After the other Rainbow Smelt campers—except for Lily (who was unfortunately staying the whole summer just like Vivian and Sasha-from-the-Bus)—went, well, back on the bus, Vivian returned to her bunk and gave the cabin a full once-over. Now was her chance to get things just the way she wanted. If she was going to stay here—and she was, if only to see the expression on Archie’s face when she stole all his marks out from under him—she wanted to make sure she had the best accommodations possible.
This was no easy task in the Rainbow Smelt cabin. Or in any of the cabins at Camp Shady Brook. Aside from the five sets of bunk beds there was just the small bathroom with its even smaller pair of showers and then, off to one side, Boring Janet’s tiny private room. Since the cabin was empty for the first time in a week, Vivian poked her head inside Janet’s room to look around. The bed was laid out with a floral pink bedspread and pillow shams that a ninety-five-year-old grandmother would consider “a little too much.” A large, fluffy stuffed lamb with a pink bow around its neck lay on top of the whole monstrous scene. The entire dresser was covered in ointments and creams, most of them related to the bug bites and poison ivy that seemed to seek out Janet everywhere she turned.
Vivian shuddered and closed the door.
Looking around the main cabin again, she decided that before her new cabinmates joined her later, she would need to choose the best bunk. Bottom bunks were definitely the better choice at Camp Shady Brook. The tops creaked and shook all night, making the girls feel like the whole setup was going to collapse. Obviously, if that happened, being on the bottom would not be great, since the camper sleeping there would be probably be crushed to death. But Vivian reasoned that she’d take that chance if it meant getting a decent night’s rest.
She also wanted to be by a window, for the meager breeze that sometimes came off the lake at night. However, she’d learned it was important to choose her window carefully, since not all the screens were intact and the mosquitoes, vicious enough during the day, were absolutely relentless at night, dive-bombing the campers like an invading army.
Finally, she wanted to be close to the door, in case she needed to sneak out. It was always better to be able to make a hasty exit. She figured she’d invite Sasha to bunk with her again. She seemed innocent enough to accept any excuse Vivian might give for her planned escapades, which would be useful if she had to do anything behind the counselors’ backs. And Sasha was, Vivian had to admit, nice. Even though Vivian usually thought of being “nice” as a personal flaw.
She knew Archie was furious about her treachery. But that was his problem. Besides, she was only using his own methods. And she knew she had him good. She knew way too much for him to do anything to stop her. And he had something she wanted. No more messing around with cookies and candy; she wanted to really learn how to run cons. The big ones. The real ones. For money.
And that was enough to make her want to hang out with him—at least until she figured out enough of his tricks to beat him at his own game. There were five more weeks of camp, after all.
Unfortunately, the beginning of the new session didn’t go nearly as well as she hoped. Vivian knew Archie wasn’t going to be pleased with her sticking around, but she hadn’t expected the plan he cooked up to use her as his partner in crime.
“Okay, you’ve got to understand—if we’re going to do this, you’ve got to dress the part,” he said not-so-patiently when they met up during rest period. The camp was quiet and deserted, since the new campers wouldn’t arrive until the next day.
As for most of the kids who were unlucky enough to stay behind, the grim reality of their situation was slowing sinking in. It wasn’t a mood that inspired fun and games.
“But I don’t want to wear a camp T-shirt every single day,” Vivian grumbled. “And I despise shorts. I only brought some because my mom bought them and made me. I wear jeans. Jeans!” she grumbled. “If you’re trying to make me look like some stereotypical nerd, I swear, you’ll be hanging from the flagpole in your underwear before Miss Hiss blows her air horn tomorrow morning. I don’t care what kind of so-called criminal mastermind you think you are. This is not what I signed up for.”
“You want to be my partner, right? You want to stick around here and learn everything I know?” Archie shot back. “Then you need to do what I say.”
“As you keep mentioning,” she grumbled.
“And I’m not trying to make you look like a nerd,” he said with an irritating amount of calmness. “I’m trying to make you look like a normal, average camper. A nice girl from the suburbs. Someone who would never, ever be a con artist and would definitely never hang out with one.”
Vivian grimaced and sighed. It caused her actual physical pain to admit it, but he had a teeny-tiny little bit of a point. Most of the girls at camp dressed like this. Maybe it would actually be easier to brainwash the other campers into thinking she was one of them if she looked more like they did.
“No way I’m wearing Crocs, though,” she said with warning in her voice. “I have to draw the line somewhere.”
“Fine,” he said. “But no boots. Sandals or sneakers, that’s it. No more boots.”
She let out a long, deep breath. “You’re killing me here, you know that?”
He smiled his most infuriating smile. “Hey, you’re the one who wanted to be my partner. So you need to do what I say. That’s the first rule. And the second rule is: I run the show. You can’t do anything on your own. Do you understand?”
She nodded, but she was still frowning. If this was what being Archie’s partner was going to be like, the sooner she figured out how to turn the tables on him, the better. She was already imagining the outfits she’d make him wear when she was finally the one in charge.
Sasha, at least, seemed to truly appreciate the “new Vivian,” if that counted for anything.
“You seem different today?” Sasha said when they were walking to dinner the next evening along with the rest of the new Rainbow Smelts. “More, like, normal? No offense!”
“Yeah, right, normal,” Vivian said with a sigh. Still, if Sasha bought the whole ridiculous “normal camper” disguise, then maybe the rest of the camp would.