A Parthan Summer by Julie Steimle (best books for 8th graders TXT) 📖

telling her something important. It was something big, something dynamic and ever-changing. Even the heat that enveloped her, burning against her face and her arms—her whole body told her that there was a warmth out there that she was a part of. She wished to step forward and touch the flame, to see if it was real and not just an apparition—but common sense held her back.

“Don’t stand too close to the fire. You’ll burn up,” someone said.

And her reverie was broken.

Zormna turned, blinking at the source. Damon Pikes was staring at her with a half-smile, looking perversely glad he had caught her alone.

With a reluctant sigh, she stepped back from the flame. The spell was broken. The fire crackled and snapped, but slowed into low embers. Sighing Zormna headed toward the door to return to her cabin.

“Where are you going? I thought we could talk.” Damon propped his arm across the doorway to stop her. 

Zormna slipped under his arm between the jamb and his body, giving him a polite smile. “I’m flattered, but I’m busy.”

Zormna tried to continue on her way, but Damon leaned in, closing the distance she had to slip through. His brown eyes smiled as he leaned closer. “I’m sure you’re free to talk to me for a small moment.”

She backed against the doorframe, astonished by his persistence. “Damon, I really—”

“I’d like to get you know you better.” Damon came in closer, breathing heavily as he stared into her eyes, his hormones obviously racing.

In any other time, Zormna would have either kneed him in the groin or shoved the boy back into the wall and chewed him out for being way too forward. But she was trying to avoid a scene. Instead, she ducked through and squeezed quickly out from Damon’s chest and the wall, and backed off towards the hill.

“I really don’t,” Zormna said.

She hastily turned, slipping on a stick as she backed away. Then with a hop, she scurried up the hill straight to her cabin over the loose rocks and pine needles. She kept slipping on the loose ground, but she finally reached her cabin and closed the door as soon as she entered. Whipping around, she leaned against.

Joy turned around at hearing the door slam. So did several of the others.

“Zormna.” Joy burst into a laugh “What has you so spooked?”

Ignoring her, Zormna peered through the screen down at the lodge. In the distance she could still see Damon stand there. But then he shrugged and headed back to the boys’ end of the campground up the opposite hill. She dropped down again and heaved a sigh of relief. There, her eyes connected with Joy’s incredulous stare, her question still there in the air.

“It’s nothing.” Zormna got up and walked over to her cot, wondering if that day of pure torture was ever going to end. “Damon Pikes just hit on me.” 

The other girls burst into laughter. “Damon Pikes?”

Zormna nodded painfully.

They continued to laugh, though perhaps it had nothing to do with a boy like Damon hitting on Zormna. He was what they would have considered hot. It probably had to do with the fact that he was from Monroe High.

“Does lover boy know Damon has the hots for you?” Jennifer asked, batting her eyes playfully with a snicker. The other girls still laughed, since that was obviously the real reason.

With a scowl, Zormna folded her arms with a glare at her. “Would you knock that off? I already told you, Jafarr and I do not get along. We are not attracted to each other. Ok?” 

Stacey opened the cabin door and walked in with Michelle Clay. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing!” Zormna pouted.

Joy ignored Zormna and said, “Damon Pikes is hitting on Zormna, and she’s spooked.” 

Stacey laughed right away. “Are you scared that Jeff will be jealous?”

“No!” Zormna protested, “I do not like Jafarr! He doesn’t like me! Would you girls stop it?”

Laughing, Stacey said, “No way. This is too fun.” 

Zormna’s scowl deepened. She dropped against her cot. In a way, she already knew none of the girls were seriously implying that she and Jeff had a relationship. They just liked getting a rise out of her. After all, to them she had been the unruffled rival that drew every boy’s eye the moment she came into Pennington High.

Michelle Clay, seeing that joke was spent and her own agenda was more on mind anyway, approached the girls with a wicked glint in her eye. She nodded to Stacey, then Joy and Jennifer, then the others. “Are you ready?”

“For what?” Zormna asked, looking up from her supine position on her cot.

Michelle pulled out a ball of string and a bag of balloons. “Revenge.” 

Zormna sat up. “Revenge? You mean for earlier today?”

Jennifer hopped over, reaching out for the bag of balloons. “Perfect! Now we can pay those Monroe girls back.”

“For one snapped bra strap? Isn’t this a bit extreme?” Zormna rose from her cot and pulled the bag of balloons from Jennifer’s fingers to see what it was.

Propping one hand on her hip, Michelle plucked the bag from Zormna’s fingers. “Oh, this is for than just Marissa snapping your bra. While you were at gymnastics, the Monroe cheerleaders came and trashed our cabin. We just barely cleaned up before dinner. And last year they totally embarrassed our old captain, Sara Holden, by stringing up all her underwear on the flagpole. We’re getting even.”

Zormna froze. It had been years since she executed a serious prank. For the first time ever, she hesitated, glancing once at the bag of balloons and then at the string. “What exactly are we going to do to them?”

 The other girls in the cabin surrounded Michelle as she had already whispered her idea. She turned and said, “Put your darkest clothes on, we’re sneaking out tonight to sabotage them.”

Too vague for Zormna’s taste, she rolled her eyes and glanced over at Jennifer and Joy to see what they were doing. One of them had a jar of black paste, passing it around for each girl to smear on her cheeks.

“Here,” Jennifer said, handing it over. “Zormna will definitely need some.”

Zormna took the jar and read the label—grease makeup. She glanced to Joy who looked somewhat squeamish as she rubbed the makeup onto her cheeks, nodding for Zormna to do the same. Peering out at the darkening scenery outside the cabin, she sighed. Of course, with her white skin she’d glow in the dark. 

“Here,” Joy said, also handing over a blue knit hat. “Let’s put your hair up in that.”

Fingering the knit, Zormna frowned. “You brought this to camp?”

Joy merely shrugged, averting her eyes so that she wouldn’t feel so guilty staring at Zormna’s piercing gaze, which to her seemed to grow accusatory. They had planned this long before camp, obviously.

Turning, Zormna walked back to her cot and dug out a pair of black pants. Then she searched for a dark top to wear. All she had was a gray hoodie, so Jennifer loaned her a black sweatshirt to wear instead.

“Now, get in bed. They’re calling lights out.” Michelle hissed.

Every girl hurried with giggles into their sleeping bags. Zormna climbed to hers, starting to feel the excitement once more of being a part of something ridiculously mischievous. She ducked down her head so that her curls showed but her blackened face wouldn’t.

The camp cabin leaders called for lights out again, singing Good Night Sweet Heart as they walked in between the cabins, going up and down the paths on the hills. Michelle reached up and turned off the cabin light.

“Last year they sent counselors over to make sure lights were out in each cabin.” She whispered for those who hadn’t been there the previous year. “It was such a pain. The only advantage was that after they checked the cabins we could sneak out in the dark and pull pranks.” 

Zormna smiled despite herself. It was a perfect setup.

Sure enough, a counselor peeked into the cabin and flashed a light inside to see if they were sleeping. No one moved, feigning sleep. Joy had pretend to snore, but someone slapped her cot to make her quit. Michelle listened to give the signal to rise.

Michelle whispered, “Not yet. We have to make sure a counselor isn’t hiding and waiting to nab us. It happened last year.” 

The girls waited, listening cautiously.

Sure enough, a shadow peered into the dark cabin to make sure they really were sleeping. It continued to walk around the cabins stealthily. The girls listened and watched until Michelle was sure the counselor was gone for good. She then whispered to the group as she slowly crept out of her cot to the door. Opening the door, she peered out of the lower half. The girls crawled silently out of their own beds and onto the floor. They crept to the door of the cabin, listening as the counselor walked near the other cabins. Michelle carefully peeked around the corner. She watched the dark apparition travel through the grounds. The counselor circled twice, peeking occasionally into cabins along the way. And after the third time, she walked down the hill, still listening for any signs of movement. The Pennington cheerleaders waited, hushed in silence while they crouched anxiously behind the wall.

“The director has been paranoid about gang fights, and worse since two years ago. That year some drunk punks had slipped into camp, in the middle of a prank war, too,” Michelle hissed. Zormna perked her ears, listening intently to Michelle’s voice. “The counselors thought they were students. Anyway, they started a fight with someone from Harvest. And ever since they have kept this no-cabin-hopping rule. It totally sucks.”

Michelle slipped out the door to the outside. With the cover of the pine trees, it was even darker than Zormna had imagined. They could only see patches of stars in the sky above, most of the tree branches blocking the view. It was the perfect cover in that nearly moonless night.

Their head cheerleader slowly motioned for the others to follow. They all crept out, trying not to disturb the rocks under their feet on the path. But really, it was ridiculous. Almost every step made something slide down the hill.

Zormna pulled on the blue cap then tucked in her hair while creeping over the path just behind Joy. She walked on her haunches balanced by the tips of her fingers. They had to climb the hill to get to their destination, halting once at where the paths intersected. From there, they could see down into the main camp. Michelle peered down the hill, her eyes still watching for any adult counselors that may be prowling. Most of them hid behind a large bush at the side of the path. A couple girls squeezed behind some trees. They watched the lights down below in the lodge and counselor’s cabins wink off, one by one, while holding their breaths. When Michelle was sure all the lights down below were out, she nodded and led the procession further up the hill.

The Monroe cheer cabin rested in between the Harvest cheer cabin— which was situated at the top of the hill on the edge of the campground—and the Monroe soccer cabin that sat more to the east on the hill. It was not far from a hiking path that circled the entire camp—the one used by the cross-country teams. The Pennington cheer team crept silently up the hill, taking a route off the path. They approached the Monroe cabin door from the west, trying not to disturb the rocks and sticks on the ground. When they were just ten feet away, they halted and hushed each other, which was a feat since these particular cheerleaders were rather giggly and had to be shushed by Michelle several times.

Their team captain pulled out the large spool of string from a bag she carried. She nudged Joy, waving for her to go forward.

“You take this and tie it to the door handle,” she said, handing Joy and Zormna one end of the string.

 Michelle