“Do you know who they are?” Isabel asks.
“Not yet, but we can find them. They’re also part of the E Team.”
Isabel follows me as Andy shoots off more instructions, calling out names and telling children which staff member to go with.
I find the three other girls, then stand with Kayla and her group.
There are a lot of children. I hope I can remember them all. Or at the very least remember the ones I’ll be spending the most time with.
I wipe my forehead as the heat scorches my skin. None of the campers care how hot it is.
I don’t know why Andy insists on cooking on a fire in this heat.
Tia rocks on her heels, grinning at her little group like she wants to corrupt them all. I’m sure she won’t. Well, I’m not sure. She’s standing next to a petrified Rebekah, who periodically glances at one of her campers, a girl with makeup, glossy, straight hair and low heels. A queen bee type. She’s going to have to change into tennis shoes soon.
I can’t help feeling sorry for Rebekah as she glances worriedly at a girl nearly ten years younger than her. The kind of girl who probably made Rebekah’s life miserable in school. That’s unfair, though. The girl isn’t necessarily a bully just because of her stereotypically popular-girl appearance. Kayla isn’t.
We’re split, Kayla and me with Cora’s group. Three adults and twelve children. Olly and his group head toward the lake, but we’re staying near to the tennis court to play our “getting to know you” games.
Cora takes over, but Kayla and I stand with them. Cora explains what we’re going to do. We’re playing All About Me tennis. Each time you hit the ball, you have to call out something about yourself, like your favorite vacation destination, animal, color, food, class at school, celebrity, etc.
I remember playing the exact same game when I was a camper.
The girls split easily into groups of two, each twosome taking a tennis racket. I stand on the sidelines with Kayla. The girls call out random facts with every hit of the ball. Laughter fills the stifling-hot air, and none of the campers seem to care about the heat.
“They’re all so adorable,” Kayla says.
“Remember when that was us? You spent the first few hours crying because you missed your mom and then forgot to write to her the rest of the summer.”
“Oh, but she wrote to me. All the time!”
“She’s your mom.”
“And you,” Kayla says, “were so cute, the smallest one here with the biggest green eyes that matched the leaves on the trees. You looked around as if you’d never seen a lake or forest before.”
“Okay, so I didn’t get out much. I was way less tragic the second year we came.”
But we don’t need to talk about that second time.
Kayla laughs. “All right, I’ll give you that. I’m so excited these girls get to experience this. They’re already making friends.”
“So are you,” I say, arching an eyebrow.
“You’re talking about Jake.”
My smile widens. “Ding, ding, ding.”
“He’s hot.” She side-eyes me. “Almost as hot as Olly.”
“Don’t start.”
Andy calls an end to the games after an hour. Most of the kids have swapped partners and met new people. The rest of the afternoon is spent splashing in the lake, and the evening toasting s’mores on the campfire and telling crazy stories about killers in the woods.
There aren’t killers in the woods, but I did lie to Isabel.
Bad things do happen there.
5
Yesterday was tiring, yet here I am, wide awake at five a.m. Below me, Kayla’s deep breathing vibrates through the room. If I didn’t love her, I’d throw something at her.
No one is getting up anytime soon, and I’m bored. There is no rule about me leaving the cabin in the morning. I won’t go far, just outside to see if anyone else is up. Besides, Kayla and Cora are still here.
Twisting my body, I carefully climb down the ladder, holding my breath as if breathing is the part of my escape that could wake Kayla. I don’t think a marching band could wake her this early.
My feet touch the cool wood floor. I quietly change into my camp T-shirt and shorts and creep out of the room. The door creaks when it opens and I wince. I’m sure it doesn’t do that during the day. After a quick head count—every camper is still in their bed—I leave the cabin.
Even though the sun won’t rise for at least another hour, it’s not too dark.
I pull my jacket on and walk down the few steps to the grass.
Rebekah is up early again. She’s sitting on the beach, by the firepit. She has a blanket around her shoulders and her eyes are fixed on the center of the lake.
“Hey, are you okay?” I ask, walking toward her.
She jolts and looks over her shoulder. “Hi. Esme. Yeah, I’ve just never been able to sleep late when I’m away from home.”
I sit on the sand and curl my arms around my legs. Me neither, apparently. “Nothing beats your own bed.”
“How come you’re up so early?”
I shrug. “I can’t sleep. Excited, maybe?”
“I wish the hall was open so we could at least make coffee.”
“Andy probably sleeps with the key on a chain around his neck.”
That gets a laugh out of her. “He loves it here. He’s not so bad, though.”
Rebekah seems like the type of person who would bite her tongue so that she doesn’t end up in the middle of any kind of conflict. Hopefully, that’s something she will leave here. It doesn’t seem like she stood up to her bullies.
“The lake is eerie first thing in the mornin’. Dark and quiet, like it holds a lot of secrets,” she says.
Okay…
“Have you been all the way around it?” I ask.
“No, not yet. The other side is owned by the camp, right?”
“Yeah, about a full five-minute walk past the lake. After that, it’s a public forest and the locals use it to hike and camp. I remember when I was here last, an old couple wandered onto camp land. I think they put up even more signs around the perimeter after that.”
The land is far too big to put a fence around, so signs are necessary.
Rebekah nods. “Didn’t something happen over there, past our site? I overheard one of the counselors mention there was a fire or something.”