Camp Confidential 03 - Grace's Twist Read Online Free PDF Page B

around on the steps or at the one dilapidated picnic table out front. Natalie was doing Alyssa’s nails. Alex was reading lines with Brynn. Candace and Jessie were laughing over a magazine. Valerie and Sarah were practicing some kind of backflip. And Karen was French-braiding Chelsea’s hair. They were all paired up, happy in their best-friend twosomes. There was nowhere for Grace to fit in.
    How come she had never noticed this before?
    “Earth to Grace. Please return to Camp Lakeview,” Gaby said in a fake deep voice. “Are we hanging later or not?”
    “Why not?” Grace said. It wasn’t like her bunkmates would care. They already had their camp best friends. Obviously it was time for Grace to get one, too. And Gaby was the only one who seemed interested, even if she was a little hard to figure out sometimes. “I’ll meet you here.”
    “Cool.” Gaby started walking backward toward bunk 3A. “Later.”
    “Later,” Grace answered happily.

    Grace’s happiness didn’t last long. As soon as the bunk sat down for lunch in the mess hall, Chelsea turned to her. “You never told us what Julie wanted this morning,” she said loudly. “Or was it Kathleen who wanted to talk to you?”
    Grace froze with a forkful of bright orange mac and cheese halfway to her mouth. She really didn’t want to talk about that, especially not with the whole bunk listening. In fact, all she wanted to do was forget about this morning.
    Natalie and Alyssa exchanged a look. “Who cares what they wanted?” Natalie said. “Let’s talk about the field trip to WetWorld. I say we go on all the rides together. You know, to show our bunk 3C spirit!”
    “Yeah, let’s show our spirit,” Candace agreed. Grace couldn’t help smiling. You could always count on Candace for support. She never had much to say on her own, so she usually just repeated what everyone else said—as long as it was something nice.
    “But then what’s Grace going to do?” Chelsea asked. “Her new best friend is from 3A. She’ll have to be in two places at once!”
    A few of the girls laughed, and even Brynn and Alex smiled.
    Grace felt her face get hot. She knew her friends weren’t really mad at her for hanging out with Gaby. But Chelsea wasn’t just teasing—she was being snotty. She was always rude, and everyone in 3C knew it. So why were they laughing along with her as if she was just making a joke?
    Grace dropped her fork back down to her plate. She’d had enough of Chelsea’s nosiness and her attitude. If her other friends weren’t going to defend her, she’d just have to defend herself. “Maybe if my bunkmates acted more like friends are supposed to, I wouldn’t have to look for a best friend in 3A,” she snapped.
    Then she got up and stormed out of the mess hall, ignoring Nat and Brynn calling after her. How dare Chelsea try to tell her who to be friends with!
    Once she got outside, though, her stomach did a little flip. Had she really just yelled at all her bunkmates? They hadn’t meant to upset her, and she knew it. She’d probably even been too harsh to Chelsea.
    Grace sighed. She wasn’t mad at them. She was mad at herself, and she’d taken it out on them. How had she gotten herself into this mess?

chapter FOUR

    “But I don’t understand,” Grace said the next day in drama class. She was using a thick British accent and a deep voice. “How could a mouse have unlocked the door?”
    “Maybe he had a key,” Brynn answered shrilly. She stood on top of one of the black boxes, pretending it was a chair.
    “A mouse with a key? Preposterous!” Grace bellowed. “Everybody knows mice never use keys. They prefer to ring the doorbell!” She saw a tiny smile flicker across Brynn’s face, but Brynn quickly squelched it. Even though the improvisation exercise they were doing was silly, they both had to take it seriously in order to stay in character. It was hard, though, considering that all their classmates were laughing out loud.
    “All