Holly's Heart Collection Two (47 page)

We laughed along with him. That was Mr. Keller. He spoke precisely what was on his mind. The nice thing about people like that is you always know exactly what’s expected. Exactly where you stand.

As for standing, we lined up when we sight-read the second song. I stood proudly with my Sisters of Silence, ignoring Jared, Danny, and Stan. Billy Hill was missing. Evidently, he was out riding a horse…making a statement.

After choir, we had fifteen minutes before afternoon devotions. My sisters were headed off to the rest rooms when I explained that I was going to hunt down some rubber bands.

Mr. Boyce’s office was housed in a former boys’ cabin. The exterior was even more rustic than the other cabins, and I noticed several chairs lined up on the porch. Apparently the counselors had gathered there for their meeting.

I felt strange marching off in the direction of the camp director’s cabin. Jared seemed uneasy, too, when I passed him standing near the flagpole. I made a point to walk with determination—straight for Mr. Boyce’s office.

“Holly!” Jared called to me. “Let’s talk!”

Oh, yeah, Wilkins. Not on your life.

Suddenly it dawned on me why Jared might be so concerned. Maybe he thought I was going to report him for taking my hair tie. This was perfect.

“Holly!” Jared said again. “Wait up!”

I chuckled to myself. Jared was playing right into my hands.

He caught up with me. “Where’re you going?”

I spun around. “Where do you
think
I’m going?”

“Hey, relax,” he said, taking a step backward. “This is camp, remember?”

“I remember, all right,” I said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to see Mr. Boyce.”

He glanced anxiously at the camp director’s office just ahead. “C’mon, Holly, lighten up.”

“Later.” I pushed past him.

“Wait, you’re not gonna—”

“Not gonna what?”

“Listen, Holly, will you drop this if I give your hair thing back?”

Bingo!

I turned around, holding out my hand silently. Jared reached into his pocket and pulled out my pink hair tie.

Looking around, I hoped my sisters weren’t watching.
Extended conversation.
The words pounded my brain.

Here I was less than two hours into the pact, and I had already broken the first rule.

Twice.

NO GUYS PACT

Chapter 13

“Happy now?” Jared asked me.

I ignored him, trying to make up for the pact rule I’d already fractured.

He cleared his throat. “Uh, Holly, could I ask you a favor?”

“Nope.”

“C’mon. We’re still friends, aren’t we?”

“That depends.”

“Look, I think you could be a little, uh…”

“What?” I snapped.

“A little friendlier” came the reply.

“Forget you.”

“Why?” he asked. “What’s going on?”

“None of your business.” I turned, clutching my hair tie, and ran across the grassy area toward the path leading to the girls’ rest room. At last I could get rid of this crazy hair bun!

I heard a group of kids laughing and talking as they came up the slope from horseback riding class. Several girls from Buena Vista were there, along with Billy Hill.

I darted inside the bathrooms, yanking the pencil out of my mound of hair. Like a waterfall, my hair cascaded around me. So much for bun head!

Luckily, my cabin sisters were still there. They’d finished washing up, and now they were primping in front of the mirrors.

“Look, everyone.” I waved the hair tie at them. “I got it back!”

They crowded around me, buzzing. “How did you do it?” Andie asked.

I peered under a few stalls. “Anyone else here?” I asked. No way did I want outsiders overhearing what I was about to say.

“It’s just us,” Amy-Liz piped up.

“Good.” And I told them what I had done.

Shauna and Joy listened intently as I told my tale. Kayla and Paula stopped combing their hair and stood spellbound, brushes in hand. Andie looked on with ever-widening eyes.

“But,” I concluded, making a face, “I feel bad that I had to break the pact to get my hair tie back. I said I wouldn’t have any extended conversation with a boy, and—”

“Well, you didn’t talk to him
that
long!” Shauna interrupted.

“Besides,” Amy-Liz chimed in, “you had to get your hair tie back.”

“And in a decidedly clever manner!” Paula observed.

My Sisters of Silence were so sweet and forgiving that I began to calm down and feel better. Until Andie spoke up.

“Okay, enough sympathy,” she said, clapping her hands briskly. Her dark eyes were fixed on me. “Holly broke the very first rule of our pact. It’s not the end of the world, but it should never happen again.”

I looked around, hoping to get some support, but they all looked down at their shoes, refusing to meet my gaze. The Sisters of Silence were
too
silent. Here I was, supposedly on friendly—
sisterly
—turf, having just suffered a tremendous blow to my self-esteem, and Andie sounded like she was threatening to kick me out of my own secret society.

“I know I’ll do better next time,” I said. Just then Todd’s smiling face flashed into my mind. Would I be able to keep from talking to
him
next time?

The girls’ solemn faces told me I’d better—or else.

NO GUYS PACT

Chapter 14

The bell rang for devotions at that precise moment, so my pact-breaking transgression was forgotten in the rush to the main hall. Danny was seated behind the pulpit with Mr. Boyce and Pastor Rob. I nudged Andie, rolling my eyes. “Look who’s going to preach,” I joked. “It’s Pastor Danny.”

Sure enough. After Mr. Boyce opened with prayer and Pastor Rob led us in a few songs, Danny stood up and gave a high-and-mighty exposition on a verse in Ephesians—about becoming mature in the faith. I sure hoped Jared was paying attention.

Todd was sitting two rows in front of me. His hair was charmingly messy. I could tell he wasn’t a guy who was always checking himself out in a mirror. Not like Jared—Mr. Vanity himself.

Then I caught myself.
C’mon, Holly
, I scolded
. Ignore the boys—all boys. Cute and troublesome alike.

The secret society must come first.
Besides, there’s always next summer,
I thought, proud that I was sticking to my resolution.

After chapel, Todd came up to me. “Hey, Holly,” he said, falling in step with me.

My face grew warm.

“Last one to Cabin B’s a poached egg!” Andie announced as we approached the front entrance.

Amy-Liz, Shauna, and Joy dashed off, leaving the Miller twins and me behind. They gave me a searching glance. I could tell they’d noticed Todd with me.

“Let’s go,” I shouted, thankful for a graceful excuse to ignore Todd. Speeding up, I forced myself to match strides with Paula and Kayla. They had been on the track team during spring semester and were still in great shape.

The thing that slowed me down was the steep slope leading to our cabin. At last, exhausted from lack of sleep and too winded to go on, I slowed down. That’s when I saw Rhonna.

She was coming out of the camp office, and her eyes were red. Had she been crying?

“Hey, Rhonna,” I said.

She smiled a little. “How were devotions?” she asked. But I could tell she was making small talk.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She nodded quickly, then shrugged her shoulders. “Well…no, I guess I’m not,” she said. “Truth is, I was just talking to my mom. She and my dad are going through a pretty nasty divorce.”

“Oh,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

“Your parents are divorced, right?” Rhonna asked. I had explained my weird family situation during the introduction time.

“Yeah. It was really hard for me,” I said. “But that was a long time ago.”

She had a faraway look in her dark eyes. “The only thing that seems to help these days is running. I get up early and jog till I drop. Every day.”

I hardly knew what more to say, even though she seemed so open and friendly—not nearly as adult and distant as I’d expected.

“Maybe your parents will work things out,” I offered—the fantasy I’d entertained in my own mind and heart for many years.

“No hope of that, Holly,” she said softly. “Unfortunately.”

“I’m sorry.”

She nodded, adjusting her red cap. “So am I.”

That seemed to end our conversation—at least that aspect of it. Now I knew what had drawn me to her earlier. Now I understood the pain in her eyes. I determined to keep the information private. Just between the two of us.

When we arrived at the cabin, Kayla was applying mascara to her already dark lashes. Joy and Shauna leaned into the wall mirror like Siamese twins attached at the shoulders.

Andie was obviously ready for supper; in fact, it appeared that she couldn’t wait another minute. She reached under her bunk and pulled a blueberry muffin out of a shoe box.

Not surprised, I watched her hide her stash of leftovers under her bed. “You’re not hoarding food, are you?” I teased.

She didn’t seem to mind. “It’s just in case I get hungry in the middle of the night.”

Reaching for my brush, I unbraided my hair, brushed it out, then rebraided. Since the cabin was a bit crowded, I went outside and sat on the porch, waiting for the rest of the girls.

Rhonna sat on the porch, too, Bible in hand. I didn’t know if she was preparing for our evening devotions—or finding some comfort in her situation. I let her read quietly.

I thought of the secret pact and wondered what Rhonna would think of the drastic measures my Sisters of Silence and I had taken.

The supper bell rang. Five-thirty.

Rhonna closed her Bible, then gave me a sweet “don’t-worry-about-me” smile. It seemed that reading God’s Word had helped.

“Girls!” she called, clapping her hands together.

When we’d all gathered on the porch, she announced, “We’re going to have fun tonight. We have plans to get all of you interacting with one another.”

Andie looked at me, frowning. “Like how?”

“You’ll see,” Rhonna said secretively.

“Tell us!” we girls shouted, swarming her.

Rhonna wrinkled her nose. “Among other things, you get to pick someone you don’t know and spend ten minutes talking to that person.”

I groaned inwardly. This could be real tricky for the SOS! The rest of the girls stared wide-eyed.

“What?” Rhonna said, raising her hands. “Did I say something wrong?”

Andie rolled her eyes. “Oh no. Nothing at all.”

Rhonna looked surprised. Probably at the lack of enthusiasm from us and the sarcastic way Andie had responded. “C’mon, girls, here’s your chance to meet some new guys,” she prodded, obviously thinking we’d be overjoyed at the thought.

Guys?
Right.

The mere mention of the word made us sick.

NO GUYS PACT

Chapter 15

At supper, we filled up one whole table. We took our sweet time eating, chattering about the events of the first day at camp. But we avoided any mention of the pact since Rhonna was sharing the meal with us.

But we certainly did ignore the boys—in spite of their continuous attempts to get our attention. All through supper, Stan, Billy, Danny, and of course, Jared kept watching us.

Once, Danny strolled past our table, obviously going out of his way to get seconds. Not one of us spoke as he waved, smiled, and then…frowned. Andie nearly choked trying to keep a straight face.

To make the boys even more curious, we got into a string of joke telling.

Andie got us started. “What did the upper denture say to the lower denture?” she asked.

Kayla bit. “What?”

“We’re going out tonight,” Andie said.

“O-o-oh, Andie,” the girls groaned. “Sick joke.”

And we knew the guys wondered what on earth was so funny.

“Here’s another one,” Andie said, glancing over at the guys’ table. “It’s better.”

“It
better
be,” I said.

“What kind of boat does a dentist like best?”

None of us knew.

Andie grinned. “A tooth ferry!”

Then came a flood of camp riddles. Shauna started; then the Miller twins each had a turn. I kept waiting for Rhonna to share a good riddle. But she was silent, observing, not really joining in with the rest of us. “Hey, I know,” Andie spoke up. “Here’s a joke I just made up.”

She glanced at me. “Did you know Jared spent all night trying to wake up his sleeping bag?”

We laughed, forgetting ourselves for the moment. Rhonna looked around at us, a small frown on her face. “Who’s Jared?” she asked when we’d calmed down a bit.

We shot glances at each other. But no one said a word. The pact thing was top secret. Not even a cool counselor was allowed to be clued in.