Very Private List for Camp Success Read online

  Bob’s bike helmet covered all of her very short hair.

  Penelope felt a surge of disappointment. She couldn’t believe that Bob hadn’t stuck up for her. That disappointment brought a wave of loneliness.

  It was a type of loneliness Penelope had experienced many times before. But that was before she had a very best friend.

  ‘Are you OK, Pen?’ Bob whispered, as she took Penelope’s hand. ‘Let’s talk after this. Just the two of us?’

  Penelope nodded. She was relieved that Bob wanted to talk. Perhaps her friend was going to apologise? Even if it was a little bit late, Penelope would definitely accept Bob’s apology as graciously as she could.

  It felt like an excellent (and timely) reminder about how to steer a (very) best friendship.

  Penelope and Bob were sitting on a bench seat in the laundry block. They’d chosen it for privacy. All around them spun dryers filled with linen, filling the air with a low, warm hum.

  Penelope waited for Bob to speak. In fact, she waited quite a while. In the end she decided to start.

  ‘I forgive you,’ Penelope said.

  Bob looked at her and shook her head. ‘Geez, Pen,’ was all she said.

  Penelope frowned. Perhaps she needed to explain more. ‘Obviously, since you’re my very best friend, I expected you to stick up for me when Rita was being so mean. And I expected you to vote for me to be hut leader.’

  ‘Pen, you know Rita can be mean. But what you said, and how you said it …’ Bob made a motion with her hands. It looked like a rocket taking off into the sky. ‘You actually told her that everyone thinks she’s mean. And that she would be the worst leader in history. That was pretty mean too, when you think about it.’

  Sometimes, Penelope could not remember everything she had said during an outburst. Being reminded that she’d said Rita would be the worst leader in history gave her a bit of a headache. And the fact that Bob thought Penelope had been mean was upsetting. She rubbed her forehead.

  ‘I tried not to react, Bob. I really did.’

  ‘Rita will always try to make you go crazy, Pen. You can’t let her drive you nutso.’

  Penelope did not like the use of the word ‘nutso’. Still, Bob had a point.

  ‘You know, Tilly and I couldn’t care less whether you’re the leader or if Rita’s the leader or if there’s no leader at all,’ Bob continued. ‘Look, we don’t even really care if we win the competition. Not if it’s going to make everyone all grumpy and sad. What we do care about is having fun at camp.’

  Penelope scratched her head. It was very difficult to believe that Bob and Tilly didn’t care about winning the best hut competition. She actually understood Rita’s point of view better – Rita obviously cared about the competition as much as Penelope did. But one thing Penelope loved about Bob was that she never pretended to feel something she didn’t actually feel.

  Maybe that was more important than having a best friend who would vote for her no matter what. Even if it gave Penelope a headache.

  ‘I can be fun sometimes, can’t I?’ she asked.

  Bob nodded energetically.

  ‘The BEST fun,’ she declared. ‘Nutso fun!’

  Penelope stood up and held out her hand. When Bob took it, Penelope yanked her upright. Then she gave Bob a (friendly) punch in the arm.

  ‘Let’s go and have some fun,’ she said.

  It was just as well that Penelope and Bob found themselves sitting with Joanna and Eliza at dinner. If they’d had to sit with Rita, Penelope was not entirely sure what she would do. Ever since Bob had pointed out that she had been quite mean herself, Penelope felt a bit funny about seeing Rita again.

  ‘Maybe the best thing is to ignore Rita. She can do her own thing while we get on with making hut seven awesome,’ Penelope suggested to Bob.

  Although Penelope strongly believed that best hut competition tactics should be kept private, she didn’t bother whispering. The dining hall was very noisy. Across the table, Joanna was picking up peas from her plate and very sneakily (so the teachers couldn’t see) tossing them over to where the boys were sitting. It was very distracting, but Penelope tried to focus.

  ‘I was thinking we could position our spare shoes in the shape of a heart outside the door. And clean up and stack all the bags in a creative way. I also think it would be quite unique to label the recycling bin –’

  But before Penelope could finish her sentence, a glob of mashed potato flew neatly through the air and splattered on her cheek in a totally unacceptable way. Admittedly, Penelope could not imagine a glob of mashed potato splattering on her cheek in a way that was acceptable.

  Before she could get too cross, though, Alex was right beside her.

  ‘I am so, so sorry Penelope,’ he said, so sincerely that Penelope had to assume it was either a freak accident or that Alex was having another very odd moment.

  ‘That’s OK I guess, Alex,’ Penelope said, wiping her cheek with a napkin.

  But before Penelope could say another word, Alex was across the other side of the table rubbing a glob of mashed potato into Joanna’s hair.

  Joanna was just sitting there, letting it happen. Penelope decided Joanna must be in shock. Bits of mashed potato fell from her hair, covering the table in a kind of mini-avalanche.

  Then Joanna proceeded to have a fit. Of laughter. If she didn’t know better, Penelope would even say that Joanna looked delighted.

  Penelope was astonished. Why would having mashed potato rubbed into your hair be something to laugh about?

  Her face must have shown her puzzlement, because Bob leaned in and cupped Penelope’s ear, whispering, ‘They’re crushing on each other so bad.’

  Aha! Penelope thought about Alex showing off at the challenge swing, and sticking Florence up his jumper and bumping into Joanna. Now that Bob had pointed it out, her explanation did seem possible. But if crushing involved such strange and unusual behaviour, Penelope hoped it would NEVER happen to her.

  Still, she was grateful that Bob had shared this information. She would never have been able to figure it out without a very best friend to help her.

  Penelope was also extremely glad that she’d had that talk with Bob. Having a very best friend with totally different opinions could be a bit puzzling sometimes. And, clearly, Bob sometimes understood things that Penelope didn’t. But Penelope was beginning to think this was a GOOD thing. Even though it made Penelope see things in a way that sometimes gave her headaches, it was also pretty important.

  So when Bob told her she wanted to do bush cooking after dinner instead of coming to art with Penelope, Penelope didn’t make a big deal about it. In fact, she thought she was quite gracious about it.

  Penelope stifled a yawn as she walked back to the hut with Tilly after art.

  ‘Wow,’ Tilly said, pausing to look up at the night sky.

  ‘Wow,’ Penelope echoed, stopping beside her.

  The crescent moon hung above them, brighter and bigger than it ever looked in the city, and there seemed to be more stars in the sky than Penelope had ever seen before. It was a bit like the glow-in-the-dark planetarium ceiling in Grandpa George’s living room, but even more majestic.

  ‘It makes you feel small, doesn’t it?’ Tilly said. She nudged Penelope and giggled. ‘No offence. I mean for all of us, not just you.’

  Penelope smiled. ‘No offence taken,’ she said. She breathed in the fresh night air. ‘It makes me feel like there are so many possibilities.’

  Tilly nodded. ‘As though we’re a tiny jigsaw piece in something huge and special,’ she added.

  The girls gazed upwards in silence. The funny thing was, it was not an awkward silence at all. Penelope hadn’t had much one-on-one time with Tilly before. She hadn’t known that Tilly was so good at drawing until tonight, and she hadn’t known that Tilly thought the same sort of deep thoughts that sometimes ran around in Penelope’s own head.

  In a way, it had been good that Bob and Rita had chosen to do bush cooking, rather than ar
t. In fact, it was quite lovely to find another friend who enjoyed art as much as she did. Penelope and Tilly had drawn six very lovely pictures between them. There was only one blank wall in the hut (because of the bunks and the doors), but Penelope was already visualising some excellent ways to arrange their artwork. Plus, spending some time with just Tilly had been nice. Penelope was now quite sure that Tilly wasn’t the type of girl who would steal someone’s very best friend.

  Just then they heard a sound.

  ‘Woooo.’

  The girls looked at each other. Penelope smiled and nudged Tilly (she thought about pinching her, but decided it might be a bit early in their friendship). Even if she didn’t know Bob’s voice inside out and back-to-front, the shadow that was cast on the wall of the laundry block was unmistakeable.

  Tilly covered her mouth so she wouldn’t laugh out loud. ‘Maybe,’ she said, pausing. Then, ‘I think it’s the scariest kind of ghost. A Bob-shaped ghost!’

  ‘OK, you got me,’ Bob squealed, falling into step beside them.

  She had a loaf of charcoal-coloured damper, which she offered to Penelope and Tilly. They each tore off a bit.

  ‘It’s not bad,’ Tilly said, ‘if you like things burnt to a cinder.’

  ‘Mmm, crunchy,’ Penelope added. Perhaps it was because she was overtired, but everything was making her giggly. And those giggles were infectious.

  When they arrived back at hut seven, though, they stopped giggling.

  The porch light was switched on. Two rows of their shoes, set in the same pattern either side, created a walkway from the steps to the door. Rita had stuck red cardboard along the wooden floorboards. The effect was something like a home-made red carpet.

  ‘That looks so cool!’ Tilly exclaimed.

  She and Bob started to pretend they were movie stars, waving and blowing kisses at their imaginary audience.

  Penelope agreed that the entrance looked good. Maybe even better than her shoe heart would have looked. But she was wary.

  ‘I thought Rita did bush cooking with you,’ Penelope whispered to Bob.

  ‘She did,’ Bob replied. ‘But she said she was tired and came back early.’

  Now Penelope was even MORE wary. She followed the girls inside.

  Rita did look tired, but she had obviously not been resting.

  ‘So, fellow hut seven-sies,’ said Rita, ‘what do you think?’

  While the others told Rita how good the hut looked, Penelope made her own inspection. She could hardly believe how neat it was. All their bags and backpacks were stacked in order of size. The four camp booklets stood upright, fanned open in a neat row on the bench.

  When Penelope saw that Rita had made labels for the recycling bin and the rubbish bin, and stuck them on with blutack, she was quite impressed.

  But then she noticed that the drawer under the wardrobe was open, and empty. And that there was something stuck to the wall with blutack.

  ‘Ta-dah!’ Rita said, pointing at Penelope’s list. She was laughing. ‘I found it in the drawer.’ She turned to Bob and Tilly. ‘Can you even believe it? Isn’t it hysterical?’

  Penelope felt as though her heart had dropped out of her chest and landed in her tummy. It was possibly the most humiliating moment of her entire life.

  ‘That’s private, Rita,’ Penelope said, her voice wobbling. ‘It’s my PRIVATE list.’

  Penelope felt Bob move closer and put her arm around her.

  ‘I know!’ Rita giggled. ‘That’s what makes it so funny. It’s such a baby-ish thing to do. “Unless people are ABSOLUTELY mean,”’ she said in a mimicking way. ‘And I think I know all about rule number four, Penelope. You’re totally planning to chicken out of the challenge swing.’

  Penelope felt all the familiar beginnings of an outburst. The pulsing in her temples, the heat in her face. THE ANGRY WORDS BUBBLING INSIDE HER, GETTING READY TO LEAP OUT OF HER MOUTH.

  But something stopped her. Perhaps it was seeing the list there, with the words ‘No outbursts’ right in front of her. Or maybe it was Bob’s arm around her shoulders, and remembering Bob’s earlier comments. Bob was right. She couldn’t let Rita drive her nutso.

  Just then Tilly did something totally unexpected. As the other three watched, she went over to the wall and peeled the list off. She handed it to Penelope.

  ‘You shouldn’t do things like that, Rita,’ Tilly said. Her voice was a little bit wobbly. Tilly had never criticised Rita before. It was very brave of her, and it definitely made Penelope feel a little bit better.

  ‘Yeah, you really need to lay off Penelope, Rita,’ Bob added.

  Rita rolled her eyes as though the whole thing was no big deal, but Penelope could tell that she was quite shocked. Her eyebrows were knitted together, and she mumbled something about being the only normal one in the hut.

  Then Rita looked at the clock, which was now the only thing decorating the hut wall. ‘It’s lights out time,’ she said. ‘No talking. That’s a RULE.’

  It was eight minutes past midnight. Penelope was very tired, but she couldn’t stop thinking about everything that had happened on her first day at camp.

  Bob’s snoring wasn’t helping either. Honestly, it had taken her about thirty seconds to fall asleep. After tossing and turning in her sleeping bag for a while, Tilly seemed to have gone to sleep too.

  Penelope thought that Rita had also drifted off. But then Penelope heard her talking.

  ‘No. Don’t.’

  For a moment, Penelope thought she might be going to say something about putting her Very Private List on the wall. But there was something hazy about Rita’s voice that stopped Penelope from responding.

  ‘Not. Baby. Nooo. Janine, nooo.’

  This time, Rita’s words came out as kind of a moan, and Penelope understood what was happening. Rita was sleep-talking. She must have been having a dream. And whatever she was dreaming about didn’t sound very pleasant.

  Penelope thought she heard a little sob before Rita’s breathing became even again.

  Penelope could have done without Rita being in her hut. She could have done without Rita being in her whole life, actually. But she didn’t like to hear anyone being upset. Even if it was just a dream. She rolled over and tried to put it out of her mind. Dreams didn’t necessarily have anything to do with real life.

  Besides, the last thing she needed was to waste time feeling sorry for Rita Azul! She had a huge day looming ahead of her. The challenge swing was scheduled for 11 am.

  Penelope liked things to be Clear and Definite, but there was nothing Clear or Definite about what was going to happen at 11 am. Penelope still had no idea how she was going to handle the situation.

  No. Idea. At. All.

  Breakfast was strangely quiet. There were no food fights, and everyone seemed to be eating less than they had the day before. After breakfast, they all went on a beach walk. It was a lovely day, so perhaps they were just soaking that in. But Penelope had her doubts.

  One thing was certain. Her own tummy was flipping. Over and over again.

  On the way to the challenge swing, the tummy flipping got worse. Penelope was glad she had her very best friend right beside her. Near the front, Alex had started a Mexican wave, which rippled back towards Penelope and Bob. When it reached them, Penelope found that she couldn’t throw up her hands properly.

  ‘You know what, Pen?’ Bob said, turning towards her. ‘You look really pale. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks.’

  Penelope breathed deeply.

  ‘But you’re going to do it, right?’ she asked Bob.

  Bob nodded. ‘Yeah. I’m pumped to try it,’ she said (in her usual honest way, not in a pretending way). ‘But look. Plenty of kids are freaking out. Look at Felix Unger.’

  Penelope looked ahead. Felix Unger (who was actually excellent at most sports) was sneaking backwards. In fact, he sneaked right past them, moving to the very back of the queue. This seemed like a fairly goo
d clue that Felix was feeling nervous. It also seemed to Penelope like a Very Good idea.

  In fact, now she was looking around, Penelope could see that other kids were clearly feeling nervous too. Alison Cromwell turning around and going cross-eyed, then laughing in a crazy way, was another hint. Knowing she wasn’t the only one who felt anxious made Penelope feel a tiny bit better.

  Alex Gabriel went first. Penelope helped pull the rope with the others, but her arms felt extremely weak and the shouts of encouragement from the other kids were just background noise. All she could think about was how nervous she was.

  Penelope watched as Alex rose into the sky, higher and higher, until he was as high as the swing could possibly go. He didn’t hesitate before pulling the release handle. As he plummeted towards the ground he stretched his right arm out like Superman, just like he had said he would. He really did look like he was swooping down to rescue someone. But when he got off the swing he was just plain old show-off Alex, trying to get everyone in the queue to high-five him.

  Joanna was next up. ‘Oh my god,’ she squealed, after Ramone had secured the harness and told her she was good to go. ‘This thing’s giving me a massive wedgie!’

  Loads of kids laughed. Penelope tried to smile, but it was a difficult thing to do when she felt so drained and weak. Oscar Finley must have noticed, because straight after Joanna had her turn, he dropped out from his spot near the front of the queue and came over to her.

  ‘Are you OK, Penny?’ he asked. ‘You look kind of weird.’

  Penelope shook her head. Perhaps she should be pretending she was OK, but somehow she couldn’t find it in her.

  ‘Hey, Bob, do you mind if I take Penny back in the queue a bit?’ he asked.

  ‘Nope. Good idea, Oscar,’ Bob said kindly.

  With each step away from the challenge swing, Penelope felt a little better. Soon they reached the back of the line.

  ‘You don’t need to be nervous,’ Oscar said. ‘Just go as high as you want. I’ve been on one of these before. You get a jolt and it’s scary for a second. Then it’s just really good fun. You’ll be fine.’