Meet Me At Midnight, page 3
Finally he got to the major roles. Jessica held her breath as he announced them. "The camp owner will be Angela Davis. For the woodsman part we've chosen our tumbling pro, Derek Sandler. And the female lead is—Jessica Wakefield."
Jessica let her breath out in a rush. She couldn't believe it. She had really done it. She had landed the lead role in the summer production.
"Nice going, Jessica," Angela said good-naturedly, patting her on the back.
"Thanks, Angela." Jessica smiled. She beamed with pleasure while everybody congratulated her.
Derek sidled up to her and slung an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, Jessica, we better start getting warmed up for our summer romance. How about tonight at the campfire?"
"Derek, I think we better leave all practicing for play rehearsal," Jessica said, lifting his arm off her shoulders.
"Ouch!" Derek said, making a pouty face.
Jessica was thrilled to have the lead role, but she wasn't thrilled to be starring opposite Derek Sandler. Jessica was working alone at the dance workshop, so Derek had been coming by to help out. He was a tall, muscular guy with an unnerving resemblance to Ken. Just like Ken, Derek had all-American good looks, sandy blond hair, and clear blue eyes. And he clearly had a crush on her.
But Jessica wasn't interested in Derek. The pain of her breakup with Ken was still too fresh in her mind. Jessica always felt a pang in her heart when she caught sight of Derek. Even though her relationship with Ken hadn't worked out, he'd been a good friend to her since childhood, and she didn't need to be reminded of how much she'd hurt him.
"The play will be held a week from Wednesday," Joey informed them. "That gives us a week and a half to get this production in tip-top shape. We will have play practice every afternoon after workshops."
"Lots of important casting agents will be at the performance," Maria added. "So put your all into it."
"Remember," Joey said. "Only ten percent of acting is talent . . ."
"And ninety percent is hard work!" Maria finished with a smile.
Jessica was prepared to work hard. She was determined to put on her best performance ever. And to make sure Paul Mathis saw it. Jessica was sure that if Paul saw her act, there would be no way he could help falling head over heels in love with her.
Chapter 2
Jessica flew into the cabin before dinner, flushed with the success of her audition. She might have been through a hard time in the past few months, but she was over it now. The old Jessica Wakefield was back, the Jessica Wakefield who got what she wanted.
Jessica took a quick look in the mirror. Since she'd decreed a boyless summer, she'd been ignoring her appearance. But no more. She cocked her head and studied her reflection. What she needed was a face mask.
Jessica fished around in Lila's designer cosmetic bag and pulled out a jar of green facial cleaner. If she wanted to win Paul over and put on a showstopping performance, then she couldn't neglect her looks. And beauty started with the skin.
Jessica grabbed the jar and went to the mirror. Wrapping her hair up on her head in a knot, she dipped two fingers in the jar and began spreading the green paste evenly across her face. Her thoughts returned to Paul. Somehow he had really gotten under her skin. She couldn't believe she hadn't heard from him yet. She had been sure she would get a letter at lunch, but when Lacey had gone through mail call, Jessica's name hadn't been on the list.
Suddenly the door opened. Jessica turned. It was Lila, looking particularly cool and chic in a short tan linen skirt and a raw-silk T-shirt.
"Ack!" Lila screamed.
Jessica jumped, startled. "Lila, you scared me!"
"I scared you? How do you think I feel? I've just had an encounter with the green-faced ghoul."
Then Lila looked closer and picked up the jar off Jessica's bunk. "Hey! That's my Italian face mask!" She put her hands on her hips and mimicked Jessica. "Remember, Lila, we're going to camp, not a beauty spa."
While Lila was packing her bags to go to camp, she had accused Jessica of acting as the fashion police. Lila had crammed her suitcase full of extravagant items, from beaded evening gowns to silk suits. But Jessica had removed each piece of clothing just as quickly as Lila added it.
"Facial care has nothing to do with beauty," Jessica protested. "It has to do with health."
Lila wasn't convinced. "The only time you put on a face mask is when you've fallen for somebody Which is exactly what you should do"—she looked at Jessica closely—"if you haven't done so already."
"That's ridiculous," Jessica scoffed. "I'm not interested in boys. I am recovering." She turned back to the mirror and applied the mask to her forehead.
"I'm telling you, Jessica, love is the solution to everything," Lila said.
Jessica sighed. Lila had fallen in love with a JC named Beauregard the first day at camp. His nickname was Bo, and Lila had repeated his name endlessly in the last week. In fact, all of Lila's conversations seemed to he limited to the topic of Bo. All she seemed to say was "Bo this, Bo that." Jessica shook her head. Love had definitely turned Lila into a sentimental fool.
"I just can't get over it," Lila said, sauntering around the cabin. "I mean, I thought Beauregard was this outdoorsy mountain man. And it turns out that he comes from old money and enjoys the, all, finer things in life."
Jessica sighed again. She'd heard this story about a hundred times. When Lila had first met Bo, he had acted like a granola type who loved nature and the wilderness. And so Lila had acted the same way. She had recounted Jessica's adventure in the desert of Death Valley as if it were her own. Then finally one night Bo confessed. His name was actually Beauregard Creighton III, and he came from a wealthy D.C. family—and he loathed the outdoors.
"Beauregard is so cultivated," Lila swooned. "Did I tell you that his mother is French and that her family owns vineyards in the Bordeaux region of France?"
Jessica rolled her eyes. "No, but you did tell me that his mother goes to Paris twice a year to attend the spring and fall fashion shows," she said in a snide voice.
Lila didn't seem to notice her tone. "Yes, that's right," she said. She paused at a hunk, striking a pose and resting her palm softly on the mattress. "Maybe she'll take me with her for the Armani show in the fall."
"I wish she'd take you with her now," Jessica muttered under her breath.
"Did you know that beau means 'beautiful' in French?" Lila laughed softly. "And to think I thought he was the outdoor type." Lila sighed. "Beauregard really is just the ideal man. Rough on the outside and sophisticated on the inside."
Jessica gritted her teeth. If she heard one more word about Beauregard Creighton III, she was going to scream.
Lila fumbled through her cosmetic bag and pulled out a stick of ruby red lipstick. "Well, I just came back to freshen up for a minute," she said. She pursed her lips into a cupid's bow and painted them expertly. After blotting her lips on a tissue, she gave Jessica a radiant smile. "Beauregard and I are going to having a little gourmet snack on the dock this week. We're having it sent express mail from the Gourmet Grocery in Sweet Valley."
Jessica shook her head. Sometimes Lila was just too much. Express mail to camp!
Lila grabbed her bag and turned to leave. But she stopped with her hand on the doorknob. "Oh, I almost forgot. I got a letter addressed to you at mail call today." She pulled an envelope out of her bag. "It must have gotten mixed up in my mail."
"A letter?" Jessica said excitedly, practically diving on it. Her sixth sense told her it was from Paul.
Lila smiled, waving the envelope in the air out of Jessica's reach.
"Lila! Give me that!" Jessica said, swiping at it.
"What is it?" Lila asked, jumping up on her bunk and eyeing the envelope.
Jessica crossed her arms across her chest and tapped a foot impatiently. "It's a letter, Lila."
"Oh! So that's what it is," Lila said. She turned mischievous eyes to Jessica. "I wonder who it's from?" She held the envelope up to the light and tried to make out its contents.
"It's probably just from my parents," Jessica said.
"Hmm, I've never seen you so excited about a letter from home." Lila turned the envelope over. "I don't see a return address."
"That's because I know where they live," Jessica said dryly.
Lila smirked. "I thought you were going to have a romance-free summer."
"I am having a romance-free summer," Jessica insisted.
"Epistolary romances count as well," Lila pointed out.
"A what romances?" Jessica asked, rolling her eyes. Ever since Lila had started seeing Bo, she had become even more impossibly snobbish than usual. She had gotten into the habit of sprinkling her language with words Jessica had never heard before.
Lila stared at her in shock. "You don't know what an epistolary romance is?"
"No, and I bet you didn't either before you met Bo," Jessica replied in exasperation.
"An epistolary romance is a relationship of letters," Lila explained in a know-it-all tone. "Haven't you ever heard of the French book Dangerous Liaisons? If you want, you can read it when I'm done. Beauregard lent it to me. It's an eighteenth-century French novel written in the form of letters."
Jessica was getting fed up. She had no interest in eighteenth-century French books. Right now she was only interested in one twentieth-century letter.
She put her hands on her hips. "Lila Fowler! If you don't let go of that letter, I'm going to set all of my seven-year-old campers on you."
"Oh, no! A fate worse than death!" Lila cried. "An attack of the miniature Wannabees!" She pretended to be assaulted and fell flat onto the bed. Jessica couldn't help smiling at her out-of-character clowning. Lila's relationship with Bo was actually making Lila goofy.
Moments later she hopped off the bunk. Lila grabbed her bag off the bunk and flipped her mane of light brown hair over her shoulder. "See you later!" she said. She dropped the letter on the bed and floated out.
After Lila was gone, Jessica ripped open the envelope. At last she had gotten word from Paul. She was sure he'd suggest they meet again that night.
Then with a sinking heart she read his hastily scrawled note.
Dear Jessica,
Please don't try to see me again. I'm not interested in silly blondes with nothing between their ears.
Paul
Jessica couldn't believe her eyes and read the note again. Her face burned with hurt and anger. She crumpled the note and threw it in the trash. Silly blonde! How dare he treat her this way?
Jessica went to the sink and washed the mask off her face furiously. Now she was more determined than ever to win Paul. Nobody rejected Jessica Wakefield. Nobody.
Shoot! She's not here, Elizabeth thought as she entered the mess hall on Monday evening. She had gotten to the dining room early, hoping to find Jessica, who was supposed to be on KP duty. If anyone would know how she could get out of her current mess, it would be her twin sister, queen of the schemers.
Elizabeth sat down on a bench in the comer and rested her head in her hands, feeling completely dejected. Soon dinner would start and she would be assaulted by her obnoxious campers—and Nicole's "surprise."
Then Jessica entered the dining hall, a row of Wannabees following her single file like little chicks. Elizabeth couldn't resist a smile as she watched the campers swing their hips Jessica Wakefield style. They were all wearing cutoff faded jean shorts and most of them had on T-shirts in shades of purple, Jessica's favorite color. And even though they were indoors, they were all sporting trendy cat-shaped sunglasses.
Elizabeth felt a twinge of jealousy. Unlike her ill-tempered ten-year-olds, Jessica had an adorable group of seven- and eight-year-olds. Tanya, a cute girl with brown pigtails, was in the lead. Sofia, an angelic-looking little girl with saucerlike brown eyes and dark corkscrew curls, followed next in line. Her sister, Anastasia, walked protectively behind her. Stephanie and Sarah came next, bouncing energetically hand in hand. Maggie brought up the rear, her video camera in hand.
Elizabeth waited until Jessica got her campers set up. Jessica ran into the kitchen and emerged a moment later with a huge vat of potatoes and potato peelers, which she distributed to eager outstretched hands. Elizabeth shook her head. Leave it to Jessica to get her campers to help out with KP duty.
As soon as the group was busy working, Elizabeth hurried up to her sister. "Jessica, I need to talk to you!" she said urgently.
Jessica turned to face her. "Oh, hi, Liz," she calmly replied.
"Oh, hi, Liz," the campers echoed.
Jessica rolled her eyes. "And I thought it was bad enough having one twin!"
The campers rolled their eyes in an exaggerated imitation of Jessica, swooning in frustration.
"Liz, I don't think this is a good time," Jessica said, raking her fingers through her hair. Soon six hands followed suit. Jessica dropped her hand quickly. She didn't reprimand the girls for imitating her, but Elizabeth could see her sister clench her jaw in frustration.
Maggie trained her video camera on the twins. Ever since she got to camp, Maggie had been taping everything she saw. Particularly Jessica. Usually Jessica loved this kind of attention, but now it looked as though she'd had just about enough.
"Jess, I need to talk to you in private," Elizabeth said in a low voice.
"Can't it wait?" Jessica mouthed.
Elizabeth shook her head firmly and pulled her to the next table. The campers dropped their potato peelers and immediately surrounded them. "Jess, can't you do anything about them?" she complained.
"Elizabeth Wakefield! What do you think you're doing?" a scolding voice called across the mess hall.
Elizabeth wheeled around. It was Lacey, looking like an army sergeant. She was dressed all in green khaki and her hands were planted firmly on her ample hips.
"It's bad enough that you can't manage to do your own duties, but do you have to disrupt your sister while she executes hers beautifully?" Lacey lectured.
Elizabeth blanched. Lacey had an uncanny ability to show up at the wrong time—always when Elizabeth had stepped even the slightest bit out of line. And she didn't even seem to notice that Jessica wasn't actually performing her duties at all.
Lacey shook her head in disgust. "You two may look alike, but that's about all you've got in common," she said in her slow southern drawl.
Elizabeth's face burned. "U-uh . . . ," she stammered, searching for an excuse.
Jessica flashed Lacey a winning smile. "Please excuse my sister. She's not very responsible."
"Well, I'll let it go this time, but I don't want to see you disturbing your sister again," Lacey said, waving her index finger at Elizabeth.
Elizabeth opened her mouth, but then shut it again. Shooting Jessica a dirty look, she turned and stormed away. She pushed through the swinging doors of the mess hall angrily and exited the lodge.
Elizabeth sighed as she walked out into the warm night air. Jessica was right. She wasn't very responsible anymore. In fact, she was acting more like Jessica than Jessica herself. Even though the twins were identical in appearance, from their long golden blond hair to their sparkling blue-green eyes to the matching dimple in their left cheek, they were completely different in character.
Elizabeth was usually the reliable twin. A straight-A student, she was a staff reporter for the school paper and was highly involved in extracurricular activities. While she liked to have a good time just as much as her sister did, Elizabeth always took care of her responsibilities first. And in her spare time, her favorite activities were quiet ones—writing in her journal, taking a walk with Todd, or going to a movie with her best friend, Enid Rollins.
Jessica, on the other hand, was usually the unreliable twin. Jessica had a good heart, but a daring soul. She had a tendency to get involved in scrapes and let Elizabeth get her out of them. For Jessica, schoolwork took a backseat to her three primary pursuits—cheerleading, parties, and shopping at the mall. And while Elizabeth had been with one boy forever, Jessica changed boyfriends almost as often as she changed shoes.
But now, it looked like their roles had reversed. Elizabeth's normally boy-crazy sister had decided to have a boy-free summer, and Jessica's campers were so infatuated with her that they were trying to become her. Meanwhile steady, dependable Elizabeth Wakefield was cheating on her boyfriend and neglecting her counselor duties. Last week she had been so exhausted from sneaking out late at night to write the play that she couldn't keep her eyes open during the day. Rose Schwartz, the sailing counselor, had finally gotten so fed up with her that she told her she'd be more helpful in her cabin sleeping.
Elizabeth kicked at a tuft of dirt. Now that Todd had shown up, it didn't look like things were going to get better. Elizabeth's stomach tightened at the thought of the night ahead. She slumped down in a patch of grass and doodled with a stick in the dirt. Now she knew what it felt like to be Jessica. And she didn't like it.
Jessica dropped her potato peeler on the table and sat back, her mind whirring away. She was desperate to get Tanya alone to get the scoop on Paul. Something didn't seem right. If Paul really thought she was a dumb blonde with nothing between her ears, then why had he asked Tanya a million questions about her? And why did he give her a heart-stopping kiss?
Jessica was sure that Tanya would have some valuable information. But Jessica couldn't seem to shake the rest of her little charges for a minute. She twisted a lock of blond hair around her finger, deep in thought.
Suddenly all the potato peelers clattered onto the table. Startled, Jessica looked up. All the campers had stopped working and were twirling their hair between their fingers.
Jessica clapped quickly. "OK, back to work!" she instructed, picking up her potato peeler.
"Back to work!" Sofia intoned, her brown eyes large with admiration. She picked up her utensil and watched Jessica intently as she worked.
