The summer we turned thirteen (Published)

The summer we met: The fall of the mighty Jasper

Harlee

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It seemed our plan had worked swimmingly.

The boys' cabin was a DISASTER, and I'd never felt more proud.

It was about ten a.m. when Polly, Hally, and I reentered their cabin, and from the looks of it, everything had gone according to plan.

The room was a mess. Feathers were spread everywhere. Evan, Jasper, and Mike were soiled in food and covered in pillow feathers, while James was unharmed.

Wow.

We'd actually done it.

We'd managed to prank Jasper. He was dripping with slime from his head to his toes. So even the slime-filled shower booby trap had worked.

Silence filled the room as the boys stared at us. I don't think any of them had realized what exactly had happened yet.

I broke the silence. "Well, what do we have here?" I asked innocently.

Hally seemed to pick up on my taunting tone and joined right in.

"Looks like you boys have gotten yourselves into quite a mess," she giggled beside me.

"James here set us up," Jasper barked back at us, glaring at Hally for laughing at them. But Hally wasn't paying him any attention; the three of us were too busy exchanging shocked glances with one another about what Jasper had just said.

They thought James had done this to them?

Well, I thought to myself, it kind of makes sense considering James is the only one that hasn't been pranked.

For a second, I almost wanted to give James credit for the entire prank, but I knew that could only result in disaster. So, I cleared my throat and prepared to own up to it myself.

"What are you three doing here anyway?! Were you a part of it?! Did you help him?!" Jasper asked before I could speak.

Hally and Polly seemed to be a little intimidated by Jasper's yelling, but I was unmoved.

As they were losing their nerve behind me, I stepped right up to him unafraid and said,

"James didn't have any part in this at all, Jasper," I moved an inch closer. "I did it."

James' eyes widened.

Mike's expression went from hard and cold to confused and humiliated.

Evan gasped at the admission quietly.

All of their reactions were priceless, but Jasper's was most certainly my favorite.

"You did this?" Jasper asked, nearly whispering as he spoke.

"Did I stutter?" I replied.

His shock turned to disbelief quickly. "No. No way, there's no way you came up with all of this. No way," he denied it, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself of that than anyone else.

"I did; believe it," I shrugged.

"Don't listen to her, Jasp; she's lying," Mike cut in. "There's no way a girl could pull something like this off."

His sexist comment didn't faze me, but it seemed to bother Polly. Because right then, she finally found her voice and said,

"We did pull it off, Mike; thank you very much. It was all Harlee's idea, though."

I wondered if she'd put that last part in to save face or give me credit.

I didn't stress it.

"Why is it so hard to believe, Jasper? Why can't you just admit you lost to a trio of girls?" I asked tauntingly.