events for separate ages and group events where everyone gets involved, and thereâre cheers and pranks andââ
âWhoa,â Andie interrupted, laughing at Jenna. âDonât forget to breathe.â
Jenna giggled and gulped in air. âSorry . . . I love Color War.â
âSounds . . . active,â Tori said, actually looking a little frightened by the idea of spoiling one of her perfectly matched outfits. Only Tori and Nat would worry about something like that.
âIt totally is!â Alex said, echoing Jennaâs enthusiasm. She loved Color War more than anything, too. âThereâs soccer, basketball, swimming, croquet, tug of war, and Scrabble.â
âAlex was the Scrabble champion last year,â Adam said, shooting Alex a grin.
Alexâs cheeks looked like two round strawberries for a few seconds, and she smiled shyly back at Adam. âAnd, um, then thereâs blob tag,â she continued, âand one year we even had sumo pudding wrestling.â
âIt sounds really messy,â Tori said. âBut okay, I guess.â
âItâs more than okay,â Jenna said. âItâs fantastic! One of the best parts of camp.â
Last year, she and Alex had been on the winning Blue team. Theyâd had so much fun together, even after Alex had to sit out during the soccer match because her blood sugar got too low. Color War was one of the best memories she had of every summer. But now what did she have to look forward to?
She sighed. âIâm not going to be able to compete at all this year.â
âDonât say that,â Karen said. âWeâll figure something out.â
âYeah,â Nat agreed. âNobody sits on the sidelines during Color War, cast or no cast.â
âI know youâre not really into drama that much, but maybe you could play a part in Into the Woods , too,â Grace said hopefully. âJust to give it a try. You might like it.â
âThereâs a part with crutches?â Jenna asked doubtfully.
âYou could be a tree,â Grace offered, twirling one of her flame-colored curls around her finger thoughtfully.
âA tree,â Jenna repeated, deadpan. â Great . Nope, youâre the actress, not me. Iâd make a lousy tree. I wouldnât be able to remember all the lines.â She tried to stifle a huge yawn, but it broke loose, and Andie picked up on it right away.
âOkay, itâs way past curfew for all of you,â Andie said with mock scolding in her voice. âLet our patient get some rest now.â
âNo,â Jenna started to protest, but then she yawned again against her will, and Alex, Adam, Brynn, and Grace waved good-bye while the other girls scattered around the room to get ready for bed. Jenna gladly let Andie help her slip into her pajamas, and, with a sigh of relief, she crawled into bed. But trying to sleep on her side, like she normally did, wasnât too comfortable with the heavy cast on her leg. After a few minutes trying to get settled, she flopped onto her back and stared at the slats in the top bunk above her, listening to everyone elseâs deep, peaceful breathing. She didnât know how long she lay there before drifting off to sleep, but when she finally did, she dreamt that she was sitting alone in her bunk, totally forgotten, as everyone else had a blast during Color War.
chapter FOUR
Jenna opened her eyes to see the sun shining in from the bunkâs window the next morning, and she grinned. Another perfect day for soccer! She sat up in bed, feeling her adrenaline pumping already, and threw back her covers. And thatâs when the truth came crashing down on her, in the form of her new anvil-like cast. She remembered everything nowâthe groundhog hole, the emergency room, and the no-more-soccer doctorâs orders. She frowned and gave her pillow a punch for good measure.
Then she weighed her options.
Xara X. Piper;Xanakas Vaughn