Creature Comforts_The Extraordinarily Ordinary Life of Cassandra Jones Read online

  “You are so brave to have gone through that,” Alicia said, lingering at Cassie’s side.

  “Thanks,” Cassie said. She certainly hadn’t tried to be brave. She didn’t have a choice, really. She just had to endure it.

  Rainbow was already talking by the time Cassie and Alicia reached the pavilion. “ . . .the buddy system. So don’t ever go anywhere alone. And if you see someone without a buddy, make them join you and your buddy.”

  “Even to the bathroom?” someone called out.

  “Even to the bathroom,” Rainbow confirmed. “Even if that means waking your buddy up in the middle of the night to go to the outhouse. Your buddy will love you for that.”

  Several groans followed this, as well as some titters of laughter.

  “Outhouse?” Cassie said, glancing around the pavilion. Maybe she’d heard wrong. Certainly they had bathrooms here.

  Riley turned around and arched an eyebrow. “You mean you haven’t seen them yet? They’re the only bathrooms at Camp Splendor. We all have to use them.”

  “There are two outhouses, behind tents three and six. Make sure you close the door when you’re done, or the girls in those tents won’t be too happy!”

  More laughter. Cassie checked her tent. Number two. Whew.

  “The showers are communal and are behind the pavilion. You’ll have time for that before breakfast. Please shower and brush your teeth every day! After breakfast is pool time and outdoor activities, and then quiet time. That’s when you can take a nap or write letters home or to your boyfriends.” Rainbow made kissy noises. “Oh, and one last thing. No food in your tents. It attracts the wild animals. So if you have any, bring it up here.” She pushed a large plastic tub to the center of the pavilion. “I’ll lock it up, and when you want it, you can have it. Any questions?”

  Cassie couldn’t think of any. No one else raised their hands.

  “Then go get ready for bed and lights out, girls! I recommend leaving your tent flaps up unless it rains because it gets hot! I’ll be here if you need me!”

  Cassie changed into her pajamas in her tent, keeping her eyes focused on herself and hoping Emily and Riley were too. She didn’t like changing in front of people.

  Riley’s suitcase fell open with a slap, and she pulled out a bag of chips.

  “You’re going to turn that food in, right?” Cassie said.

  “No.” Riley wrinkled her nose at her. “It’s mine. I’ll eat it when I want.”

  “But what about the animals?” Emily chimed in.

  “That’s not really true. You’ll see. Besides, if you don’t tell Rainbow I have it, I’ll share it with you.”

  Cassie exchanged a look with Emily and shrugged. The animals would go through Riley’s stuff, not hers. “Sure.” She held her hand out. “Chips, please.”

  Riley glared, but she offered the bag to Cassie. Emily grabbed a handful too.

  Cassie grinned as she crunched on the salty morsels. This arrangement might work out after all.

  CHAPTER NINE

  TPed

  While Cassie enjoyed most things at camp, there were a few very big downfalls.

  Like the bugs. She was certain crickets were hopping over her face in the night. And when she woke up, bug bites covered every inch of her exposed skin. After four days, her arms reminded her of cheetah fur, with lots of spots everywhere.

  And the heat. She couldn't get in the pool because she couldn’t get her foot wet yet, so Cassie hovered with one side of her body draped in the water, the other side stretched out across the hot pavement. Sweat dripped down her face, and she resisted the urge to drink from the pool.

  And some of the counselors, who seemed to think Cassie was making up her foot condition to get special treatment, made things difficult for her. They rolled their eyes when she spoke, casting knowing glances at Rainbow.

  But the worst thing of all, the very worst, was the outhouses. The bugs loved the stinky out buildings, and Cassie crossed her eyes and pinched her nose every time she went inside, not wanting to think about the spiders in the seat beneath her or crawling on the ceiling above her. She missed the bedside commode at the hospital. She hated that Emily had to take her crutches and hold the door for her because she couldn’t just walk in and use the toilet herself.

  So it was with some relief that Cassie realized during lunch she needed to use the bathroom. The flushing toilets were just up the stairs from the mess hall, a climb she would gladly make. She waited until everyone finished eating and started to gather around the fireplace for singing time, then she turned to Alicia.

  “I really need to pee. Will you be my buddy?”

  “Of course,” Alicia said, brightening. She stood up, her body tall and lanky next to Cassie. She held the crutches steady so Cassie could get herself arranged.

  They went out the front door and headed for the stairs leading up to the bathrooms. Cassie had just put her crutches on the first step and started to swing her body upward when an adult voice called out to them.

  “Girls. Where are you going?”

  Cassie stopped and swiveled her head as the counselor came over. She didn’t know her name, but Cassie had seen her, with her head of poofy blond hair and huge collection of tie-dyed shirts. “We’re going to the bathroom,” Cassie said, though she suspected this information was self-explanatory.

  “The flushing toilets are for staff-only.” The counselor folded her arms across her ample chest.

  “Where am I supposed to go, then?” Cassie asked. Surely this woman didn’t really expect her to hold it.

  The counselor focused on Alicia. “Take her behind the mess hall. We put toilet paper in the woods for anyone who needs to go.”

  Cassie’s jaw dropped. She had seen girls climbing down the steep hill to the trees out back, but she hadn’t realized what they were doing.

  Alicia scrunched up her nose. “She’s on crutches.”

  The counselor shrugged. “If she needs to go that bad, she’ll make it.”

  Cassie was tempted to completely ignore the order and continue up to the flushing toilets. But the counselor hadn’t moved. She looked at Alicia, who shrugged.

  “I guess we better go,” the other girl said.

  Cassie felt the sweat gather along her forehead as she slowly maneuvered each crutch to the inclining ground in front of her.

  “Careful,” Alicia said, a hand on Cassie’s elbow to steady her. Or grab her if she lost her balance and fell.

  Cassie shot a glance forward and groaned. The forest edge looked so far away.

  “We’ll get there,” Alicia said. “One step at a time.”

  Cassie crutched on, trying not to pitch into the grass with each downward swing. Her clammy palms trembled, making the crutches even wobblier. It took all her strength to keep moving the wooden pegs ahead.

  Finally they broke through the edge of the forest, and Cassie breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Ew,” Alicia said.

  A quick glance around showed why. Small piles of excrement and toilet paper littered the forest floor in front of them.

  “Ugh,” Cassie said. “This is sick.” It was far worse than the outhouses, actually.

  “Um. Do you need help?”

  Cassie looked down at her hands, keeping herself up and mobilized by holding onto her crutches. She’d have to put her crutches down to do this. But she couldn’t stand without them. Was she expected to hop around or sit down?

  “No.” Cassie swiveled around and crutched out of the woods. “I’ll wait till we get to the outhouses.”

  “Are you sure?” Alicia asked, trailing behind her.

  “One-hundred percent.”

  The nurse’s truck was waiting in front of the mess hall when Cassie and Alicia returned. Cassie hobbled over as fast as she could and climbed inside, Alicia right behind her.

  “You’ve got to take me back to camp,” Cassie said, sitting down on the seat and squeezing her legs together.

  “Are you okay?” the nurse ask
ed.

  “I’ve got to pee,” she admitted, her face warming. “I can’t do it in the woods and they won’t let me use the bathroom up here. So I need the outhouse. Quickly.”

  The nurse frowned, the freckles under her clear blue eyes crinkling up. “They won’t let you use the bathroom here?”

  “She tried,” Alicia said. “One of the counselors made us hike into the woods.”

  The nurse huffed, her face turning pink. “That’s ridiculous. I’ll take you to the sickroom, Cassie. You can use the bathroom there. Anytime.”

  “Really?” Cassie exhaled with relief. Maybe from now on she only had to hold it until meal time.

  Too bad there was only one more day of camp.

  By the time she and Alicia (who also used the indoor bathroom) made it back to the campsite, all the other girls were there. It was quiet time, and Cassie climbed into her bed and pulled out her notebook paper.

  “What took you so long?” Riley asked, chewing on a licorice.

  “Long story,” Cassie said, reluctant to share it with her. Sometimes Riley was nice, but mostly she seemed annoyed with Cassie. She was right about the critters, at least. Nothing had tried to sneak into their tent.

  “Did you get hurt?” Emily asked.

  Cassie shook her head. “No. I needed to use the bathroom. So Alicia and I hiked down below the mess hall, but it was too hard to go while holding on to my crutches.” Saying it out loud, Cassie realized how ridiculous the situation had been. How could anyone expect a girl on crutches to use the bathroom in the woods? “So the nurse took me to her lodging and let me use the bathroom there.”

  “Oh, good,” Emily said. “That was nice.”

  “She shouldn't have done that,” Riley exploded, pieces of red licorice flecking her lips. “No campers are allowed in the adult bathrooms.”

  “It was the sickroom, Riley,” Cassie said. “Sick campers are allowed to go there. I’m practically sick.”

  “If you’re so sick, you shouldn’t be here!” Riley jumped up, her face red with anger. “You should have to follow the same rules as everyone else!” With that, she stomped out of the tent.

  “Don’t listen to her,” Emily said, rolling her eyes. “She’ll be back soon.”

  But Riley didn’t come back, except to grab her sleeping bag and pillow and leave again.

  “I guess she’s sleeping somewhere else,” Cassie said, her chest aching in spite of her anger.

  “We should tell Rainbow she has a secret stash of food here,” Emily said.

  Cassie considered that, then shook her head. “Then she’d have a reason to be mad at me.”

  “We should eat her food, at least.”

  Cassie laughed. “She probably won’t notice if we eat a little bit.”

  Tiffany sat down next to Cassie during evening crafts. While Cassie tried to form the intricate knots to her friendship bracelet, Tiffany said, “So it’s our last night and all, and Alicia and I really wanted to hang out with you. Do you think your tent mates would mind if we had a slumber party in your tent?”

  Riley would mind. Cassie knew in an instant that she wouldn’t be happy about it. But then she remembered something else, and she smiled. “My sister won’t care at all. And Riley already decided to stay in another tent tonight. So you and Alicia can sleep in our tent, no problem.”

  “Great!” Tiffany gave her a hug. “We’ll have so much fun. Alicia’s mom always sends her tons of food, and we keep forgetting to go up to the pavilion and get it. So we can stay up all night eating junk and telling stories!”

  Cassie’s heart lifted. “That will be great!”

  It ended up being six girls in all, tossing down sleeping bags and squeezing onto the cots in the tent. They tried to tell ghost stories, shining flashlights on their faces while they munched on skittles and peanut brittle, but Emily kept giggling or shrieking, and the stories always dissolved in laughter. Then their voices dropped to low whispers and they talked about boys and kissing. Cassie was only eleven and had never kissed a boy, but Alicia, who was thirteen, had already kissed one. Part of Cassie was embarrassed to listen to the experience, but another part of her was insanely curious.

  Someday, she’d kiss a boy. She had no idea who. What would it be like?

  *~*

  The morning came way too soon. Cassie buried her head in her sleeping bag at the sound of Rainbow’s voice yelling through the campsite. She poked her head back out, the outside air nipping at her face. It would be hot and muggy later, but right now, it was chilly. She reached a hand up and felt around her head until she found her glasses. Then she slipped them on, bringing the world into focus.

  Stretched out on Riley’s bed, Tiffany groaned. “We stayed up too late.” One foot dangled over the side of the cot above Alicia’s sleeping bag.

  “Yeah.” Alicia poked Tiffany’s bare foot. “Your fault.”

  “But it was fun.” Cassie pulled the rest of the way out of her sleeping bag, and the other girls roused themselves also.

  “Bathroom buddy!” one of them called.

  Cassie watched them head to the outhouse. She didn’t intend to use it again. She’d use the toilet in the sickroom, and after that, she’d be home.

  The tent slowly emptied until it was just Emily and Cassie. She rolled up her sleeping bag and sorted her suitcase. The nurse’s truck pulled up to the pavilion.

  “Buddy?” Cassie asked her sister.

  “Sure.”

  Emily slowed down so Cassie could hobble along beside her. Although she’d spent all week practicing walking, Cassie still couldn’t put weight on her foot for very long. She watched the rest of the girls line up at the trailhead. Maybe next year.

  “Hey, Cassie.”

  She turned her head to see Riley approaching. The skin around her eyes was swollen, and her face had a pinched, tired look.

  Cassie hesitated. Had Riley come to yell at her? Did she know Cassie and Emily had eaten her cookies? “What?”

  “Can I be your buddy to breakfast?”

  Cassie lifted her eyebrows. She hadn’t expected that. She glanced at Emily, who shrugged.

  “Yeah, sure, I guess,” Cassie said.

  “I’ll see you there,” Emily said, running off to join the line.

  It was the first time Riley had been Cassie’s buddy all week. They climbed into the nurse’s truck, and Cassie kept sneaking glances at Riley.

  “Are you okay?” she finally asked.

  Riley sniffed, and her eyes glimmered. “You hurt my feelings last night.”

  Cassie worked hard to keep her mouth from falling open. “I did?”

  “You had a slumber party with half the girls in our unit and didn’t invite me.”

  “You’re the one who stormed out.”

  “But you’re supposed to be my best friend. And you’ve hardly talked to me all week.”

  Cassie wasn’t about to let Riley twist this and put the blame on her. “I came to camp because of you. I thought we’d hang out all week. But you never wanted to.”

  “That’s because you had all your new friends all the time. You didn’t even notice me.” Riley pressed her lips together and lifted her chin.

  Cassie didn't even know what to say. Was Riley right? Had she ignored her? What good would it do to argue the point? “I thought we’d spend more time together, too. But you were always rude to me.”

  “Yeah, well.” Riley averted her eyes and picked at the hem of her shorts. She shrugged. “Sorry.”

  That was it. But Cassie suspected that was all she’d get. “It’s okay.”

  They arrived at the mess hall, and Riley helped her out of the truck. “So can we sit together at breakfast?”

  “Sure.” But Cassie realized, once they’d sat down to eat and Riley was back to acting fun and friendly again, that she’d lied. It wasn’t okay.

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  “Okay, put away your journals,” Ms. Timber said, calling attention back to the front of the classroom. “Before we get onto our English assignment, please bring your self-collages up to my desk.”

  Every student in the classroom stood up, tucking their collage under an arm or securing it in both hands, and walked to the front of the room. Cassie waited a moment, then joined the line, holding her hands together and hoping they didn’t look too inconspicuous in their emptiness. Andrea laid her collage on the pile and gave Cassie a sympathetic look as she passed.

  Cassie held her breath. The line dwindled, and finally she was the last one. She stepped up to the desk and leaned over. “Ms. Timber,” she said, “I forgot to bring my homework.”

  Ms. Timber looked up from the grade book on her desk. She lifted a brow over her brown eyes. “You forgot to bring it? Or you didn’t do it?”

  The tears welled in her eyes again. This was exactly what she’d been afraid of. Ms. Timber didn’t know her. She didn’t know anything about Cassie’s character, or her work ethic. “I did it. I just forgot to bring it.”

  Ms. Timber closed her grade book and pulled a small white square of paper from a drawer. “Well, that’s too bad. You’re in sixth grade now. Even if we do something wrong on accident, we have to pay the consequences. It’s Cassandra, right?”

  “Yes,” Cassie whispered. Behind her, the room seemed to have gotten very quiet. She didn’t dare turn around, but she feared all of her classmates were watching her.

  Ms. Timber filled out the little slip of paper and handed it to Cassie. “You’ll spend recess in the classroom, making a new collage.”

  Cassie stared at the slip of paper, not reaching for it. Not once in the past three years had she missed recess as a punishment. “I don’t want to start a new collage. I like the one I did last night.”

  “But you didn’t bring it. And it’s due today. So you’ll have to make a new one.”

  She hadn’t thought she had any more tears left to cry, but she felt the sting again. “Okay,” she whispered, taking the paper. Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry, she told herself. She kept her chin up and went back to her desk, closing her fist around the offending paper.