Camp Confidential 05 - TTYL Read Online Free Page A

had framed when she got home. It was the cast from the camp play. She picked up the frame and looked closely at the picture. I look so happy , she thought. I guess part of it is that I thought I’d be able to keep acting. She sighed and put down the photograph.
    Then a thought crossed her mind. She knew her parents wouldn’t be home from work until five thirty each night, and this year they’d decided she was too old for a babysitter. They’d given her a key and everything.
    And drama club was after school every day from three to five.
    So . . . Her mind was whirling. With no parents or babysitter home after school, no one would know what time she came home. And if she came home right away after drama, they would just assume she’d been there since three! It’s the perfect plan, she thought excitedly.
    Nervous butterflies hit her stomach. It was risky, even though it seemed like it could work. It was just a matter of pulling it off. She decided she’d calm down, act totally mature through the barbecue, and then ask about drama club again.
    And if they said no? Well, then Grace was just going to have to take matters into her own hands.
    “Grace,” her mother called. “Let’s get going—it looks like rain, and I’d like to get to your grandma’s before it starts pouring.”
    “Coming,” Grace yelled. She pulled on a light hoodie and stepped into her new sandals—well, not new new. She’d bought them before camp, but hadn’t brought them along because she didn’t want to risk them being ruined. They were leather, with awesome purple beading on the straps. She was sure they’d be a hit at the barbecue.
    She ran down the stairs, where her parents were waiting by the door. “Grace, honey, don’t you think you ought to change your shoes?” her mom asked. “They’re leather, and if it rains . . .” She trailed off before describing the unspeakable horror of Grace’s leather shoes getting wet in the rain. “Why don’t you wear your sneakers?”
    In that instant, Grace’s bad mood sparked back, but she held her tongue. “Good thinking, Mom,” she said, smiling sweetly. She changed into her sneakers and followed her parents out the door.
    It did start to rain the second they reached Grace’s grandma’s house. The barbecue was low-key, just family sitting around Grandma’s living room eating hamburgers off paper plates. Grace thought she did a pretty good job of acting grown-up and mature, so as they were leaving, after she buckled herself up in the backseat of her dad’s green sedan, she leaned forward and tapped her mom on the shoulder.
    “So, about drama club,” she said sweetly, figuring it was worth one more shot.
    “No, Grace,” her mother said impatiently.
    “I’m just wondering if we could work out a deal,” Grace continued quickly. “Like if I can keep a B average, then I get to stay in it.”
    Grace’s mother twisted around in her seat. “No, honey. If you get a B average we’ll talk about you joining next year.”
    “But at camp . . .” Grace began to counter.
    “Camp was different,” Grace’s father jumped in. “Camp was a couple of books, and lots of time to read. And lots of girls helping you. Camp was different than middle school. And you need to learn that, honey. I’m sorry. But the topic is closed.” To illustrate his point, he reached over and turned on the radio. A man’s boring voice droned out of the speakers, and Grace leaned back against the slightly sticky leather of the hot backseat.
    “Can you turn on the air-conditioning?” she said, feeling defeated. For a moment, she’d really believed that her parents would have changed their minds while she was upstairs in her room. But she was wrong. Grace wasn’t the kind of girl who normally went against what her parents asked of her. But desperate times called for desperate measures, didn’t they?
    Good thing I have a backup plan , she thought to herself.
    To: BrynnWins
From: Grrrrace
Subject: Back to