group when you two were talking about the kissing thing?”

  “No,” Priya answered. “He didn’t exactly whisper it. But he leaned in. He was definitely only talking to me. I thought maybe my ears were full of wax. Or, actually, I was hoping that was it. I was hoping I didn’t hear him right. But I know I did. I know that he said I should make him kiss someone. And Jordan’s never, ever used that word before. Maybe he doesn’t know what it means. You think that could be it? I heard him right, but he meant something totally else? Like, I don’t know, he wants to play a variation of dodgeball with somebody.”

  “Kiss is a one syllable word,” Valerie said. “I think you learn it when you’re, like, two.”

  “Uh-huh. It’s like I said,” Gaby burst out. “Maybe Jordan isn’t your boyfriend right now. But he wants to be! I was right!”

  “It does sound as if Jordan liiiikes you,” Sarah said. And Sarah should know. She’d just found out that this guy David liked her.

  “Sounds like maybe he even wants to kiss you,” Abby added. “As gross as that is.”

  “Priya and Jordan, climbing a tree,” Brynn began with a grin.

  “K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” Grace and Valerie joined in, giggling.

  “No way. We’re buds, compadres, amigos, uh, pals, um . . .” Priya’s voice trailed off. She couldn’t think of any more words.

  “Mates, chums,” Grace volunteered as she peeled one of the mushy bananas.

  “Jordan’s my best friend,” Priya told the group, going for the simple truth. “You don’t go around kissing your best friend.” Because if you did, they wouldn’t be your best friend anymore. And she couldn’t imagine her world without Jordan as her best friend. Even trying to think about it made her feel empty inside.

  “But wasn’t there that movie with Ashton Kutcher and Amanda somebody where they’re best friends and then they fall in love?” Sophie asked.

  “Yeah,” Valerie answered. “So just because he’s your friend, doesn’t mean he couldn’t end up feeling something else,” she told Priya.

  “You guys, you’re freakin’ me out. And I was already freaked out because I thought that what Jordan said meant he was ready to jump into the boyfriend/ girlfriend thing with some girl. I was weirded out thinking he wanted to kiss any girl. Forget about me!”

  “Maybe he was just talking about kissing in a general kind of way,” Alex said. “Don’t go into a total meltdown.”

  “Right. You’re right. I’ll try to stay solid.” Priya sucked in a deep breath. “Here’s another theory. Jordan and I are always daring each other to do extreme things. Right before he brought up the kissing thing, I’d just dared him to eat a grasshopper. So maybe he was just trying to think of something worse and kissing was the worst thing he could come up with.”

  Yeah. That makes total sense, Priya thought. Except for that part where Jordan goes into a minor freak if his mashed potatoes touch his salad dressing. Eating a grasshopper has to be very, very high on his list of worsts.

  “And that was the very worst thing he could come up with?” Valerie shook her head, her braids flopping around her face. “That would make him one sick boy. I mean, there are many bad things in the world.”

  “Would it really be so absolutely, completely terrible to be boyfriend/girlfriend with Jordan? I mean, it’s been pretty clear all summer he’s into you,” Sarah said, and Priya was horrified to see half her table nodding in agreement. Her bunkmates always teased her about Jordan. But she thought they were just . . . just teasing. She never thought any of them really believed there was something going on between them.

  “Maybe not the kissing thing. At least not right away,” Sarah added. A slight blush crept up her neck and into her cheeks. “I definitely wanted to punch David when I first thought he liked me, but now it’s really cool.”

  “But you guys weren’t ever best friends like me and Jordan,” Priya answered. “You found out pretty fast that he liked you liked you. And he probably knew from the beginning. Jordan—he’s almost like my brother. I know you guys always laugh when I say that. But I’ve seen him pick his nose, okay?”

  “Too much information,” Abby cried.

  “Yeah, too much,” Candace agreed.

  “Yeah, I think I’ll take myself back to the kitchen now,” Sophie said. She gave them a little wave as she hurried away.

  “I just couldn’t think of him as a boyfriend,” Priya said. She let out a long sigh. “Anyway, he was probably just kidding around. Right?”

  Nobody answered fast enough for her.

  “Right,” Priya said, answering her own question.

  But not quite convincing herself.

  Priya headed out of the mess hall and turned toward the rec room, then hesitated. After dinner there was always some free time before whatever activity was on for the night, and she and Jordan and a few guys from his bunk usually met up for a game of Spoons, this card game where the winner could make the loser eat a spoonful of whatever they wanted (as long as it was food). It was very hard on the loser if the loser was a wimpy food freakazoid named Jordan. Not that he lost that often. He was excellent at Spoons. Priya was pretty darn good herself. Most the time they both ended up stealthing it over to the kitchen to whip up something disgusting for some loser to choke down.

  It was always total fun. Except . . . except tonight, especially after her discussion with the girls of 4C, there wou
ld be a big ick factor to hanging with Jordan. What if he brought up kissing again? Or just looked at her in a like her like her way? Or looked at any girl in the rec center in a like like way? She might puke—before she even had to eat one spoonful of whatever.

  Sarah, Valerie, and Grace headed by. “Hey!” Priya said, way too loudly. “Um, what are you guys doing tonight?”

  “We’re going to make some lanyards,” Sarah answered, sounding a little surprised. Maybe because Priya had never shown any interest in their free-time plans before. She hung with her bunkmates during the bunk activities—and had a lot of fun with them. But her free time was Jordan, Jordan, and more Jordan. “We want to see if you can make them out of licorice whips—you know, those really thin ones. Grace got some in a care package.”

  “You want to make some, too?” Grace asked.

  “I don’t know how,” Priya admitted. Lanyard-making was way too tame for the Who’s-the-Most-Extreme Challenge, even though practically everyone at camp made them, and traded them, and gave them to their friends.

  “It’s totally easy,” Valerie told her. “We can teach you.”

  They seemed like they really wanted her to say yes. Hanging with the girls—it could be okay. And even if the lanyard thing was sort of boring, there wouldn’t be any ick factor.

  Why did Jordan have to go and mess everything up? Why couldn’t things be the way they had before? When she knew exactly what it would be like to hang with him? When there was zero possibility of an ick factor? When she could still trust her very best friend to act like her very best friend?

  But she couldn’t. She couldn’t totally trust Jordan anymore.

  “That would be great!” Priya exclaimed. “Let’s do it!”

  chapter TWO

  Priya pulled in a deep lungful of morning air, waiting for Dr. Steve to get the Wednesday flag-raising started. It was like she was absorbing part of the sunrise into her body. How could anybody not be a morning person? She started to suck in another breath—then her chest tightened, and tightened, and tightened. Until there was no room for any O2. Not even a molecule.

  The sight of Jordan approaching the flagpole made it impossible for her to breathe. She hadn’t seen him since yesterday at dinner. Hadn’t talked to him since he used the K word. Last night, she’d told Becky she had a stomachache and bailed on the singdown scheduled after free time. She just hadn’t been able to deal with the possibility of another up close and personal encounter with Jordan yesterday.

  Which Jordan is that over there by the flagpole? Priya wondered. Normal Jordan? Or the Jordan who wants to talk about kissing all the time? Okay, once. But still. Is it normal Jordan? Or weird Jordan? Her best friend? Or somebody else?

  “You all right?” Alex whispered. Alex always seemed to notice how everybody was feeling.

  Priya nodded, and the motion seemed to let some air into her lungs. She forced herself to keep her eyes on Jordan. He looked . . . normal. Yeah. Half asleep, like always. Jordan didn’t fully come alive until after breakfast. Also, like always, he was wearing one of the t-shirts he’d swiped from his older brother’s collection minutes before they left for camp. This one said “My Dog Can Lick Anyone.” Priya smiled. That was stupid. And funny. Just like Jordan. More air entered her lungs, and her chest uncrunched.

  He was probably just being stupid and funny with that kissing comment yesterday. He’d probably be totally normal when they had nature together this afternoon.

  Probably.

  “Okay, I need you to partner up,” Roseanne called when the group was gathered in the nature shack that afternoon.

  Jordan knocked shoulders with Priya, assuming they’d team it. He was still exhibiting signs of normalcy. As usual, he was chomping on a wad of banana gum that could choke a whale. And, also as usual, his sneakers were emitting an odor that was noxious enough to kill off a raccoon. Not that Priya cared. Her own sneakers didn’t smell so great, but she did spray them down with Lysol once in a while.

  “I know that you’ve probably all done scavenger hunts at camp,” Roseanne said, “but today we’re going to do one that’s a little different.” She walked around the room, handing a list to each team. “Everything you’ll be looking for can be found in nature.”

  “We are going to rock this,” Jordan told Priya.

  “Totally,” she agreed. He was acting normal, so she was starting to feel pretty normal, too. And relieved. Big-time relieved.

  “The team that gets back here with all the items first wins a prize,” Roseanne added.

  “If it’s a box of chocolate-covered grasshoppers, I’ll be moving very, very slowly,” Grace called out with a grin.

  “Would I do that to you?” Roseanne teased. She shook her head. “No grasshoppers. Or ants. Or other insects. I promise. Oh, and I forgot to say, it’s okay to bring things back to show for the scavenger hunt, obviously. There are specimen buckets against the wall. But treat the great outdoors gently, all right? You know the motto—”

  “Be nice to nature,” the group said along with Roseanne.

  “Right. Now, on your marks, get set—go!” Roseanne cried.

  Priya and Jordan bolted for the specimen buckets. They each grabbed one and were the first team out the door. “Let’s do the search on the trail that loops around the lake,” Priya suggested.

  “You got it, chief,” Jordan answered as they ran.

  Chief. She could deal with that. Chief, captain, supreme ruler of the universe—all good. So were buddy, pal, compadre, amigo, mate, and whatever that other one Grace had come up with was. Just not girlfriend.

  Jordan skidded to a halt when they hit the lakeside trail. “We gotta slow down or we’ll miss stuff.”

  “Yep,” Priya agreed. “So read me the list.”

  “Smooth rock, smooth-edged leaf, something that feels nice, Y-shaped stick, someone’s food, a pebble smaller than a pea, something prickly, something with four legs, something that you could use as a natural spoon,” Jordan rattled off.

  “I have half a piece of toast in my pocket, but I guess that’s not the kind of ‘someone’s food’ Roseanne was thinking of,” Priya told him. Toast was the Lakeview chef’s specialty. Priya always tried to grab at least an extra piece to get her through the grossness of the rest of the food.

  “Jordan want toast. Give toast Jordan,” he said, doing his Frankenstein imitation.

  Priya pulled the toast out of her pocket and jammed the whole thing in her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry. Was this what you wanted?” she asked sweetly, giving him a good look at the mushy bread.

  “You are damaged,” Jordan told her. “And where were you last night? I had a completely repulsive mixture all planned out for your first defeat. Did you get tired of losing or what?”

  “The girls in my bunk, uh, wanted to do this thing together,” Priya said. It was the first time she’d lied to Jordan. It made her feel like she’d just eaten a gallon of whatever disgusting mixture he’d had planned for her. What was the point of having a best friend if you lied to him?

  “I thought I saw Sarah and David,” Jordan commented.

  “Yeah, I had to be there early to . . . help with set up for the . . . thing,” Priya answered quickly, hoping she didn’t sound as phony to Jordan as she did to herself.

  “You weren’t at the singdown, either,” Jordan said. “I would have heard your beautiful voice from anywhere.” Jordan always teased her about her voice. It was anti-beautiful.

  “After the thing, I got a stomachache, so I got permission to go to bed early.” Geez, now a lie on top of a lie. She wanted to confess everything. Everything except for the reason for the lies. She didn’t want to go there with Jordan. She wanted to erase that moment from history. Just snip out that one moment when Jordan brought up kissing.

  “Hey, I see one of the things on the list!” Jordan carefully stepped off the path. “Close you eyes,” he told Priya.

  “O-kay,” she said, shutting her eyes. Wait, is he going to kiss me? came the sudden,
unwelcome thought. Was this what a first kiss was like? She’d never thought about it. She’d never talked about it with girlfriends. She didn’t really have girlfriends like that. Did a boy just tell you to shut your eyes—and do it?

  No, Priya told herself. That’s not what’s happening. He’s being all normal. You’re crazy. And when he was talking about the kissing, he wasn’t necessarily talking about kissing you. Or anybody. He was just kidding around.

  But every muscle in her face tensed. Her lips tightened into a skinny line. Then she felt it . . . something soft, and smooth, and wet, and cool against her cheek. “Feels good, doesn’t it?” Jordan asked.

  The cool wet thing was still pressed against her skin—so it couldn’t be his mouth, ’cause he’d be using his mouth for talking. She relaxed a tiny bit. “Yeah, sorta,” she admitted.

  “Open ’em up,” Jordan ordered.

  Her eyes snapped open. And she saw the snail Jordan was holding up against her face, its soft, smooth, wet, cool snail body against her skin. Priya let out a snort of laughter. “That’s one down. Let’s find the rest,” she told him. Her bones all felt as soft as the snail. That’s how relieved she was.

  If Jordan had kissed her, that would have been it. Friendship over. She’d never be able to look at him again. Forget about talk to him. It would have been too . . . humiliating. And weird. And just wrong.

  Jordan put the snail into his specimen bucket. Priya added a pine needle to hers. “Smooth-edged leaf,” she noted. “A pine needle counts as a leaf, right?”

  “I’m pretty sure,” Jordan said.

  “We should divide up the area.” Priya swung her bucket back and forth as she walked. “You take the ground to the left of the trail. I’ll take the right.”

  “Cool.” Jordan started to scan the ground to the left of the trail. “You know that guy Zach from my bunk?”

  “Yeah.” Priya paused. She thought she’d seen a Y-shaped branch. She crouched down. Nope. It was a short branch lying at an angle against this longer one. She stood up. “What about him?”