âIs it your stomach again?â
âYes,â Zee explained. âIâm afraid something might be wrong.â
âItâs probably nothing,â Ally said. âOnce you eat, youâll feel better.â
Chloe looked from Ally to Zee. âI dunno. I think you should visit the nurse.â
âOh yeah,â Ally quickly said, slipping her hand throughZeeâs arm. âIâll go with you if you want.â
Zee waved her hand in the air dismissively. She realized the nurse might send her home. Sheâd love to be back with her parents, sleeping under her cozy comforter at night and taking a warm shower in the morning, but she was not going to miss all the camp fun. âYou guys go ahead. Iâll meet you at the dining hall.â She grabbed the mesh bag sheâd decorated with Jibbitz. âI still have to go to the bathhouse.â
âOkay,â Chloe said, âbut donât take too long. We donât have much time before the other seventh graders get there. You donât wanna miss breakfast.â
âIâm not so sure about that,â Ally said.
âWhat do you mean?â Chloe asked.
âBreakfast might be horrible,â Ally told her. âItâs not exactly French cuisine.â
âZee and I usually donât eat French food anyway,â Chloe pointed out. âAmerican food will be okay.â
Zee started to worry what Chloe might think of Ally. Even though Zee knew Ally wasnât a snob, Chloe might get the wrong idea.
âYou guys are never going to find out about the food unless you get there,â Zee said, heading toward the bathhouse. âSave me a seat!â
In the bathhouse, Zee put her bag near the sink, then headed toward one of the stalls.
Zee unzipped her shorts and gasped. A spot dotted her underwear. She rubbed her eyes and looked again. Still there. Her heart pounded. She looked closer. Then her mind flashed back to a recent conversation with her mother. The phrases floated through her head. âStomach cramps.â âTiredness.â âBlood.â
Suddenly, it all made sense. Zee had gotten her period!
âOhmylanta!â Zee said. âIs that even possible?â The book called Your Changing Body that her parents had given her had said sheâd get boobs first.
Wait! Zee thought. Maybe sheâd missed something. Maybe she had gotten boobs in the middle of the night. Excited, Zee looked down, but she was disappointed. She was as chest-free as ever. Figures.
Zee had bigger problems, though. She didnât have any pads or tampons, and there wasnât a drugstore for miles. What would she do? Where would she get some? Normally, if she needed a teacherâs help, sheâd ask Mr. P, but it wasnât like heâd have any pads.
After quickly brushing her teeth, Zee headed back to the cabin. She needed to change her underwear and figure out how to get supplies.
Kathi was stretched out on her bunk, furiously typing on her BlackBerry.
âAre you still here?â Zee asked.
Kathi didnât look at Zee or stop typing. âObviously.â
âBut youâre supposed to be helping out with kitchen duty,â Zee said. âDonât you want to have breakfast?â
âIâd rather miss breakfast than serve slop,â Kathi said. She typed with one hand as she reached into a bag that was next to her and pulled out a breakfast bar. âBesides, Iâve got my own stash.â
âWeâre not supposed to have food in the cabin,â Zee reminded her.
Kathi shrugged. âWhatev,â she said. âLetâs see Brookdale Academy kick me out. Theyâd have to kiss my parentsâ big checks good-bye.â
Zee knew the no-food-in-the-cabin rule was to keep animals out. The last thing she wanted was to bunk with a raccoonâall because of Kathiâs selfishness. But Zee didnât feel like confronting Kathi at the moment, so she