Page 31 of Disharmony

“Is she the girl from the video, Claudie?” Kelly asks, looking up at me with wide eyes. “I’ve seen her online.”

Claudia snorts. “Well, it seems like you’re already famous.”

“Trust me,” I mumble, “I’m just a nobody.”

She cocks her head to the side. “You’re Cookie’s roommate, right?”

“Uh-huh.” I nod enthusiastically. “You know her?”

“Sure do. She’s always sniffing around for extra snacks,” Claudia says fondly, “but who can say no to that girl?”

I laugh. Cookie has a certain charm about her that captivates people but still holds secrets of her own. Whenever Leila mentions her old roommate Riley, everyone freezes up.

“Did you work here last year too?” I ask. If none of the campers want to tell me what happened, maybe Claudia can shed some light on it. “You didn’t happen to know someone called Riley, did you?”

Claudia’s face falls. Her eyes dart around to make sure we’re alone. “Where did you hear that name?”

“So you have heard of her,” I say.

“I’ll be right back,” Claudia says to Kelly. “Can you start slicing the tomatoes while I’m gone?”

“Sure can,” he says and hurries away.

“Come with me.” Claudia grabs my wrist and pulls me into the large walk-in fridge. Goosebumps make the hairs on my arms stand on end as she asks sharply, “What have you heard about Riley?”

“Nothing,” I insist, noticing the fear etched into her face. “No one wants to talk about whatever happened.”

“It’s more than my job’s worth to speak about it,” Claudia says. “All you need to know is that there was an accident last year. I don’t know the circumstances. All I know is that someone got hurt. Real bad. They didn’t want to cause a fuss. Everyone got paid out and signed NDAs to keep it quiet.”

“Riley was the one that got hurt?”

“I can’t say anymore, Ash,” Claudia says firmly, a steely edge to her voice tells me this conversation is over. I’ve already pushed my luck enough. “I need this job, okay? I can’t risk losing it when I need to support me and Kelly. I’ve already said too much.”

“Got it.” I motion sealing my lips. I’m not going to pressure her and risk getting her in any trouble. “I won’t say a word.”

If Riley got hurt last year, did Tiffany have something to do with it? She seems willing to do anything to take out her competition. The real question is, how far will she go to get what she wants? If painting our cabin red is only the start, where will it end?

* * *

Cookie: I’m running late. I’ll catch up with you later? x

My stomach is gurgling after helping Claudia, and after reading Cookie’s latest message, I head into the mess hall. The best thing about having a dance lesson in the morning is that I can eat twice the amount of food. I’ll never get tired of the delicious meals they serve.

As I walk in, furious heels click-clack toward me. Tiffany and the Lockets stalk across the mess hall like a pack of hungry piranhas who have caught a whiff of blood.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Tiffany screeches. Her high-pitched whine rattles through me and makes everyone else stare. “Well?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I reply calmly, trying to swerve around her to grab a lunch tray. There are only a few blueberry muffins left, and those babies are calling to me.

“My hair!” A scarf is wrapped around Tiffany’s head. I assumed that it’s a new chic fashion, but as she unravels the fabric, the problem is obvious. Her usually perfectly blow-dried blonde tresses have turned an ugly shade of green. Her minions gasp in response. From their melodramatic reactions, you’d think someone has died. “You did this, didn’t you?”

I bite my lip to stop myself from laughing at the crazy Barbie doll who now resembles a Trollz doll.

“Did you swim for too long?” I ask. I’m sure I read somewhere that swimming in a chlorinated pool has an effect on bleached hair. “Look, I don’t know what you think I did, but I’m here to grab lunch. I’m not interested in your hair.”

Her eyes narrow into thin slits. “Someone switched my shampoo.”

By someone, she means me.

---