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sent this sweet care package with all these cookies and chocolate — that Ashley saw and tattled on me for having, but only after Gabby had already stolen some — but I STILL hadn’t gotten anything from any of my friends, or Mal for that matter. It was really starting to bother me. I had sent Mal two videos and the rest of my friends postcards (that was all they were getting, I had finally decided). But I had gotten nothing in return. I was
thisclose
to asking Court to borrow her secret phone so I could call Mal just to make sure she was still breathing.
    Thump.
I put down the first pitcher of OJ at a table full of rowdy boys. I was about to put the next pitcher down at a table of peeps, when I heard my own bunk whining and yelling my name. The benefit of being a CIT instead of a full-fledged counselor was that you still got to eat most meals with your own bunk rather than your charges.
    “Thirsty! I’m dying of thirst!” Courtney motioned to her throat and pretended to be choking.
    I brought the pitcher over and placed it by Court, Grace, and Em.
    Gabby moaned. “No fair! I want it first.”
    “Ew,” Ashley said. “Sam brought us one with pulp. I would never drink pulp,” she complained. “Bring me another pitcher.” Ashley had on cool pajamas. Hers were these cute boy shorts and one of those fitted logo tees that said “Everything in Miami is Hotter.” Why didn’t I have pajamas like those to wear for kitchen duty?
    “Ash,” Meg warned, “this is the OJ we have today. If you don’t like it, drink milk.”
    “NW,” groaned Gabby. “I’d rather drink H2O. It’s better for you, anyway.”
    I gave Meg an appreciative glance, then crouched down next to my friends. They leaned in closely.
    “I’m on kitchen duty with Cole,” I told them quietly. Em squealed.
    “It’s a sign!” she said dreamily. “You have to tell him you made a mistake and you don’t like Hunter, you like him.”
    “That will look good, Em,” Grace said sarcastically. “Cole, I know I never actually admitted I liked Hunter, but I’ve decided I don’t like him now, I like you!”
    Em and Court glared at her, but I groaned. “Grace is right. There is no way to tell Cole without it sounding bad.”
    Em cleared her throat. “Maybe it’s time we had a
longer
conversation about this,” she said empathically. “One with the sleepaway girls.”
    “Huh?” At first, that statement didn’t make sense to me. Then I realized what Em was talking about. We needed to have a sleepaway girl taping to discuss my Cole problem. It would be our first one.
    “It’s definitely time,” Grace said excitedly.
    “I smell a midnight sneak-out,” Court whispered. “We could do it Wednesday night when the counselors have their weekly meeting.”
    “I don’t know,” I said nervously. “What if we get caught?”
    “We do it every year,” Grace told me. And if Grace was that calm, then maybe it was not as big a deal as I thought it was.
    My stomach growled and Em laughed. “That hungry, huh?”
    I nodded. “I’m starving and it all looks good today.” I was dying for some pancakes.
    Court pushed over a plate piled high with eggs, bacon, pancakes, and fruit. “We saved you a little of everything.” She looked guilty. “But I’m having a hard time resisting the pancakes. They’re calling my name and they’re the last ones.”
    “You can have them if you want,” I said without thinking.
    “Sam, you haven’t had any yet!” Grace pointed out. “Court’s already had three.”
    “But I’m still hungry,” Court whined.
    “Take mine,” I insisted. “There’s plenty of other stuff I can eat.”
    “Here she goes again,” Grace muttered.
    “What?” I asked.
    Ashley interrupted our conversation loudly. “Meg, isn’t Sam supposed to be on kitchen duty, not talking to people?”
    She smiled nastily at me and I gave her a dirty look. As much as I wanted to do otherwise, I was still choosing the non-confrontational route when