Friends Forever? (9 page)

 

The dining hall buzzed with excitement as the seventh graders discussed their transformed cabins.

“What did you guys do to your cabin?” Jen asked Marcus.

“He can't tell you,” Conrad said. “Or he'll have to kill you.” He high-fived Marcus, Jasper, and Landon, who were laughing.

“That's a horrible thing to say!” Jen protested.

“It's just an expression,” Conrad said. “It means ‘you'll find out when everyone else does.'”

“Maybe you can get Jasper to tell you,” Jen whispered to Zee.

Zee looked at Jasper, who was still laughing. “I don't
think so,” Zee said. “After a few days living with those guys, I think he's gone over to the dark side.”

Jen gave Zee a nudge with her elbow, then wiggled her eyebrows. “How about Landon?”

Landon was also looking Zee's way.
Ohmylanta!
Zee silently groaned. Had he heard Jen?

Luckily, Ms. Merriweather distracted Landon when she shouted, “All right! Settle down. It's time to tour the cabins.” Table by table, the hall quieted. “After you clear your trays, you may go see what your classmates have done. Then come to the main lodge to cast your ballot.”

The Beans hurried out of the dining hall. They were dying to see how their cabins compared to the others. The first stop for the cabin-one girls was cabin two. As they rushed up the steps, Kathi pushed her way to the front.

“Oh my gosh!” Kathi squealed. “This is so amazing!” The boys had re-created the Brookdale Academy campus. The garden beds that Chloe and Jasper had planned for their big science project were on one wall. Rain barrels and miniature versions of the school's giant solar tracking panels were on others.

“Are those real carrots?” Missy asked.

Kathi looked nervous. “Do you think they'll beat us?” she wondered out loud.

“I don't know,” Zee said. “It's really good.” She turned to Chloe. “But so is ours.”

“I think this one might be better than ours,” Ally said. “Way better.”

“We should go look at the others,” Zee suggested.

The girls moved from cabin to cabin. Ally had a really positive comment for every transformation but not for her own cabin.

“It's going to be tough for us to beat everyone else,” Ally pointed out as the girls walked to the lodge to cast their votes.

Chloe didn't say anything. And Zee didn't know how to respond, either. Why was Ally being so negative? In the end, they had used some of her ideas, and it looked like she was having a good time working with Missy. Something was obviously bothering Ally—something big. And Zee wished she knew what it was so she could fix it.

 

That evening the light from the campfire bounced off the eager seventh graders' faces. As soon as Mr. P arrived, Conrad shouted, “When are you going to announce that cabin two won the decorating contest?”

The other students laughed.

“I'll announce the winner at the end of the campfire
tonight,” Mr. P told him.

“So it's us?” Marcus asked.

“I didn't say that,” Mr. P answered.

Conrad looked at his group. “That means it's us,” he told them.

Mr. P shook his head and tried to hold back a smile. Zee laughed, too, then realized it was the first time she'd felt happy since the cabin decorating contest had begun.

It was hard to concentrate on that night's singing and games. Even the s'mores weren't enough to distract Zee from the contest.

Finally, Mr. P put her out of her misery. “It's time for the moment you've all been waiting for. And the winner is—” He paused, holding up the trophy that would go to the winning cabin.

“Hey!” Marcus interrupted.

“Isn't that a bowling trophy?”

Mr. P waited for the laughter to die down. “Cabin one.”

Zee rocketed off her bench and cheered. Kathi raced up to get the trophy from Mr. P. All the other girls jumped and hugged one another. Except Ally. She stayed seated and smiled weakly.
When Zee turned around, she was surprised to see Ally looking so sad.

 

Later that night while Kathi read aloud a personality quiz from
Flip
magazine, Zee wrote in her diary. Ally sat quietly on her bunk and faced the wall as she scribbled something in a notebook.

Zee stopped writing and looked at Chloe, who was smiling and talking to the other girls, and Ally, who continued to write without looking up. She seemed so lonely.
Flip
was Ally's favorite magazine. But she was acting like she wasn't interested in the quiz.

At the rehearsal for the talent show the next day, Zee's group had borrowed props from other campers and gotten permission to use a few items from the camp's lost and found. Ally giggled and smiled as she slicked back Jasper's hair with gel.

Zee was glad that Ally hadn't abandoned the skit, although she suspected that was only because of Jasper.

“Mr. P!” Ally shouted to the teacher. “Come show Jasper how to move like a real rock star.”

“You must have mistaken
me
for a real rock star,” Mr. P joked.

“Ha ha,” Ally said sarcastically. “Zee told me that you used to be in a band that toured Europe.”

“And now he has a new band,” Jasper told Ally. “It's called the Crew.”

“Please,” Ally pleaded with Mr. P.

“Okay,” Mr. P agreed. He positioned Jasper's hands on his bass. He showed Jasper how to hang his head and bob it
up and down in time to the music. Then he told Jasper to slide his right foot out in front of his body and tap his toes to keep the beat.

Ally clapped her hands excitedly. “Doesn't he look awesome?” she asked Zee and Chloe. Zee was happy to see Ally in such a good mood—and thrilled that Ally didn't seem mad anymore.

Outlined by the turned-up collar of a black leather jacket, Jasper's face turned red. Zee couldn't believe Jasper's transformation. He looked really good—like himself but also like someone completely new.

“Okay, guys,” Ally announced once Jasper had his part figured out. “I worked on the final choreography last night.”

Cool beans!
Zee thought.
That's what she was writing in her notebook!

“I was thinking that Jasper could start out offstage,” Ally began, standing straight. “The girls could start out in a row. Zee, you stand here.” She gestured to a spot on her left, then her right. “And, Chloe, you stand here.”

Zee and Chloe took their positions. Then Ally demonstrated the first few dance moves.

“Awesome!” Chloe said. “Let's try it.”

Ally counted off a beat, and the three girls stepped
and turned together as though they'd been practicing for a week.

Zee smiled as she looked at her friends. It was great to have everyone back together again.

“What's next?” Zee asked.

Ally took the girls through a few more steps. “Then Jasper comes up.” She waved him onto the stage. “He walks up to me and taps me on the shoulder. Of course, when I see him, I go completely crazy. Then I calm down and go like this.” Ally took three steps toward Jasper, snapping to the
beat. “And here's what you do, Jasper.” She showed Jasper how to shimmy down, then cross his legs and spin around.

“Brilliant!” Jasper exclaimed.

“What about us?” Chloe asked. “What do we do while you and Jasper are dancing?”

“Oh, right,” Ally said. “You go to the back of the stage. Zee will play her guitar, and you can sing backup, Chloe.”

“Backup?” Chloe sounded annoyed.

Ally nodded. “For now.”

Zee looked nervously at Chloe. “Umm…should Chloe and I just practice the music while you guys work on this part of the dance routine?” Zee asked Ally.

“Yeah,” Ally said. “That's a good idea.”

Zee hurried Chloe off to the side and pulled her guitar out of its case.

“Why don't you start out with a solo,” Zee suggested. “I'll play along and join in singing on the second verse.”

Chloe's face beamed. “That's so nice. Thanks.” Zee strummed her guitar as Chloe sang, hoping Chloe would forget about Ally and the dance routine.

But when the girls finished the song, Chloe glared at Ally, who was in the midst of a flirty walk across the stage.

“When are we going to get a chance to dance?” Chloe asked.

“Ally said we'd do it later,” Zee reminded her.

“I'm not so sure about that. The group doesn't get very much time to perform. This part is going to take it all up.”

Finally, Ally and Jasper took a break.

“I have a suggestion,” Chloe said in a forceful voice.

Uh-oh,
Zee thought. A funny feeling crept through her.

“What?” Ally asked Chloe suspiciously.

“I think that maybe we should take turns so that everyone has a chance to be out front,” Chloe explained.

“That doesn't make sense,” Ally said. “The dance is kind of like a skit with characters. I think the story could get too confusing with too many leads.”

“Confusing to who?” Chloe asked.

“To the audience,” Ally told her. “But don't worry. I have some really cool moves for you guys to do behind Jasper and me.”

“I think the audience will be able to figure the story out,” Chloe said.

“I did all the work,” Ally pointed out. “You didn't do anything.”

“You didn't give me—or Zee—a chance,” Chloe protested.

Ally looked at Zee. Zee felt stuck between her two closest friends. “I don't care if I get a bigger role,” Zee said.

“See?” Ally said to Chloe, then gave Zee a smile.

Chloe looked hurt.

“But it does seem fair to trade off if Chloe doesn't feel like she's getting a turn,” Zee continued. “After all, she doesn't even have an instrument to play.”

“The cabin decoration was Chloe's idea,” Ally said. “This is my idea.”

“But everyone had an equal part in the cabin decorating—and the trophy belongs to all of us,” Zee responded.