Jenna's Dilemma Read Online Free Page A

Karen added.
    â€œI don’t have to do it, either, Julie,” Jessie offered.
    Julie looked at the rest of them expectantly, waiting for more of them to back down, but no one did. “The rest of you want in?” she asked.
    The table erupted again as everyone tried to make her case.
    â€œAll right! All right!” Julie said, attempting to quiet them. “Like Brynn said, I’m only supposed to submit two names.” She picked up her ever-present clipboard from under her chair and tore off a page of blank paper. “I’ll write everyone’s name down on strips of paper, and then we’ll pick—sound fair?”
    Natalie and Grace and a few others nodded their approval, but Jenna’s heart sank. Her name was never pulled out of hats or barrels or bowls. She was just not lucky with those things.
    â€œSarah? Can I borrow your hat?” Julie asked when she was done tearing paper and writing names.
    Sarah pulled off her Red Sox cap, her ponytail flopping through the hole in the back, and handed it to Julie. All the names were dumped in the hat, and then Julie shook it up.
    â€œAlex, since you were the first to gracefully bow out, how about you do the honors?” Julie asked, holding the hat out to Alex, who was sitting to her right.
    Alex sat up straight and made a very serious face as she dipped her hand into the hat. Jenna held her breath. Alex unfolded the first strip of paper and held it up for everyone to see. “Chelsea,” she said.
    â€œYes!” Chelsea cheered.
    So unfair , Jenna thought. Why should a newbie get to be on the committee and not me? At least I’ve been to these things before .
    Julie shook the cap again, and Alex put her hand inside.
    Please just say Jenna, please just say Jenna, please just say—
    â€œJenna!” Alex announced.
    â€œNo way!” Jenna blurted, causing everyone to laugh. Alex leaned over to high-five her, and Jenna slapped her friend’s hand. She couldn’t believe it. Her name had actually been chosen! She was going to be on the planning committee!
    â€œSo Chelsea and Jenna will represent us,” Julie said, dumping out the rest of the names and handing the hat back to Sarah. The rest of the bunk sat back, disappointed.
    â€œDon’t worry, you guys. We’ll all come up with ideas, and then Chelsea and I can give them to the committee,” Jenna suggested.
    Everyone brightened a bit at this plan, and Julie grinned. “Now that sounds fair, doesn’t it?”
    â€œYeah,” Grace replied, chorused by the others. “Thanks, Jenna.”
    â€œNo problem,” Jenna said, her mind already brimming with possibilities. She couldn’t wait to put her own personal touch on the camp-wide social. Now all she had to do was figure out what her personal touch would be.
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“I can’t believe Chelsea got picked,” Brynn complained as she, Jenna, Alex, and Grace walked back to the bunk together after dinner. “She’s a newbie. Julie should have done it by seniority.”
    â€œYou only think that because I said no, and then you and Jenna would have been after me in line,” Alex said.
    Jenna, Brynn, and Alex would have been at the same point in line, actually, but Jenna didn’t bother to point that out. They all knew it, anyway.
    â€œSo?” Brynn said, kicking at a stone on the walkway.
    â€œDon’t worry, Brynn. Like I said, if you have any ideas, I’ll bring them up at the meetings,” Jenna told her.
    â€œGood, because I have about a million,” Grace put in, fiddling with her colorful plastic rings. “We could have a fifties theme! You know, like Grease ? Or like a Gone with the Wind theme? Like a Southern ball? Ooh! Or maybe it could be a Mardi Gras theme! I went to Mardi Gras with my aunt and uncle one year, and it was so cool! Well, I didn’t get to see a lot of it because I had to go to bed early, but in the morning there