Second Time's the Charm by Melissa J. Morgan Read Free Book Online Page A

then traveled as a bunk to sports and instructional swim, broke up for electives, met for a specialty (sports, art, wood-working, photography, ceramics, newspaper, or nature), and then had lunch. After lunch was siesta, where they were free to do as they pleased as long as they remained in or near the bunk and were quiet enough to give their counselors a break. After siesta came another bunk activity, free swim, and then finally, their last elective. They had some more free time before dinner, followed by evening activity. It was amazing how leisure activities could fill up a whole day so quickly.
    Natalie was thrilled to be assigned to ceramics and newspaper for her free choices, both of which she got to do with Alyssa. As he had said he would, Simon had signed up for newspaper, too. Nat felt deliriously lucky—her BFF and her boyfriend—both in her elective! Newspaper was fast becoming her favorite activity of the day.
    Today, though, she was feeling antsy. It felt like Jesse, the new newspaper counselor, had been talking at them, rather than to them, for hours, rather than minutes.
    â€œWell, we’ve talked about how to write a catchy, captivating headline,” Jesse said. “You guys know that you have exactly three seconds to get your reader’s attention. So you have to be concise and punchy. It’s not easy to do. But that being said, a catchy headline is only as good as the article it . . . well, headlines.”
    Nat rolled her eyes. Could you say obvious ? Jesse sure wasn’t being very catchy or to-the-point. Next to her, Alyssa giggled. Probably thinking the same thing I am, Nat decided.
    â€œToday we’re going to talk about interviews,” Jesse continued. If he noticed Nat and Alyssa’s little psychic side conversation, he was being nice enough not to call attention to it. “Interviews can range from anything like celebrity gossip, like Oprah and Jen, to hard-hitting news, like, oh, almost anything Mike Wallace does on 60 Minutes .”
    â€œBooorrrr-ing,” trilled one of the more obnoxious boys from the back row. Why he was even in newspaper, Nat had no idea. Maybe he’d been stuck with it, like she had with nature the summer before. The memory still made her cringe—but at least it had brought her and Simon together. The Great Outdoors is good for something—who knew?
    â€œYes, well, obviously you’re entitled to your opinion, and of course, it’s all a matter of taste. But still.” He gestured to the long wooden table before him. “I have a bunch of samples here. Spin , Twist , Jane , Entertainment Weekly , Time , Sports Illustrated —”
    â€œâ€”Woo-hoo!” Obnoxious and his friends chimed in. Nat rolled her eyes. Boys were so predictable. Thank goodness Simon could be counted on to be a tad more . . . couth.
    â€œYou can take some time researching, and then pair up. I want you to work on interviewing each other. Whoever is best able to come up with a compelling interview will be asked to submit a piece—an interview—to the Visiting Day edition of our paper.”
    A small murmur of excitement rippled across the room. The newspaper came out twice over the summer—Visiting Day, and at the end-of-camp banquet. The Visiting Day paper was considered a bigger deal, though, because of how many parents were around to read it.
    When no one moved, Jesse looked at them all quizzically. “You can take some time researching,” he repeated. “Pair up.” When no one moved, he clarified. “Now. Would be fine.”
    The campers cracked up, then one by one shifted out of their benches and wandered semi-aimlessly through the newspaper office/shack, occasionally flipping through the samples that Jesse had laid out but mostly stealing sidelong glances at one another. Obnoxious easily found a partner—no doubt someone just as loud as himself, Nat decided—and some of the girls squealed quietly