Bitch Factor – Chapter 14
Ellie wriggled into her shorts, slipped her arms into the red camp shirt, and squeezed it over her head fast. She hated getting caught inside.
She smoothed the wrinkles over her tummy and scraped with her fingernail at a spot of something yellow. Mama would say to wear a clean shirt, the blue one or the white – both had CAMP DONOVAN on the front – but Ellie liked the red one best. She’d worn it every day since camp started.
Rubbing her eyes with a fist, she tiptoed to the door, praying she wouldn’t wake the other girls in her cabin. She’d woke up early so she could beat Anna to the flag. Yesterday, Miss Bower’d said the person who got to raise the flag to the top of the flagpole had to be an early bird.
Easing the door open, Ellie started down the steps. Then she remembered Courtney’s lucky penny.
No, her lucky penny. Courtney said she could keep it, and today Ellie needed lots of luck.
Creeping back to her bunk, she tripped on her untied shoestrings and made a loud thump. She crossed her fingers that Anna wouldn’t wake up. She and Anna had argued last night about who would get to do the flag today. Ellie knew in her heart that she could do a better job. Anna would probably drop the flag halfway up, and they they’d have to burn it. Everybody knew it was very bad luck to drop a flag.
She felt around under her pillow until her fingers closed over the penny. Pushing it deep in her shorts pocket, she hurried back to the door and down the steps. When the door banged behind her, she kept going.
Across the yard, Miss Bower, her blond hair scraggly from sleep, was leaving the Chow Barn, where everybody ate meals except when they had a picnic. Miss Bower had a coffee mug in one hand and the flag box tucked under her arm. Ellie raced across the damp ground to the circle where everyone gathered to salute the flag. Miss Bower was settling into her camp chair to drink her coffee.
“My goodness, Ellie. Aren’t you an early bird?”
“I came to do the flag.”
“Oh…” Miss Bower nodded, but Ellie could tell by the way her smile faded that it wasn’t a yes nod. It was the sort of nod Mama used when she said, “I see.”
“I won’t drop it, Miss Bower. I promise.”
“No, I’m sure you wouldn’t mean to, but it’s an awfully big flag for such a little girl.”
“I’m not so little anymore. See, my hands are big.” Ellie spread her fingers wide to make her hands as big as possible. She heard footsteps pounding behind her.
“Miss Bower! Miss Bower!”
It was Anna.
“Look!” Ellie clenched her fist to bunch up the muscle in her arm, as she pushed up the sleeve of her camp shirt. “I’m strong, Miss Bower.”
“That’s not a muscle,” Anna jeered, offering both arms. “Look at these.”
Just then, the bell rang, calling everybody to the circle.
Ellie had to admit that Anna’s muscles might be a teeny bit bigger than her own. Anna was already six and a half, as tall as second-year girls.
“But, Miss Bower,” Ellie argued, “you told us only early birds get to do the flag. I was the earliest of anybody.”
“Yes, that’s true, Ellie. I did say that, didn’t I?”
Ellie nodded helpfully.
“That’s not fair, Miss Bower. Ellie’s the youngest kid in camp. Us older girls should get to go first, and I’ve never done the flag.”
Miss Bower wrinkled her forehead. “I don’t recall your ever asking before, Anna.”
“No, ma’am, but I still—”
“Well, Ellie was the early bird this morning. Maybe you can get up earlier tomorrow.” When Anna started to object, Miss Bower put up a hand. “Meanwhile, it takes two girls to unfold the flag and keep it from touching the ground while I fasten it to the flag hoist.”
Behind them, Ellie heard cabin doors banging, feet pounding, as the other girls gathered around the flagpole. Miss Bower opened the box, took out the flag, and handed it to Ellie.
“One girl holds the end while the other girl unfolds.”
Anna pushed forward and grabbed the unfolding end. Ellie had to just stand there while Anna flipped the folded part over and back until it was stretched between them.
“Now, open it wide,” Miss Bower said, standing and moving to the flagpole. “Ellie, you hand me the top corner.”
Ellie knew the blue part sprinkled with stars was the top. Reaching to hand Miss Bower the metal ring in the blue corner, Ellie felt a tug. The flag slipped through her fingers. She grabbed quick, heart thumping furiously, and caught it before it touched the ground. When she looked up, Anna was grinning.
That grin was too much.
“Butthead,” Ellie whispered, with her most ferocious glare. She had learned the word from Courtney, but this was the first time she felt like saying it to anybody.
When Miss Bower finished hooking the flag to the rope, she made Anna step back. Then Ellie pulled hard on the rope, and the flag traveled a little way up the pole. It was heavier than she expected. She looked at Miss Bower, hoping she hadn’t noticed that Ellie had raised the flag only a few inches.
Bracing herself, Ellie tugged harder, the muscles in her arms straining with the effort. This time the flag moved a little easier. Hand over hand, like she’d seen the older girls do, Ellie pulled the flag to the top of the pole, where it snapped and waved in the wind. Then Miss Bower tied it off and everybody said the Pledge.
Ellie had only learned the Pledge since she came to camp. She wasn’t sure what all the words meant, but she said them in her biggest, most important voice.
Afterward, the bell rang again, calling everyone to breakfast. While the other girls ran past, Ellie looked up at the flag flapping back and forth and couldn’t stop smiling. She bet Courtney hadn’t got to pull up the flag on her first time at camp.
Watching the flag as she walked, Ellie started toward the Chow Barn – and fell flat in the dirt. Her chin hit hard. she bit her tongue, bringing tears to her eyes. Sitting up, she quickly rubbed the tears away. Big girls, who could pull a flag all the way to the top of the pole, didn’t cry.
“Nah, na-na-nah-na!” Anna stood jeering at her from the steps of the Chow Barn. “Forget to tie your shoes?” She stuck out her tongue then disappeared through the door.
Looking at her untied shoestrings, Ellie saw a dirty smudge where someone had stepped on one of them. She had a good idea who that someone was.
But she wasn’t going to let it spoil her best day at camp. She tied her shoes, brushed herself off, and ran to join the other girls at breakfast. Reaching the steps, she fished in her pocket for the lucky penny. Courtney had made Ellie promise to keep it with her to ward off any bad luck. Ever since Mr. Dann’s car ran over Betsy, Courtney had been worried about bad luck.
Frowning, Ellie felt in her other pocket, pulled it wide, and peered inside it. She saw a rubber band she had found under her bed and a piece of cookie from yesterday’s snack.
But the lucky penny was gone.
Check back next week for the next chapter in Bitch Factor.
Or CLICK HERE to check out Slice of Life, the fourth book in the Dixie Flannigan series.
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