I had turned and ran down the hall so scared, not believing what I had just done. My eyes were half-way shut trying to keep tears back, and I must not have seen it coming but I ran headfirst into something and fell backwards onto the floor. I opened my eyes and stared at Trip who was on the floor as well rubbing his bottom.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry! How's your butt?..I mean are you okay?" I fumbled with my words, crawling towards him. He apparently didn't want me anywhere near him, as if I brought bad luck or something, because he scooted away.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it." He groaned. I felt my face burning. I must have been blushing. I was still wearing the lanyard and sun visor. I felt so stupid.

"It's just I was..well Tabatha..I mean..well, sorry." I tried to stand up, but he stood up first and held a hand out to me. I hesitated, then put my hand in his and he pulled me to my feet.

"Did you just say something about Tabatha? Tabatha Creoles?"

I wrung my hands. "Yes." He stared at me.

"What did she do to you? Tell me."

I began to wring my hands so much they became sore. I looked away, pretending to look down the hall for something, then pointed at an invisible object. "Oh I see my friend bye!" I stupidly turned on my heel and took off in the other direction. I ran without looking back to my dorm, where Brey and Pru would be waiting patiently to hear the story. I was almost as afraid of them at the moment as I was Tabatha. I even considered hiding in a janitor's closet that I passed on my way down the hall, but I took a deep breath and kept going.

I stopped at the door trying to catch my breath. I felt a catch in my side and I moaned and was bent over when the door open.

"Wendy! You've been gone forever. Come inside." Before I even had time to get a word in, Pru grabbed my arm and yanked me inside. Everything was happening so fast.

"I can't believe you actually did it! You're crazy! You are officially my hero." Brey bowed dramatically, one hand behind her back.

"But-"

"What did she say? Did she bawl her eyes out?" Pru had her hand on my arm. I wanted to pull away and leave the room to go find that janitor's closet, but it seemed like my shoes were filled with cement.

My head was telling me to tell the truth, but my mouth wasn't listening. It began moving and I can't even remember when I had started talking. "You should have seen her face. She cried like a baby, and she kept saying 'Pappy' a lot..and uh..she went and started packing her bags." I ended in a flourish and wiped some sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand.

There was a moment when they just looked at me. They didn't look very happy. Then Pru cleared her throat and took her hand of my arm.

"Well done, Wendy. I could have never done that- you were brave."

I licked my lips. "Yeah. Brave."

---

It was time to go meet our camp counselor.

Pru Klein: Clarinet Section, Hannah Mayes…report to the lobby

Wendy Laylard: Clarinet Section, Hannah Mayes…report to the lobby

Brey Studdard: Colorguard Section, Captain Josh Myers…report to football field

Brey parted with us when we got to the lobby because she had to make her way to the football field. We were to stay in the lobby. I held Pru's hand not wanting to get separated as more and more clarinet players filed into it. It began to get kind of loud in there. Girls were giggling and one girl was screaming because a key came off her clarinet.

I suddenly noticed a tiny girl with a red t shirt on that read "Blaremount" on like the one Jordan had had on the first day. She was short and frizzy-headed. Her curls cork-screwed out of her head every which way, and she had a mouthful of shiny metal braces.

"Hey clarys!" She announced suddenly, her smile quite whopping. She pushed her tiny self though the crowd of clarinets and made her way to a chair that was leaned up against the wall. She hoisted herself up. Me and Pru tried to muffle our laughter with our shirt sleeves.

"My name's Hannah and I am your section leader! I will also be your mama if I have to be. We're a TEAM!" She shouted suddenly, making us all jump two feet in the air. "What does Team stand for?" A few people raised their hands. "Yeah, you with the cornrows."

"Uh..it means people working together to achieve a goal."

Hannah laughed. "Ehhhh!" She made a buzzer sound. "Wrong! The clarinets have this really nifty acronym for it..that I made up myself." She raised the roof. Me and Pru were now snorting with laughter.

"Try everything and more! You must TRY, people! TRY TRY! Or I'll have to bust out a can on you're hineys. Let's say it together!"

"Try everything and more." We mumbled.

"Whoo! I don't know about you guys but I'm feelin crazy! Let's head outside and learn how to make the most out of our clarinets! File OUT! WHOO!" She jumped off the chair and scuttled out the door. We all exchanged confused looks with each other and followed far behind.