Free Camp Rules! by Nancy Krulik Page A

her a big bear hug. “I’m Shannon, your counselor.”
    Katie’s eyes opened wide with surprise. Her counselor sure had a lot of energy!
    “Come on, the rest of the Bumblebees are already buzzing around the hive,” Shannon told Katie. “You’ll like them. They’re really nice girls.”
    Katie nodded. She sure hoped so. It would be awful to be trapped in a cabin for twenty thousand, one hundred sixty minutes with girls who weren’t nice.
    “Your trunk arrived yesterday,” Shannon continued. “So you can settle in.”
    Katie nodded, but she didn’t say anything. Shannon was talking enough for both of them, anyway.

Chapter 2
    “We’ve got a new Bumblebee here!” Shannon announced, flinging open the wooden door and walking into the cabin.
    Katie looked around nervously. The cabin was small, with three sets of bunk beds pushed up against the walls. Beside each pair of bunk beds was a double cubby.
    “Everybody, this is Katie,” Shannon said, introducing her. “Katie, this is everybody.”
    Katie frowned. That wasn’t very helpful.
    “Hi, I’m Rainbow,” a small girl with a long light brown ponytail said, coming over to greet Katie.
    “Your name is Rainbow ?” Katie blurted out, surprised. Then she blushed. She hadn’t meant to hurt the girl’s feelings.
    But Rainbow didn’t seem the least bit upset. “My parents say a rainbow is the most beautiful thing in the whole world,” she explained calmly. “That’s why they gave me the name.”
    A tall girl with short dark hair snorted. Then Katie saw her make a face. Katie stared at her in amazement.
    “Oh, just ignore her,” a girl with curly brown ringlets and silver braces on her teeth said to Rainbow and Katie. “Alicia’s always in a bad mood.”
    Katie nodded. Okay, so the mean girl’s name must be Alicia.
    “I’m Gianna,” the girl with the braces introduced herself.
    “Did you and Alicia go to camp together before?” Katie asked, wondering how Gianna knew all about her.
    Gianna nodded. “We were both here last summer. This is my third year at Camp Cedar Hill. It’s only Alicia’s second.”
    “And last,” Alicia groaned. “I told my mother if I got stuck in the baby Bumblebee bunk, I wasn’t coming back here ever again. And here I am.”
    “ We’re babies?” Gianna argued. “ You’re younger than I am.”
    “Whatever,” Alicia said as she continued to unpack her trunk.
    “You can have the top bunk,” a girl with long beaded earrings and straight strawberry blond hair called to Katie from across the bunk.
    “Okay,” Katie replied. She stepped over the open trunks and duffel bags until she reached the bed.
    “I’m Chelsea,” the girl with the earrings told her. “I took that side of the cubby. I hope you don’t mind.”
    Katie looked over toward the double cubby beside her new bed. Chelsea had already unpacked most of her clothes, her shampoo, soap, and . . . wow!

    “You have your own blow-dryer?” Katie asked her in amazement.
    “Of course,” Chelsea told her. “I never go anywhere without it. My hair gets all crazy and wild if I don’t blow-dry it.”
    Katie smiled at Chelsea. “Your hair does look nice,” she told her.
    “Thanks,” Chelsea replied. “You can use my dryer sometimes if you like.”
    “Wow!” Katie exclaimed. “Thanks.”
    Katie pulled her sheets and blankets from her duffel bag and began making her bed. She looked across the way at Rainbow, who also had a top bunk. She was busy tying something to the rafters above her bed.
    “What’s that?” Katie asked her.
    “It’s a quartz crystal,” Rainbow said, moving to the side so Katie could get a better look at the small clear rock she was hanging above her head. “If you hang it above you, it’s supposed to give you positive energy.”
    “Oh please,” Alicia groaned.
    “Ignore her,” Gianna reminded Rainbow.
    “Don’t worry. I’m fine,” Rainbow said. “Nothing is going to ruin my summer. I can’t wait to get out there and