Cool Campers by Mike Knudson

was about to make a run for our cabin when BB showed back up with a cup.
    â€œHold on, everyone. I’ve got Raging Raymond’s dessert right here!” BB said. He held up a cupful of dirt and made his way through the crowd. Everyone cheered and made a path for him up to me.
    â€œDude, way to build the suspense,” Mark said.
    Graham put his hand to my ear and whispered, “What is he doing?”
    I shrugged my shoulders and leaned down to BB. “What are you doing?”
    â€œJust trust me.” Then he dug his fingers into the dirt. “I present Raging Raymond with his Spoonful of Doom!” He pulled out a long worm covered in dirt.
    â€œYou don’t have to do this, BB,” I told him. By now I felt like I could live with everyone being mad at me. I really didn’t want to eat the worm.
    I took the worm from BB and held it up by one end. I started to wipe off the dirt, but BB stopped me.
    â€œEat it with the dirt.” Now I was really going to be sick. Eating a worm is bad enough, but did I have to eat a bunch of dirt too? The worm felt strange and not very slimy. I looked closer at the spot where I had wiped off the dirt. BB hadn’t given me a real worm at all—it was one of his gummy worms covered in dirt!
    â€œLooks delicious.” I opened my mouth and dangled the worm over it. The crowd cheered as I slowly lowered it into my mouth and began to chew. The dirt tasted terrible, but luckily there was a lot more gummy worm than there was dirt. I made a big show of swallowing it, and everyone screamed and cheered.
    I took a bow and it was over. Graham and BB took bows too. The crowd was going wild.
    â€œSorry about the dirt, but it helped hide the gummy worm,” BB whispered to me.
    As campers finished eating they moved outside for the awards ceremony. It was time to pay up on our bet. Suddenly, the glory of the worm eating didn’t seem to matter. We headed back to our cabins with all the other Toad Claws to get our hats.
    We rummaged through our bags looking for clean underwear. Then we all met up outside and waited for Toad. We stood there quietly, each of us with a pair of underpants in our hands. We didn’t want to put them on our heads until the very last moment. After a while Toad came jogging down the path.
    He made his way to the middle of our group and said, “Well, Toad Claws, since it was my fault for getting you into this mess, I’ll be the first to put my hat on.” He pulled his waistband open and stretched his underpants over his head until they fit snugly. They were blue. Toad looked hilarious, and we couldn’t help cracking up.
    â€œNo, Toad, I think it was my fault for agreeing to this part of the bet,” Tiny said, putting his underpants on his head. He didn’t even need to stretch them to put them on. They were so big and loose that they fell down over his eyes. Now we really busted up laughing. Tiny walked around with his underpants covering his eyes and his arms stretched out in front of him like he was blindfolded.
    â€œMy turn,” Carl said. He giggled as he pulled his pair over his head. They had rocket ships on them, and there was a big hole that his ear stuck out of. Graham laughed so hard he fell on the ground. I felt like my sides were going to split open. The rest of us happily pulled our underpants hats on. Some were boxers; others were tighty whities; some had holes in them like Carl’s; and some, like Lizzy-Boy’s, looked like they might have been worn already. We couldn’t stop laughing.
    â€œOkay, Toad Claws, it’s time for our march of shame,” Toad announced. He stepped up onto a bench. “The awards ceremony is about to start. I want you guys to follow me, because we’re going to make a huge scene when we get there. If we have to wear underpants on our heads, we’re going to make the most of it! Who’s with me?”
    â€œWe are!” we