He ran to the pharmacy so fast, I told him he should try out for track.
I don’t know what changed in that moment. I just knew that I felt safe with him. And that I wanted to do it.
“So no one’s being a jerk?” he says now.
“No,” I say. “We’ve mostly been settling in. My co-counselor was mad that I was late, though.”
“But you were spending time with me,” he says. “And it’s only the first few days.”
“I guess,” I say. “She had to unpack the kids without me.”
“Just bring her some cupcakes,” he says. “She’ll forgive you.”
“I’m not sure where I would find cupcakes,” I say. “So what’s the hostel like?”
“It’s like the dorms, but grungier.”
“Sounds . . . gross?”
“Yeah. It’s fine. It was cheap at least.”
“What did you do today?”
“Took the train from the airport. Dropped my bag off. Wandered around in the heat. Took an epic nap.” He yawns in my ear.
“How was the flight?”
“Fine. Watched a movie and passed out.”
We stay on the phone, trading stories, until Eric comes over the loudspeaker.
“Attention, all staff. Attention, all staff. It is now the end of Rest Hour. Please go . . . um . . . unpack.”
“What was that?” Eli asks.
“Announcement. I have to go.”
“I should shower anyway. When will we talk next?”
“I’ll text you tonight, and will call around this time tomorrow? Good?”
“Yup. Not sure where I’ll be, but I’ll have my phone on me and I spent extra to have the best possible international plan.”
“Okay. Good. I miss you. Have fun with Yosef. But not too much fun,” I add.
He laughs.
“Have fun with the EpiPens,” he says. “But not too much fun.”
I head back to the cabin and unpack the last kid.
Their clothes are little and adorable. The mini Converse are my favorite.
After dinner with Talia and Lis—Janelle is MIA—I change into my bathrobe, put on my flip-flops, grab a towel and my soap bucket, and head to the showers.
I climb the steps very, very carefully.
The shower room is pretty much how I remember it. It’s a wooden cabin aboveground. There’s a bathroom stall in the front, and then ten shower stalls in total, five on either side. Each stall has a yellow shower curtain, and I yank mine open.
I let the hot water blast over me. At least there’s hot water in here. I don’t think I could handle six weeks of cold showers.
It feels good to have a minute alone. I wonder what Eli’s doing.
“Sam?” I hear Talia say. “You here? You almost done?”
I jump. Guess I’m not alone.
“Five minutes!” I say. “You should go ahead!” I would prefer to walk down by myself this first time.
“We’ll wait for you!” Lis shouts back.
Crap. I hurry up and turn off the water. I wrap myself in my towel, dry off, then wrap it around my head and slip into my bathrobe.
I grab my stuff, and carefully—very carefully—walk down the stairs.
“You okay?” Lis asks me. “You’re walking like a weirdo.”
“I . . . I don’t want to trip.”
“You guys, when I was a camper there was this one girl who fell and then . . .” She stops mid-step. “OMG. Was that you? That was you, wasn’t it? You’re Porny!”
Of course the name is coming out just as I’m standing on the stairs. It’s like my childhood nightmares are coming true, and I’m powerless to stop them.
“Porny?” Talia asks.
Shit. What happens now?
“I tripped on the stairs,” I say. “I flashed everyone.”
“And Zoe Buckman took it from there,” Lis finishes for me.
“She did,” I say. “Could we not spread my former nickname around camp? It wasn’t my favorite.”
“No kidding,” Talia says. “Don’t worry, we won’t tell. As long as you’re nice to us.”
“That was super creepy,” I say.
“I was joking!” she cries.
I blink. Hmm, why do I only kind of believe her?
“I need something that rhymes with wet your bed,” Muffs, still wearing his earmuffs, says.
“No bed-wetting jokes, please,” Danish says.
We’re back in the Dining Hall, and we’re divided by cabin. We are each supposed to rewrite a verse from the song “A Whole New World” from Aladdin to make the junior section song. Right beside us is Gavin and Muff’s table. I’m still annoyed by Muff’s comment at the lake. I know he’s wrong, obviously, but still. It’s possible to stay in a relationship if you’re at camp. Of course it is.
“You ready, Bunk Six?” she asks.
Lis whoops. So far she hasn’t mentioned my old nickname, thank goodness. Neither has Talia.
We have the first verse. I feel nervous.
We all stand up. Janelle, our transcriber, holds the paper in front of us and we sing.
“We can show you Blue Springs
The lake, your bunk, a can-oooooe.
C’mon, juniors, it’s time for you to
Have the best of times.”
Everyone cheers.
Not a Grammy winner, but it will hopefully do?
“Wahoo!” Janelle cries.
When the song is over, Danish instructs us to head over to the CL—the Counselors’ Lounge—to watch a movie.
“What’s the movie?” Lis asks.
“Wet Hot American Summer,” Danish tells us.
“Fitting,” Muffs says.
We all file down out the back door and climb down the stairs. It’s dark out already, and there’s a chill in the air, so I zip up my fleece sweatshirt.
“Maybe I’ll stop at the office first,” I say. “For Wi-Fi.”
“I’ll show you where to go,” Gavin says.
“Thanks,” I say.
We all walk together past the lake and up the hill. Talia starts humming the tune to “A Whole New World.”
“Oh no, you don’t,” JJ says.
“No one will tell us no, or where to go!”
“Or say we’re only dreaming,” Lis finishes.
“Maybe we should ask to watch Aladdin instead,” Muffs says.
“Yes!” Lis says. “We totally should.”
“I know all the words to ‘Let It Go,’” Janelle says. “My half sister, Michelle, is a big Frozen fan.” She turns to Muffs. “Did I tell you about my half sister?”
We come to a fork in the road.
“We go this way,” Gavin tells me.
“See you guys soon,” I tell the girls.
Gavin and I continue up the hill.
“Texting your girlfriend?” I ask him.
“I am,” he says. “How did you know I had a girlfriend? It’s not written on my forehead, is it?”
“It totally is,” I say. “In big black letters. I think Muffs did it while you were sleeping.”
“That wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest,” he says. “He has already written his name on every surface of the cabin.”