Happy Birthday, Dear Amy by Marilyn Kaye

Author:Marilyn Kaye [Kaye, Marilyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-8041-4995-2
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2013-09-25T00:00:00+00:00

A cluster of preteen girls walking along the dirt path stared at Eric as they passed him sitting on Tasha’s cabin steps. As if on cue, they all began to giggle wildly. Eric tried to ignore them. What was the big deal? Couldn’t a guy visit his own sister at her camp without creating a fuss?

At least Tasha should be glad to see him. He just hoped she wouldn’t start crying. After a whole week at camp, she was probably ready to crack. In fact, he’d been surprised not to find her moping alone in the cabin, especially since the camp director had told him her group was riding horses. Tasha was scared of all large animals.

Eric could make out another group of girls coming up the path. In fact, he could hear them before he could see them, since they were giggling just like the other group. He turned his head and pretended to be looking in the opposite direction. That was why he didn’t see Tasha before she saw him.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded. To her cabin mates, she said, “He’s my brother.”

He was uncomfortably aware of the other girls gaping at him. “I need to talk to you,” he said gruffly. “Alone.”

“Okay.” Tasha turned to the others. “I’ll be right back.” She went with Eric across the path to a bench on the other side, and they sat down. “What’s going on?” she asked anxiously. “Is there something wrong at home? Are Mom and Dad okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, they’re okay. It’s me. I want to get out of here.”

Tasha stared at him. “Why?”

“This place stinks,” Eric blurted out. “I really hate it. Half the kids in my cabin are beating up on the other half. The senior counselor, Steve, is a total jerk. He doesn’t care about the kids. All he wants to do is sunbathe and collect his paycheck. He won’t even let me do any real counselor stuff. He’s got me cleaning the cabin, for crying out loud! He treats me like scum.”

“Yuck,” Tasha commented. “In my cabin we all straighten up together. We have this chart, and we take turns dusting, sweeping, that sort of thing.”

Eric wasn’t interested in hearing about Tasha’s cleaning regimen. “So I went to the director to complain,” he continued. “He said if I don’t like it here, I can leave. They don’t really need the junior counselors. He even said I should count myself lucky because I’m getting a free bed, free meals, and a free camp experience.”

“How’s the food on your side?” Tasha asked. “It’s not bad over here. The macaroni and cheese is excellent.”

Eric frowned. He wasn’t here to discuss camp cuisine. “Then Steve found out I talked to the director about him, so now he really has it in for me. He orders me around and yells at me in front of the little kids. It’s no wonder they don’t have any respect for me and won’t listen to a thing I say. It’s really a crummy place, Tasha.

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