Free Camp Confidential 06 - RSVP by Melissa J. Morgan Page B

dog, coming right up. And normal hot dogs for everybody else?”
    “Yes,” Jenna said, before Natalie could speak for herself. “And we’re paying for hers.” She pointed at Natalie. “So don’t take any money from her.”
    “You’re the boss,” he told Jenna.
    The man served up three steaming hot dogs on thick buns, and one tofu dog as well. Alyssa asked for sauerkraut and the others scrunched up their faces and made yecch sounds.
    Grace stuck her finger in her mouth, pretending to barf as the man heaped the stinky, fermented cabbage on Alyssa’s equally disgusting tofu dog.
    “Grace, that’s so rude,” Natalie said, cracking up.
    “It’s not my best,” Grace conceded. “And no one can fake barf like Chelsea.”
    They all got quiet for a moment as they held their hot dogs. Then Alyssa said, “We’ll see Chelsea soon.”
    Everyone was quiet for a moment.
    “Guys,” Alyssa said, as she added some spicy brown mustard to her tofu dog. “We made a promise to be nice to her.”
    There was a group sigh.
    “It’s gonna be cool,” Grace said. “We’ll give her the surprise and she will stop being a pain once and for all.”
    “How are the dogs, girls?” the vendor prompted.
    “Great!” Grace made a show of taking a big bite and chewing enthusiastically. “See, Natalie? It doesn’t have to be all fancy all the time. It’s like camp! Hot dogs bring the world closer together!”
    “So does group Chelsea-stressing!” Jenna added. “It’s very . . . uniting.”
    Natalie took a bite of her hot dog. It was good; she couldn’t deny that. But she was getting nervous again, and she wasn’t sure she would be able to eat very much.
    It’s all going to be okay, she told herself.
    Standing across from her, Alyssa gave her a reassuring smile and quietly ate her tofu dog.
    Then Grace said, “Speaking of weird behavior, what was up with Alex and Brynn? Anybody figure that out yet?”
    “Not a clue,” Jenna replied. She grabbed Grace’s wrist and looked at her pink watch. “But we’ll find out soon enough.”
    All of a sudden, Natalie’s hot dog tasted like sawdust.

    “You are gorgeous,” Chelsea’s dad told her as she modeled her outfit for him. He was sipping chicken noodle soup in bed. He had gotten dressed in a pair of loose jeans and his light blue sweater. He looked pretty good, with some color in his cheeks.
    Chelsea had chosen to wear her dark brown burnt-out top with a pair of embroidered jeans. The outfit had been a total score last spring, when he was still working and they had money for clothes.
    She stuck out a leg so he could admire the brown-and-silver embroidery on the legs.
    “Woo-hoo! All the boys are going to be fighting over you.”
    “Oh, ick, Daddy,” Chelsea said, wrinkling her nose. At his pretend-hurt look, she rolled her eyes. “Boys.”
    “Hey, I’m a boy,” he reminded her. “Or I was.”
    “You’re totally not a boy,” she insisted. “You’re a dad.”
    “Truer words were never spoken.” He laid his soup spoon over his heart. “I am a dad.” A huge grin spread across his face. “The best thing to be in the world.”
    She came up and gave him a big hug. “You’re going to be okay if I go, right?”
    “Didn’t your mom tell you we can’t wait for you to get out of our hair?” he chided her. “We’re going to party down!”
    She gave him a playful smack on the shoulder. Then she cried, “Oh, Daddy! Did I hurt you?”
    “No way, dude.” He sounded so dorky that she could help but burst out laughing. He laughed too, and cupped her cheek. “Seriously, Chelse. Your mom and I both want you to go and have super-mega fun.”
    “Okay, I will.” She got up off the bed. “Super-mega-ultra fun!”
    “You go, girlfriend!” He high-fived her.
    Rolling her eyes at him, she left the bedroom.
    Soon she and her mom joined the busy weekend traffic. As they left her dad behind in their house, Chelsea felt a mixture of nervousness and total excitement. Okay,