Step It Up by Sheryl Berk Page A

“She’s our teacher, after all.” She saw her dance coach loading up the van with assorted camping gear and hoped there was an air mattress in there as well.
    â€œI hope she got me a pink sleeping bag,” Gracie commented. “Pink is my fave color, though purple would be okay, I guess.” Her backpack was filled with stuffed animals: Petunia Pig, Gerdie Gorilla, and her latest addition: a red cat she named Ketchup Kitty.
    â€œYou couldn’t leave a few of those at home?” Rochelle asked her.
    Gracie shook her head. “Nuh-uh. I need them to keep me snuggly at night.”
    Scarlett had already been through this discussion at 5:00 a.m. When Gracie’s canteen, change of clothes, and warm socks wouldn’t fit in her bag, her mom handed them to Scarlett to carry in hers.
    â€œBut Mom,” Scarlett had whined. “I have my own stuff to take.”
    â€œYou are the big sister, so you have to look out for Gracie,” she warned her. Gracie then presented her with Tessie Teddy Bear. “You can carry her for me,” she said. “Thanks, Scoot.”
    â€œLet’s face it. We’re all clueless.” Bria sighed. She was going through a checklist her mother had prepared for her. “I think I forgot to pack a toothbrush.”
    â€œI’m not clueless,” Anya spoke up. She was checking to make sure her canteen was filled with water. “I went camping once when I lived in California.”
    â€œReally?” Liberty raised an eyebrow. “Your backyard doesn’t count.”
    â€œIt wasn’t my backyard,” Anya defended herself. “It was in a state park with my Brownies troop.”
    â€œBrownies? How old were you?” Rochelle asked.
    â€œSeven or eight. I know it had to be in second grade …”
    Bria chuckled. “Oh, great. That makes me feel so much better!”
    â€œIt doesn’t matter,” Scarlett said, trying to keep everyone calm. They hadn’t even left on the trip yet, and they were already bickering! “We’ll learn as we go along.”
    â€œMiss Toni says she wants us to learn an important lesson,” Gracie reminded them.
    â€œYeah,” Bria said. “I just hope that lesson doesn’t involve a pack of wild werewolves.”
    â€œYou’ve seen one too many movies.” Rochelle chuckled. “Come on? Werewolves? Bloodthirsty coyotes, sure. Maybe poisonous snakes. But no werewolves.”
    â€œSnakes?” Liberty gulped. “I don’t like snakes … at all.” She unzipped her bag andpulled out a can of bug repellent. “Do you think this keeps away snakes, too?”
    Gracie held up her stuffed animal. “Miss Petunia Pig will protect us,” she said. “She’s very brave.”
    Scarlett seriously doubted a tattered pink pig with a missing ear would help them fend off wild animals, but it was a nice thought.
    â€œOkay, everyone on board,” Toni said. She glanced down at Liberty’s pink sequined sneakers. “Really? That’s what you’re hiking through mud and rough terrain in? I thought I told you to wear hiking boots.”
    â€œThe hiking boots my mom bought me were hideous,” Liberty sniffed. “I don’t do ugly footwear.” She pulled up her leggings to reveal socks with pink stars on them. “There’s no reason why camping has to be unfashionable.”

    The campsite was two hours away. The roads were long and twisty and seemed to climb higherand higher into the hills. The sun rose above the trees in a red ball.
    â€œAre we going up a mountain?” Bria asked, peering out the window.
    â€œWould you prefer to hike up or down?” Toni asked. “I thought I was being nice by making it easier on you. You’ll hike down to the site.”
    â€œIf she wanted to make it easier on us, she could have just taken us shopping at the mall,” Liberty muttered under her breath.
    When