Camp Confidential 01 - Natalie's Secret Read Online Free PDF Page A

a CIT. She’s good friends with Marissa so you’ll meet her soon, I’m sure.”

    “Oh, we have electives with the boys?” Natalie asked. Suddenly, camp was sounding just a little more interesting.

    Jenna shuddered. “Unfortunately. For most of the day, you travel with your bunk to different activities, but twice a day you get to go to your electives, and those are a mix of everyone in our age division. Oh, and they have swim sessions and meals with us, too. We’re gonna have to stick together if we want to avoid getting splashed. Although,” Jenna leaned in, a mischievous look on her face, “I’m usually pretty good at pulling pranks on them and stuff. They never know what hit ’em.”

    Natalie nodded. “Good to know.” At this point, she was more interested in scoping out the boys than in playing pranks on them. Was that going to be just one more thing that set her apart from her bunkmates? She pushed herself up from the ground and dusted any stray grass off her legs. Nature was turning out to be very . . . well, messy. “I’m gonna toss my trash. Does anyone have anything for me to throw out?” she offered. Jenna and Alyssa shook their heads no.

    Natalie fought her way through a swarm of nasty-looking insects and gingerly tossed her plate and utensils into the garbage can. A bit of mayonnaise splashed up onto her arm, making her a prime target of the insects’ interest. “Oh, ick,” she grumbled, and wandered toward the barbecue table to grab a napkin to clean herself up.

    “Look, he said there are a ton of hot dogs left.”

    “But, um, I still have my hamburger, Chelsea.”

    Natalie turned to see Chelsea and Karen standing next to the barbecue table, apparently in the midst of some serious negotiations. It was plain to see that Karen definitely did have an entire hamburger sitting untouched on her plate. Which Chelsea definitely had designs on. Natalie watched the exchange with curiosity.

    “Come on, Karen, I’m starving. And I’m allergic to hot dogs. Don’t you want to do me a favor?” Chelsea pressed.

    “Well, but . . . I mean . . . how can you be allergic to hot dogs? Or, I mean, if you’re allergic to hot dogs, then wouldn’t you also be allergic to hamburgers?”

    “Well, okay,” Chelsea said, quickly backtracking, “I’m not exactly allergic. But it’s, like, I really don’t like them and they really make me sick. Ever since I was little. Anyway,” she continued, “my mother is going to send me up a care package next week, and I can totally hook you up. I mean, wouldn’t you want a pack of Twizzlers or something? That’s fair, right?”

    Karen looked unconvinced, but she was obviously afraid to stand up to Chelsea. “Um, I guess,” she said. “Yeah, fine.” She pushed her plate at Chelsea and walked away, her head down.

    “Wait a minute!” Chelsea called after her, smiling like the cat that had swallowed the canary. “Don’t you even want to get a hot dog?”

    Karen rushed off, not bothering to answer. Natalie observed the entire exchange silently, thinking. She didn’t like what she had just seen. Was Chelsea some kind of bully?

     
 
“Where’d you go? We thought you’d, like, fallen into the garbage can or something,” Grace teased when Natalie had made her way back to the bunk. “Or were you having a little last-minute hot-dog-eating contest?”

    Before Natalie could answer, she was interrupted by the sound of hoots, whistles, and feet stamping on the ground. She glanced over and saw that Alex and Jenna were the cause of the commotion. They were hissing and booing at a group of girls walking by.

    “What’s the sitch?” Natalie asked, turning to Grace, who had also joined in on the shrieking and hollering.

    “It’s bunk 3A,” Grace explained between whistles. “They’re our rivals.”

    “Based on what?” Natalie asked.

    “Oh, gosh, I don’t even remember anymore. They’ve played all kinds of jokes on us over the last few summers.