Camp Confidential 09 - Best (Boy)friend Ever by Melissa J. Morgan

the rest of the bunk come over with all their makeup and whatever clothes they think might be good.”
    Priya felt like she’d just been strapped into the biggest, fastest rollercoaster ever built. And there was no getting off now.
    Brynn sat down on the rollaway next to her and studied her face. “I don’t think the peach lipstick is right for you. You need something a little darker. Like that deep pink you were wearing at the last bonfire, Val.”
    “Comin’ at ya.” Val launched a tube of lipstick at Brynn.
    That definitely isn’t “best bud,” Priya thought as she looked at the color. If Jordan saw her wearing it, he couldn’t just see the girl who climbed trees and could burp the pledge of allegiance. Right? Would he even want to hold her hand—the way David had wanted to hold Sarah’s?
    Brynn , Priya reminded herself. The girl sitting right next to you. Ring a bell?
    But it wasn’t as if Brynn liked Jordan. She hardly knew him. Priya had had to work hard to convince Brynn that Jordan wasn’t a complete idiot.
    A double knock came at the hotel door. “Got it,” Sophie called.
    “I have the perfect top for Priya,” Abby announced as she led the rest of the 4A girls inside. “It’s brown, but it has these little tiny gold flecks.”
    “Perfect for your eyes, “ Brynn told Priya, as she started to slide on a coat of the lipstick.
    “And I brought a little glitter,” Grace said.
    “Glitter?” Priya exclaimed.
    Brynn pulled the lipstick back. “Careful, or you’re going to end up looking like a clown,” she warned.
    “Sorry, but glitter?” Priya protested.
    “Not big specks. You can just put a little bit in your hair, and it will give it this shimmer,” Grace explained.
    “Best buds” definitely didn’t wear glitter in their hair.
    “Okay, bring it on,” Priya declared.

    Priya’s stomach traveled up toward her throat as the elevator traveled down toward the lobby. Was Jordan already down there? What would he think when he saw her? Would he even recognize her?
    She’d hardly recognized herself when she looked in the mirror one last time before she left the hotel room. The shirt and the caramel-colored eye shadow made her eyes look like there were flecks of gold in the brown. And there really were flecks of gold in her brown hair—gold glitter. Plus, she was wearing a skirt. A jeans skirt, but still.
    The elevator came to a smooth stop. Priya was in the back, but it didn’t take long for Abby, Grace, Sarah, and Candace to step out into the lobby. Priya sucked in a deep breath and followed them.
    He was there. Jordan was there.
    And he was looking at her.
    And he was walking right toward her.
    And he was smiling.
    “You know who you look like?” he asked.
    “Who?” Priya couldn’t wait to hear this.
    “That guy in the last Austin Powers movie. The one with the yellow hair who always wore gold clothes,” Jordan joked.
    Her heart skittered in her chest. She was not believing this. “You mean the guy who kept eating his own skin?”
    “Yeah. That guy.” Jordan flicked a speck of glitter off her shoulder. “Hey, is Brynn almost ready, do you think?”
    It was like he’d punched her. Right in the gut. She couldn’t pull in a breath. She couldn’t breathe.
    “Yeah. Almost,” she managed to wheeze out. Then she turned away, so Jordan wouldn’t see the pain on her face.
    Not that he’d notice.

chapter EIGHT

    “Hey, are you okay, glamour girl?” Grace asked as they started up the gangplank to the big cruise ship, its three wide deep blue stripes looking almost black in the twilight.
    “Yeah. Fine,” Priya answered. “Just need a bathroom, to, you know, check my pad.” Clearly she hadn’t been able to keep a basic normal human being expression on her face. Her period seemed the easiest thing to use as an excuse.
    “Well, our boat is three stories, there’s got to be a ladies’ on there someplace,” Grace said, as they stepped inside onto thick aqua carpet. “Want me