The Curse of Camp Cold Lake

3

“Hey-thanks for trading bunks, Briana,” I said. “That was really nice of you.”

She nodded but didn’t say anything. Meg pulled open her trunk and started shoving shorts and T-shirts into her dresser drawer.

The third girl smiled at me. “Hi. I’m Janice,” she said. She had a raspy, hoarse voice. “Everyone calls me Jan.”

Jan had a nice smile. She had her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. She had dark blue eyes and red cheeks. She seemed to be blushing all the time.

“Were you here last summer?” I asked her.

She shook her head. “No. Briana and Meg were here. But this is my first summer. I went to tennis camp last year.”

“I’ve never been to any kind of camp,” I confessed. “I–I guess I’m a little nervous.”

“Are you a good swimmer?” Briana asked.

I shrugged. “Pretty good, I guess. I don’t swim much. I don’t really like it.”

Meg turned from her trunk. “You don’t like to swim, and you came to a water sports camp?”

Briana and Jan laughed.

I could feel my face grow hot. I didn’t want to tell them that my parents made me come to this camp. That just sounded too geeky. I didn’t know what to say.

“I… uh… I like other things,” I stammered.

“Oh-I love that swimsuit!” Briana declared. She pulled a bright yellow swimsuit from Meg’s trunk and held it up in front of her. “This is excellent!”

Meg tugged it back. “Like it would really fit you!” she muttered, rolling her eyes. Her braces clicked when she talked.

Meg looked a little like a bowling ball next to tall, graceful Briana.

“Did you lose weight over the winter?” Briana asked her. “You look great. Really, Meg.”

“I lost a little,” Meg replied. She sighed. “But I didn’t get any taller.”

“I grew about a foot this year,” I chimed in. “I’m the tallest girl in my school. Everyone stares at me when I walk through the halls.”

“Boo hoo,” Meg said sarcastically. “You’ve really got it tough. Would you rather be a shrimp like me?”

“Well… not really,” I replied.

Ooops. I realized I’d said the wrong thing.

I saw a flash of hurt in Meg’s eyes.

Why did I say that? I asked myself.

Why do I keep putting my foot in my mouth?

I picked up my backpack from where I had tossed it on the floor. I carried it to my bunk to unpack it.

“Hey-that’s mine! Put it down!” Jan came rushing over to me.

I glanced down at the backpack. “No. It’s mine,” I insisted.

I started to unzip it-and it fell off the bed.

A whole bunch of things fell out and clattered across the cabin floor.

“Oh!” I cried out in surprise. The stuff wasn’t mine.

I saw pill bottles. Medicine jars. And little plastic inhalers.

“Asthma medicine?” I cried.

Jan dropped to her knees and began gathering it all up. She glared up at me angrily. “Thanks a bunch, Sarah,” she growled. “Thanks for letting the whole world know I have asthma. Why don’t you stand up at the campfire tonight and announce it to the whole camp?”

“Sorry,” I murmured weakly.

“I told you it was my backpack,” Jan snapped.

Meg bent down and picked up an inhaler for Jan.

“Having asthma is nothing to be ashamed of,” she told Jan.

“Maybe I like to keep some things to myself,” Jan snapped. She shoved all the medicine into the pocket and grabbed the backpack away.

“Sorry,” I said again. “Really.”

All three girls glared at me. Briana shook her head. Meg tsk-tsked.

They hate me already, I thought.

I felt sick. Really sick.

They hate me, and it’s only the first day. The first hour.

With a sigh, I slumped down on my bunk.

Can things get any worse? I wondered.

Guess the answer to that.