Last Chance Summer - Shannon Klare Page 0,24

heavy metal bell clanked. Camper sign-ins were officially over, and I was already down a camper. Five fourteen-year-olds were more manageable than six. With any luck, I’d lose another two or three to sunburns and mosquito bites.

I stood, hands on my hips as I tried to muster a smile to counteract the butterflies swirling in my stomach. They couldn’t smell fear, could they?

“Welcome to camp,” I said, looking at them.

They answered me with collective grumbles.

“I’m your counselor, Alex. I just wanted to take a minute to let you know how happy—”

“Yeah, yeah. Where’s the pool?” the blonde girl said, dragging a black-and-white swimsuit from her bag. “I need some rays. Hear me?”

“The pool is closed until tomorrow,” I said, maintaining a smile. “But I’ll be happy to give you the lowdown on that later. If you want.”

“How ’bout you give us the info now and spare everyone the boring and basic welcome to camp speech,” the blonde girl said, arching a brow. “Pretty sure I speak for everyone when I say the generic crap is highly overrated.”

“Geez, Brie, at least give her five minutes to tell us what’s up,” the girl beside her said, shaking her head. This girl had shorter hair, pushed away from her scalp and pulled into a wayward pixie cut. She was makeup-less, her olive complexion accentuated by her dark hair and even darker eyes.

She tugged on the ends of her hair, leaving the strands messier. “You’ll have to get over Brie’s lack of social ability,” she said, looking at me. “She doesn’t do well with people. It has something to do with her lack of tact and basic human skills.”

“I don’t do well with people?!” Brie said. “Uh-uh. You’re the one who landed herself on house arrest for beating up that girl.”

“She was a rat,” the dark-haired girl said.

“Fair enough,” Brie said, shrugging.

“What did she rat you out on?” another girl said, studying the pair.

“Go ahead, Jess,” Brie said. “Was it a straightener you stole? Makeup? Tampons? There’ve been so many things I’ve lost track.”

“It was a watch,” Jess said, flipping her off. “And it was Michael Kors so don’t act like it wasn’t worth the punishment.”

Jess looked at me, shaking her head. “Now, if we’re done discussing my rap sheet, I would like to listen to what Alex has to say about camp. Carry on, Alex. You’re happy for what?”

“Y’all being here,” I said, feeding into the assumption of genericness Brie called me out on. I cleared my throat, straightening beneath five pairs of eyes. “I’m so excited for everyone to get to know each other.”

“You want us to get to know each other?” Brie said, grinning. “Then what? We can braid each other’s hair and trade fashion secrets?”

“Quit being a jerk,” Jess said, tossing a pillow at her.

Brie caught it before it hit her face, her black polished nails digging into the pillowcase. “Throw one more thing at me,” she said. “One more and I’ll—”

Jess threw the pillow from the bed beside her, missing Brie but hitting another girl in the process. Accident or not, the unsuspecting victim launched upright. She was hovering over Jess in 2.5 seconds, screaming.

“Come at me, Jess. Come at me.”

“Girl, you know I’d rip those fake-ass extensions out your head,” Jess said, getting in her face.

“Whoa. Whoa,” I said, moving toward them.

“Nah,” the other girl said, closing the distance. “She’s had a problem with me since we got on that bus up in Gainesville. She’s lucky she made the ride down here.”

“You’ve had a problem with me longer than that,” Jess said, fists at her side.

“Because you think you run everything!” the girl said. “You don’t run nothing but your mouth.”

“I’m ’bout to run my fists upside your head, you little—”

The girl collided with Jess hard enough to knock her into the cot. I froze for a second, the string of events playing in slo-mo as Jess bolted upright and lunged for the girl.

“No. No. No,” I said, maneuvering through the oversized plastic totes between them and me.

I tripped as Brie sprinted across the room, throwing herself into the mix. Her hand found a lock of red hair at the back of the girl’s head. She dragged the other girl backward, pulling her off Jess while I scrambled upright.

“Stop it!” I screamed, racing after them. They barreled into the screen door, landing in a heap on the front porch.

I sprinted through the opening, reaching Brie first. Her steel grip of painted fingernails stayed latched on to the other