That evening, Ms. Alvarez spoke to the troop about what the program was meant to teach, and acknowledged that the hardest decision that week had been made by the one person willing to let honesty cost her own team. Marissa was removed from the competition program for the rest of camp, pending a formal review.
On the drive home, Ava asked if she was grounded. Rachel told her yes—she had lied, sent a misleading photo, and faked an injury, and none of that disappeared just because she’d told the truth eventually. But Rachel also told her she was proud of the choice Ava made once she was finally forced to make one.
Before heading upstairs that night, Ava added one more detail: the first day really had been fun, and the photo hadn’t been completely fake—she’d genuinely been happy when it was taken.
A few days later, Kayla texted. She was still upset and unsure whether they were still friends, but she admitted the cheating would have kept going if no one had stopped it. Ava wondered aloud whether she’d skip camp next year, then shrugged it off. She still liked camping.
