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

back to the cabin, yet she could not talk to that woman either. It was unfair. All those other girls would be able vent their troubles with a kind listener, and she had run out of those. It was unfortunate that her only confidant was an irritating seventeen-year-old boy who still blamed her for his broken nose, even though it had been an accident. And he didn’t really care, did he? Not about how she felt, anyway. When he watched her, he only acted out of duty. She was alone in this. Groaning, Zormna eventually made her way back to the cabin.

When she reached the cabin door and walked back inside to claim a cot, all the faces of her fellow Pennington cheerleaders turned straight on her.

Their mascot, Amanda Stephens pulled her Pirate hat out of the large blue duffle bag that also contained the rest of her mascot’s uniform. She laid it on her bed, still watching Zormna as if she were carrying leprosy. Michelle Clay unpacked in a likewise manner, watching Zormna from the corner of her eye and spread her things upon her bed. Joy, however, skipped up and laughed, grabbing Zormna by the arms.

“You broke his nose?” she repeated, all jealousy gone.

Zormna nodded her head and smiled, her ill mood miraculously shattered by Joy’s smile.

Jennifer McCabe laughed out loud. And giggles spread throughout the room. Michelle shook her head, but smiled also, perhaps relieved by the quick removal of Zormna’s ill temper.

“So, what did he do? Kiss you?” Michelle asked with a savoring laugh. 

The other girls giggled again. They had finally found a way to tease Zormna Clendar, a way that she could never live down. Already Zormna turned beet red—embarrassed and frustrated that they would not let this one thing go.

She marched over to a vacant cot then started to unpack.

“Well?” Joy pressed, lingering over Zormna’s shoulder for the details with an eager grin on her face.

“Of course he didn’t kiss me,” Zormna snapped. “I told you. Brian and guys know the story. Ask him.”

Joy shook her head. “I want to hear it from you.”

Groaning, Zormna stared at the ceiling. It had a lot of space and a few hanging lamps. But it was surprisingly cob-web free. “Look. I caught him trying to steal a vehicle. I tackled him and—”

“Woooh!” several of the girls chimed in, enjoying the romantic implication.

“Not like that! He hit his face on a step and it scraped across,” she quickly added.

“Ow…” Joy muttered in sympathy.

Zormna nodded to her. “It was an accident.”

“I want to hear about how you tackled him,” Michelle said, winking.

“It wasn’t like that!” Zormna snapped.

The other girls cackled. Their voices traveled outside the cabin, drawing the ears of the nearby cabins. And as the squirrels scampered through the underbrush, and mountain birds sang brightly in the trees, the sharp call of a Martian girl could be heard through the forest, screaming in agitation.

*

On the other side of the campground, the Pennington High boys settled into their cabins with the same vigor as the girls. The laughter and joking of the teams echoed in each wooden structure as the month-long party was about to begin. Many of them started chants and cheers, marking their cabin walls and windows with school banners and shirts like territorial beasts. Pennington territory was clearly marked with pirate flags and red-and-black banners. While Monroe cabins were wisely stationed far from them and blazoned with their blue and orange. Those in between displayed their colors with similar pride.

In Pennington territory, the varsity football team was housed in two cabins fully draped in red-and-black booster blankets. Likewise, the basketball team settled in a cabin just south of the wrestlers, most of them hanging their pirate flags from every high place they could find. The other teams had arranged themselves in the same way, each team keeping to the Pennington area like a small nation that had conquered that part of the hill.

The wrestling team occupied a cabin on the fringe, just north of the defensive football team’s cabin as a few of the wrestlers were also in football. They hung their banners inside their cabin mostly, though they had an enormous Jolly Roger covering the outside of their door. Most of the boys were unpacking much more than just the bare basic things for survival, as the Pennington wrestling team loved their fun. The boys mostly dumped their belongings onto their cots and stashed contraband around the cabin, since their coach and the camp were strict about what they could and could not bring to camp. Of course, the Pennington boys objected to what was on the banned list. Of the number were digital games, cell phones, and iPads. The rest were things like excess candy and things for prank wars, such as silly string and cans of whipping cream and jars of honey. They hid a large number of things under their beds and pried around the room for loose floorboards.

Mark Wheley unpacked out his essentials, from his battery powered clock radio to his deck of playing cards. He unrolled a large picture of Marilyn Monroe and immediately tacked it at the head of his bed with a pleased grin.

Staring up at the picture, Jonathan broke into a laugh. “You can’t get by without Marilyn, eh, Mark?”

Pointing to the nineteen-fifties actress, Mark replied in earnest, “Man, without Marilyn, I’d be lost.” 

The others snickered while the other presumed necessities came out. Brian extracted a poster of a Klingon out of his bag and tacked it on the inside of the door. Bright words declaring, “Watch it, Earthman” were stamped in red and white at the top. Seeing it, Jeff busted up.

“Hey Bri. You can’t get by without your alien friend?”

Brian chuckled. Setting his palm on his chest, he emphatically declared, “No. Without Gawron I’d be utterly lost.”

He heaved a pitiful sigh then laughed again. The rest of Brian’s bag was full of books, clothes, and homemade brownies which he intended to ration, as there was only so much and he wanted it to last.

Jeff turned back to his bag and removed the rest of his belongings, dumping them on his cot. His things were at a minimum, even for a guy. He had no special do-dads or toys or even a photograph. His only extra item was a secondhand ukulele with old Hello-Kitty stickers on it, half of them scraped off like Jeff was trying to renovate it.

Ted “Lead Weight’ Hamilton, who was a junior wrestler on the team, watched Jeff over his shoulder as he unpacked, hoping to see a picture of a girlfriend or a car. But as Jeff emptied his bag, no such thing came out. However Jonathan had a picture, one of his long-distance girlfriend and his dog. No one knew which one he liked more. It was already a standing joke that if Jonathan had to get rid of one or the other he’d give his girlfriend his dog and visit both at every chance he got.

Ted let out a disappointed sigh. Jeff turned around to stare at him.

“What?” Jeff pulled his bag away from Ted’s snooping eyes, stuffing his ukulele under his pillow.

Ted stepped back and admitted quizzically, “I just wanted to see the poster you brought.”

Snickering, Jeff shook his head. “Yeah, it is a terrible shame. I must have left my poster at home. I guess I’ll just have to rely on Mark’s Marilyn for inspiration.” 

Jeff turned again to his things, taking his bag off his bed and shoving it under the cot. He immediately rolled out his sleeping bag and put his pillow on the cot at the head near the wall. Ted stood there for a moment then faked a laugh so he wouldn’t feel stupid.

The boys finished rather quickly then settled down for a card game in the center of the cabin on the floor, betting with smuggled bags of M&Ms and Snickers bars. They were in the middle of the second game when they heard a knock on the door.

“Come in!” they simultaneously called out like boys in a choir, some covering their winnings.

The door opened. Their camp counselor entered the cabin, bearing his clipboard while leading a middle-aged lady in business suit and skirt who was carrying an expensive leather briefcase. Jeff knew her on sight. He dropped his bag of ‘betting money’ on the floor.

“Excuse me, boys,” the counselor said, flipping his metal whistle over his thumb on the chain. “I need to speak with Jeff Streigle for a moment.”

Jeff stood up from the group.

“Jeff’s in trouble!” one of his teammates called out, laughing.

Jeff glared back at the guy, half smiling, then returned his gaze to the woman who was the ‘social worker’ that had settled him in Pennington. Stepping out through the cabin door, Jeff joined them down the cabin steps. The three went together just two paces before the social worker turned to the camp counselor to ask for some privacy.

“Alright, but make sure he makes it to the lodge for lunch,” the camp counselor said with a huff as if he wanted to keep an eye on Jeff, whose dangerous reputation had preceded him. “It’s in ten minutes.” 

The camp counselor hiked back down the hill past five cabins before the woman decided it was safe to speak.

“Let’s find a quiet spot without distractions, shall we?” the woman suggested.

Jeff nodded and led out with his arm to suggest direction. As they started to hike up the hill towards the forest edge, Brian stuck his head out the cabin door and called to him. “Jeff! Where you going?”

“I need to talk to my social worker,” Jeff replied. “I’ll join you at lunch.” 

He started to head up the hill again, not waiting for a response. Brian still leaned out the door, wondering what Jeff’s social worker was doing at camp at all.

Thinking a bit, Brian called, “Hey Jeff!”

Jeff stopped. “What?”

“Can I have your M&Ms?”

Chuckling, Jeff waved his arm telling Brian to go away. “Go ahead. I don’t care.”

Brian smiled and stepped back inside of the cabin.

“Nice friends,” the woman commented with a glance back down the hill.

“Yeah.” Jeff laughed to himself

They marched up the hill into the woods a short distance from where the cabins were, passing a few Monroe boys along the way. Damon watched the two individuals go up into the forest, catching only a part of their conversation: Jeff was doing ok in the neighborhood. He and his brother had a good job at a local mechanic’s shop. Damon barely made out the last bit—something about needing a favor, but he didn’t care enough about the Pennington wrestler to follow. Besides, at that moment he and his friends were heading to the main lodge to have lunch. They wanted to be early.

Jeff and his social worker walked to where they could talk unobserved, somewhere surrounded by brush and away from the cabins, a place where sound would not carry. They climbed over a few rocks and through bushes until they found a hollow clearing with a fallen pine log to rest on. Jeff inspected the clearing to make sure no one was watching. When he was sure they were truly alone, he settled beside his social worker and spoke gravely.

“So, did you do as I asked?” he said, too business-like for an average teenage boy. “Do you have the documents?”

She nodded, though she appeared drained. “Yes. However making a fake history for that person does not feel wise, Jafarr. It’s got to be a trap. No way would the Zormna Clendar actually defect to the rebellion.”

Jeff groaned tiredly. He had been having this same argument with several of his other subordinates for the past month, without any of them letting up. They all really thought he had lost his mind. But then, he had left out some crucial, yet dangerous details. He had not told any of them that Zormna was one of the royal Tarrn family. That would forever remain a need-to-know secret between him and his