They pretended to be busy reading booksâexcept that Jennaâs copy of Are You There God? Itâs Me, Margaret was upside down.
âSo, Alex,â Brynn said, sitting down next to her. âSorry about that and all. You know how Chelsea is,â Brynn added loudly so Chelsea would hear.
Chelsea just gave herâand everyone elseâan evil eye.
âItâs nothing,â Alex answered, even though comments like that were everything to her. She was glad that Brynn had at least noticed how hurt Alex had been.
âSo, are we on for tomorrow night then?â Brynn asked, sitting down next to Alex on her bed like she always did.
Alexâs throat got tight again. I canât believe what I did! She had just promised to be at Julieâs banquet planning meeting! She wanted to be at that meeting with all the counselors. She wanted to help plan the big dinner and play Scrabble with them afterward! But she had promised to help Brynn paint the Peter Pan set for the big show tomorrow night.
Ugh, Alex thought. How did things ever get so complicated? She had double-booked, and she couldnât have picked a worse time to do it. Brynn had just started acting like she wasnât mad anymore! Apparently, she hadnât been completely unaffected by Alexâs clash with Chelsea. That, at least, was something, Alex thought. Though it didnât exactly solve the current problem.
âSo, we are, right?â Brynn said, looking at Alex with her puppy eyes. âI really hoped you could help us.â
Alex was no good at painting. She kind of hated it, too. Her mother had made her do way too much of it when she was a little kid. She had only told Brynn she would do it to be nice. She was, however, good at Scrabble. She did like organizing the formal banquet. She would get a say in the menu, and that would be awesome, too.
âBrynn, please donât be mad at me, but I told Julie Iâd be at a banquet-planning meeting tomorrow night,â Alex said, wishing she had brought her pocket organizer to camp.
âYouâve got to be kidding me,â Brynn said, her voice getting louder and louder. âAfter today with the swimming and everything?â Brynn stood up, a sure sign that big time theatrics were on the way.
âPlease, just try to understand,â Alex said, thinking that sheâd rather yank off her ponytail at the roots than endure her third fight of the day.
âUnderstand what?â Brynn yelled, acting like sheâd yank out Alexâs ponytail for her. âWhat? That youâd rather hang out with Valerie and Julie and whoever else than with me? I get it just fine.â
âI think we need to talk about this. This is not how best friends are supposed to act,â Alex said, trying to keep her voice steady.
âOh yeah, like youâre the poster girl for how to be a best friend,â Brynn said again, getting all evil-eyed. âKind of like you were earlier today?â
âYou need to get a grip, you are so totally blowing this out of proportion!â Alex yelled. Immediately, she wished sheâd just counted to ten first. She knew it was always better to chill outâbut Brynn was making that so hard to do!
âLadies, back to your corners,â Grace said, trying to ease the tension with a joke.
â Grace!â Alex and Brynn shouted in unison.
All eyes were back on Alex for the second time in five minutes. Sheâd had the most up-and-down day of anyone at camp. She had never been in this many fights with Brynnâor anyone elseâbefore. Jenna and Alex clashed sometimes, but they always worked it out. They never yelled, either.
Alex really didnât know what to do. Arguing was not her style, and she just wasnât used to it. She felt herself mentally checking out of the situation. She just wanted to run out into the woodsâand run and run and run. She couldnât make Brynn happy, and she was tired of
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