Politically Incorrect (12 page)

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Authors: Melissa J. Morgan

BOOK: Politically Incorrect
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Natalie also knew that in most of her dad’s movies, there was a hero that came to the rescue in the end. A short while ago, Miles had shown up at her tent with a masterful plan that he and Sloan had hatched, which was totally going to save her butt.
“Yes, I can,” she replied. “You see, I was working on a skit about how littering affects the environment. So I collected all this refuse to use as props.”
“What about Tricia? How was she involved?” Miss Gonzales inquired, still not satisfied with Natalie’s explanation.
Natalie steeled herself and took a deep breath. “She wasn’t. In fact, since I couldn’t attend the planning meetings, I figured it would be cool to keep the skit a surprise until the start of the festival. That’s why I was kind of secretive when you first asked me.”
Dr. Steve beamed with appreciation. He believed this story hook, line, and sinker. “I knew there was a reasonable explanation, Natalie. I’m proud of you.”
Natalie wasn’t too proud of herself right now. Actually, she felt terrible for accepting Dr. Steve’s praise when Sloan was the one who had gotten her out of this mess.
“Can you tell us a bit more about the skit? It sounds like it could be avant-garde,” Miss Gonzales said curiously.
Natalie gulped. Apparently she wasn’t out of this mess yet—Miles hadn’t given her any details beyond what she’d already told them. Still, she was relieved that Miss Gonzales had taken the bait, too.
“Oh, it is. Actually, the skit combines . . . interpretive dance and music wiiiiith . . . performance poetry.”
She wanted to smack herself on the forehead. Interpretive dance and performance poetry? It was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard.
“Wow, I can’t wait to see that!” Dr. Steve practically cheered.
Natalie let out a small sigh. She couldn’t wait for the summer to be over.
By the time Natalie finally got up the courage to walk into her old bunk later that evening, everyone was so busy getting ready for dinner, they barely noticed her at first.
“Hey, guys,” she said apprehensively.
No one made a sound, except for Jenna, who mumbled an awkward “Hi.”
Natalie swallowed hard. This was going to be more difficult than she’d thought.
“I wanted to know . . . if it was okay for me to have my old bed back. The mattress in the counselor’s bunk is kind of lumpy.”
Actually, Natalie was being honest about this. She hadn’t been able to get comfortable in bed yesterday and had woken up several times throughout the night.
Priya rolled her eyes and Joanna let out a sarcastic laugh. Jenna looked down at her sneakers, Sarah furrowed her brow, and Brynn’s cheeks flushed a dark shade of pink. Chelsea looked as though she might cry.
As she looked at the pained expressions on her best friends’ faces—except for Sloan, who was currently MIA—Natalie realized that she had to tell them the truth about Tricia, regardless of whether it tarnished the girl’s image. She couldn’t risk losing the friendships she had made at camp. That was asking way too much of her.
After a drawn out silence, Jenna finally spoke up. “Natalie, we just don’t understand how you could have been so reckless.”
“Guys, if you’ll just listen to me, I’ll explain everything,” Natalie pleaded.
“This better be good,” Priya said sharply.
“Yeah, you really let us down, Nat,” Sarah added.
Natalie braced herself for what she was about to do.
“I know that I initially admitted that the trash was mine, but . . . I made it up,” she began.
“What do you mean?” Brynn asked. “You lied?”
“Yes, I did.” Natalie swallowed hard. “But I did it to protect someone. Someone important.”
Jenna looked perplexed. “Wait, are you saying that all of that junk was . . .
Tricia’s
?”
Natalie took a deep breath. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“Wow,” said Joanna, her mouth hanging open in shock.
“Tricia kind of has a cleanliness problem, and I’ve been picking up after her for the past few days,” Natalie went on. “I knew I couldn’t admit that to the reporters. They’d plaster it all over the place.”
Chelsea seemed stunned by this news. She just stared at Natalie, her eyes glazing over.
After another long, awkward silence, Jenna spoke up again. “Nat, that was a really honorable thing you did,” she said, laying a hand on her friend’s shoulder.
“We had a hard time believing you’d be that careless from the start,” Sarah said.
“I can only imagine how torn you must have felt,” said Priya.
It was like a weight had been lifted off Natalie’s shoulders. She was glad that she’d told her friends everything. Their support meant so much to her.
“Sloan is going to be very happy to hear this,” Joanna said.
“Actually, there’s another part of the story that you guys don’t know,” Natalie remarked.
“Oh, no. Is it bad news?” Brynn asked.
“It’s good news,” Natalie said with a smile. “Sloan was able to come up with a great excuse for why the trash was outside our bunk. The reporter bought it, so there won’t be any scandalous news article to print.”
“That’s incredible!” Priya said excitedly.
“What was the excuse?” Jenna asked,
“That the trash bags were actually for an anti-littering skit I was doing for the festival,” Natalie explained. “And now I have to go through with it, so I’ll need some help.”
“Count me in, Nat,” Joanna volunteered with a smile.
The rest of the girls nodded in agreement.
“Great! But first we have to find Sloan and thank her for everything,” Natalie said.
The sound of the dinner bell echoed through the camp’s new energy efficient speaker system, startling everyone for a second.
“Thank god. All this stress is making me hungry!” Jenna joked.
All the girls laughed, except for Chelsea, who looked more sullen than when Natalie had first walked into the tent.
“I bet we’ll run into Sloan at the dining hall,” Sarah commented.
“Yes, and then everything will go back to normal,” Brynn added.
Natalie smiled. She was hopeful that speaking to Sloan would go as smoothly as it had with her other friends.
“Not so fast, guys. We still don’t know who took those pictures and sent them to the
Gazette
,” Priya said.
“Yeah, that person has a lot to answer for,” Joanna agreed.
“Well, we can talk more about it over organic pork chops,” Jenna said, licking her lips. “Let’s go!”
As the girls filed out of the tent with a spring in their steps, Natalie caught a glimpse of Chelsea over her shoulder. She was sitting on her bed, staring out into space.
“Aren’t you going to come with us, Chelse?” Natalie asked.
“No, you go ahead. I’m not feeling so well,” Chelsea said.
Natalie remembered how Chelsea had told her how much she’d admired Tricia and how she’d wanted to get to know her so badly. Now that Natalie had revealed that Tricia was far from perfect, Chelsea must be really disappointed. That had to be why she was so sad.
“You want me to take you to see the nurse?” Natalie inquired.
“That’s okay. I’m just going to lie down here,” Chelsea said with a small smile.
As Natalie left the bunk, she couldn’t help but wonder how Tricia would react when she found out that Natalie had revealed the truth about Walla Walla’s newest camper.
Dinner was a bit of a bust for Natalie. Not only were the pork chops overcooked and tough, but Sloan was nowhere to be found. Natalie even went over to Miles’s table and asked him if he knew Sloan’s whereabouts, but he was just as clueless as everyone else.
The girls figured Sloan had gone back to the bunk or something—she’d had an exhausting day, after all. Natalie decided to make a visit to Tricia’s tent before heading back to her own. She knew she had to fill Tricia in on all that had gone down.
Natalie knocked on the tent door and waved hello to Shepard the bodyguard, who was busy talking with another member of the security team on his push-to-talk phone.
“Come in!” Tricia called out.
Natalie walked in and saw Tricia feeding a Chicken McNugget to her dog. Of course, there were McDonald’s bags and Styrofoam all over the floor next to Tricia’s bed.
You’ve got to be kidding me!
she thought.
“Hey, Natters! Where have you been?” Tricia said as Paris yelped.
“I was at dinner,” Natalie said with a sigh. “How is Paris feeling?”
“She’s such a brave girl,” Tricia said as she ruffled Paris’s fur. “She got a nice medicated bath and is totally flea free.”
“That’s great,” Natalie replied, quite unenthusiastically.
“So why is all your stuff gone?” Tricia said. “I was worried that someone, like, kidnapped you.”
Natalie rolled her eyes. Tricia hadn’t shown her a lot of consideration since she’d set foot on Camp Walla Walla soil, but the sweet look on her pretty face was going to make it hard for Natalie to tell her that her dirty, nasty garbage habits had almost cost Camp Walla Walla its reputation, and Natalie her friends.
I guess I’ll just ease into it.
“Well, I went back to my old bunk,” Natalie said. “My mattress there is so much more comfortable.”
Tricia gazed at Natalie with skepticism. “Why don’t you just tell me the truth?”
“What do you mean?” Natalie replied. “I am telling the truth.”
“You’re mad at me, aren’t you?”
“For what?”
“Wow, Nat, you’re a terrible liar. I guess your family’s acting gene must have skipped a generation.”
Natalie put her hands on her hips. “Excuse me?” she said defensively.
“First of all, I was kidding. Second of all, I’m the one who should be excused, Nat.” Tricia’s cheery face quickly turned pensive as she continued to pet Paris. “I feel so bad about everything that happened.”
“Wait, you know?”
“Yes, Dr. Steve left a message on my cell this afternoon,” Tricia said, her voice superserious. “And then Sloan stopped by a little while ago, looking for you.”
“Oh, I see,” Natalie said.
“I can’t believe that you took the rap for me. I also can’t believe what a slob I am. I’m not that way on purpose. I just forget. It’s something I really need to work on. Anyway, I just can’t thank you enough. You’re such a good friend.”
Although Natalie was touched that Tricia was finally showing some gratitude, Tricia’s use of the phrase “friend” made Natalie’s head throb, especially after all that she had gone through with her camp friends over this debacle. She had to set the record straight with Tricia here and now. Maybe she’d see the error of her ways.
“Look, Tricia. There a few things I want to say,” Natalie began. “I don’t really feel like I’m your friend just yet. Actually, I’ve kind of felt like your personal assistant.”
“I’m not following you,” Tricia said, perplexed.
Oh boy.
“Okay, um . . . I was supposed to show you around camp as a
friend
,” Natalie explained. “But you’ve been giving me so many things to do, and I’ve been cleaning up after you so much that—”
“Oh my gosh. Why didn’t you say something sooner?” Tricia’s eyes widened with surprise.
“I don’t know,” Natalie said, shrugging. “I suppose I didn’t want to hurt your feelings. I really wanted you to like it here.”
Tricia’s face fell a little and her posture stiffened. “I do like it here, Nat. A lot, in fact.”
Natalie grinned. She was happy to hear Tricia say that, regardless of how unbalanced their relationship had been.
“I’m glad,” Natalie said. “I mean, I’d like to be friends with you, just as long as it doesn’t feel like I work for you. There’s a big difference.”
Tricia sighed. “You’re absolutely right. I guess I’m not used to having
real
friends.”
Natalie could feel herself choking up, thinking of how her friends had rallied around her a little while ago. “I felt that way for a long time, too, especially when I first came to camp.”

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