“Lis too! I know about your girlfriend because Muffs gave me a hard time at the beach. About having a boyfriend. Oh, wait—he said they’re together! Well, not really together, but your girlfriend is in Europe too.”
“Yep. Both of our significant others are off in Europe, while here we are, together, walking in the moonlight.” Gavin smiles. He looks like the bad-but-lovable character in a TV show. He’s definitely the hottest guy at camp.
“Is your guy in Paris?” he asks.
“Not Paris,” I say. “Or I should say, not just Paris. He’s backpacking. Currently in Rome. What’s your girlfriend doing in Paris?”
“She’s working at an art gallery.”
“Wow. Impressive.”
“Yeah. She’s living there for the summer.”
“You didn’t want to go too?”
“I mean, yeah, sure, I would have gone to Paris. I’ve never been to Europe. But I’ve been coming here forever. And I don’t think her parents would have loved it if I’d crashed at her place the whole summer.”
“Got it,” I say.
“What about you? How come you ended up back here instead of backpacking through Europe?”
“I wasn’t invited,” I say. “He went with his cousin. I couldn’t have afforded it anyway. I already have a ton of debt from school.”
“Well, they’re in Europe, and we’re not. Big deal. Who needs macarons when you have mac and cheese?”
I laugh. “Exactly. I love camp mac and cheese.”
“Me too. You missed it yesterday, but it was super cheesy with just the right amount of bread crumbs. Here we are.”
We are suddenly standing outside the office.
Oh well. I guess that’s the end of our conversation. Too bad. Maybe we’ll get to walk back together? Gavin’s just so nice to look at . . .
I shake my thought off. Ha! Maybe my nickname should be Horny instead of Porny.
Anyway, calling Eli. That’s why I’m here.
“So where’s the Wi-Fi?” I ask.
“We have to go inside,” he says.
We climb up the three stairs and open the door.
Eric the office guy is sprawled across the gray couch eating raisins. Very, verrrrrrry slowly.
Oh, he is definitely stoned.
I turn to see if Gavin is seeing this, but he’s already typing on his phone.
“Network is CampBlueSprings?” I ask.
“It’s . . . um . . . um . . .” It takes Eric a few seconds, but he eventually shares the password.
I wait for my texts to download.
One from Emily asking if I made it to camp.
One from my mom asking if I’m having fun.
Finally one from Eli:
Hi! Going to bed. Yosef made it. We went to a bar. Italian drinks are strong. Love you. Good night, Beautiful.
Oh wow, I miss him!
I flip over to his Instagram account to see if he posted anything.
Nothing. I write back:
Hey babe! I misssssssssssss you. This time difference sucks. Wish you were awake! Wish you were here! Wish we were naked in your bed! Ignore that, I don’t want to get you all hot and bothered on the other side of the world.
I look over to see if Gavin is still writing. But he’s looking at me. “Wanna walk back to the CL?” he asks.
“Sure,” I say. “Give me one sec.”
He nods.
I look back down at my phone and type:
I love you. Have fun!
I slip my phone back into my sweater pocket. “Done,” I say. I turn to Eric. He is still eating slowly. “Enjoy the raisins.”
Gavin snort-laughs.
“How stoned was he?” Gavin asks as we head back to the CL. “On a scale of one to ten?”
“Eleven,” I say. “Maybe twelve.”
“I’m not into raisins, personally,” he says. “Grapes, yes. Raisins, no.”
“Not even if they’re covered in chocolate?”
“That’s a different situation entirely.”
I laugh and then we’re both quiet for a few steps.
“So how long have you and your girlfriend been together?” I ask.
“Since February,” he says. “Not that long.”
“You go to school together?”
“Yeah. University of Maryland,” he says. “You?”
“NYU.”
“Kat is from New York,” he says. “She grew up in the city.”
“Where?”
“Upper East Side.”
“I live downtown,” I say. I want him to know that I’m a downtown kind of girl, aka, fun and cool. Upper East Side girls are prim and proper. Or so the TV shows tell me.
The CL is right in front of us.
“I’m kind of excited to go in,” I admit.
“To see the movie?”
“No, I’ve seen the movie. To go into the CL! I was a camper here, but we were never allowed inside because it was the—”
“Counselors’ Lounge.”
“Right. So what happens in there exactly?”
“Oh, it’s magical.”
“It is, isn’t it?”
“There are strobe lights. And trampolines. And secret passageways.”
“I knew there’d be secret passageways! Do they go right to the Dining Hall?”
“Right to the kitchen. To the freezer where all the ice cream is.”
“I had a feeling.”
He smiles at me. “Should we go in?”
“We should.”
“I’m afraid you might be disappointed.”
“Story of my life,” I say, and he opens the door for me.
The lights are off and the movie is already on. There are no disco balls or trampolines. Probably no secret passageways, although I can’t say for sure. The paneling on the wall does look a little loose. It’s basically just a large room with a wood floor, a few rugs, and old couches. There’s a big TV against the far wall. Counselors are lying all over the place. There are two big bowls of popcorn in the back of the room and everyone has small cups of it.
Talia waves to me and points to an empty spot next to her.
“Have fun,” Gavin says to me. He opens the door.
“You’re not staying?” I ask.
“Nah. I’ve seen this.” He pushes the door and disappears.
Hmm. Mysterious. I wonder where he’s going. I snake my way through the spread-out counselors and find my spot between Talia and Lis.
It’s after midnight, and my face is washed and I’m in my pajamas and tucked into my covers. So are Lis and Talia. Janelle is in the cubby room. Our front door opens and there’s a knock next to the curtain. “Everyone decent?” It’s Botts’s voice.
“Yes!” I say. “Come in!”
Botts opens the curtain. He’s wearing a fleece sweater zipped up over his chin. He has a walkie-talkie clipped to his belt, and he’s holding a big black flashlight.
He plops down on the corner of my bed.
“So how’re you holding up, Rosenspan?” he asks.
“All good,” I say. “Were you in the CL?”
“No, I had some admin stuff to do. But tell me about you. Are you glad you came back?”
“So far,” I say. “It’s fun to see the magic behind the curtain. I didn’t realize how much work went into everything when I was a camper.”