"Oh my gosh!" Grace mumbled through a mouthful of blue Jell-O.

Allie couldn't help laughing as her doppelganger clearly fell in love with the dessert. "What'd I tell ya?" she asked with a bit of a smirk.

Grace swallowed and smiled. "It's so good!"

"I know, right?" Allie grinned. "Mom and I love it. We always keep some in the fridge."

"My dad and I love chocolate cake, and always keep it around." Grace took another bite of her Jell-O and hummed as it melted away. "I'm going to have to get him to buy this now!"

Allie slurped up a spoonful of her own Jell-O, excited about getting another person hooked on it.

When she first met this Grace, she'd been a little confused about how to react. It was so weird seeing someone who looked just like her and, somehow, seemed a lot like her mom. Grace had something of her mother's bearing: it was something about her posture and the polite way in which she spoke. Allie hadn't quite known how to interact with this strange girl and initially took her usual route with strange people - keeping them at a distance. But when Jamie (the name of the new girl who preferred the Ritz, as they found out) arrived, Allie had quickly decided that hanging out with Grace was preferable to being left with the "preppy" girl. Overall, she realized, Grace is actually really likable.

"You two can enjoy the Jell-O," Brooke commented as she dug into her own dessert at their end of one of the large mess hall tables. "I'm sticking with ice cream!"

"Solid choice," Grace acknowledged.

"And it leaves more Jell-O for us!" Allie said with a chuckle.

They were all glad to finally be eating. It had seemed as if the bell for dinner would never ring, and the three had worked up quite an appetite walking around the lake.

As they continued eating, Jamie walked over to them with her own plate, looking at it with distaste. "I hate cafeteria food," she sighed.

Allie didn't want to answer. She didn't really care much for whiny people.

Grace, apparently, was nicer than her - but not much. "I'm afraid you're going to have to get used to it. I don't think 'gourmet' ever even enters the vocabulary here."

Jamie grimaced, then sighed. "You're probably right." She sunk into her seat. "I wish my mom hadn't sent me here" Her voice was plaintive now, which made Allie start to wonder if she was judging her a bit too harshly. Perhaps the complaints were really a cover for some other emotion...

"Your mom made you come here?" Brooke frowned as she asked. "Why?"

Jamie rolled her eyes. "She said something about how fresh air and exercise would be good for me, but I know it's because she just got married and wants me out of the house for a while." She stabbed at the fruit on her plate with her fork and began munching aggressively on a melon slice.

Allie winced. Her own dad had died when she was little, but Mom had never shown another man even the slightest interest. She couldn't imagine her mom marrying someone else and then sending her away. "That's rough," she sympathized.

Grace murmured in apparent agreement, but before anyone could say anything else about it, the loud squeal of a microphone suddenly echoed in the room.

"Ooh-" the camp director was startled before diving into a clearly practiced spiel. "Welcome, girls, to Camp Hathaway!"

Most of the girls cheered. Allie rolled her eyes at the silliness of the forced cheer - and was surprised to catch Grace doing the same. Their eyes met. Allie smiled, and when Grace responded with a smile of her own, she knew they were going to be good friends.

"As you may have heard at check-in," the director continued, "we are going to have a camp wide competition!"

Allie did cheer with the other girls at this news. She'd always been interested in sports, and was ready to compete at anything.

The director described multiple games coming up, and Allie's ears perked up when she heard about the obstacle course.

"I'm winning that one," she whispered to the other girls confidently. A few years ago, Allie had asked her mom how people prepared to be in the Air Force, halfway wanting to join it herself once she was old enough. Mom had described several rules and procedures, but what caught Allie's attention the most was the physical training involved. She'd gotten her mom to sign her up for karate lessons to build up her strength and combat moves, and after seeing some boot camp scene while flipping channels on TV, she begged her mother to set up an obstacle course in their yard for her to practice. Still the coolest birthday present ever.

Brooke looked like she was more than willing to concede victory, but Grace had a mischievous gleam in her eye. "I don't know, Carter. I might come out on top there. My dad's in the Air Force, and he's trained me like I'm in it, too - push-ups and all!" She laughed goodnaturedly, but Allie was surprised.

"No kidding?!" she exclaimed curiously. "My mom's Air Force, too." What are the odds of us being this much alike?

"Interesting..." Grace trailed off thoughtfully, apparently also surprised at their continued similarity.

We're not related, are we? Allie wondered again. I mean, we can't be siblings! There were too many points against it. The birthdays being close together, but definitely far apart enough for them to not be twins. The fact that Mom had said Allie's dad died on a mission. Mom wouldn't have lied about that...

She put her wonderings aside, conscious that her new friends were all looking at her by this point. "Looks like we'll be evenly matched, then!" she grinned. It would make victory that much more of a prize.

She could think about this strange connection she had with Grace later.

Again, thank you for all of the favorites, follows, and reviews! I really appreciate them.