Sunset

by Melissa J Morgan

  “Oh my God that’s so funny!” A familiar voice echoed through the trees followed by a high-pitched giggle.

  Tori was coming down the nearby path, hanging on a guy’s arm.

  “Isn’t that your cousin?” Charlie asked.

  “Yep.”

  “Is she doing okay after her wipeout?”

  “She’s great. As you can tell. In fact that’s the guy who . . .” Cassie paused. She took a second, closer look at Tori’s escort. It wasn’t Wesley. This guy was shorter, with straight dark hair and not as deep a tan.

  It was Eddie. Tori’s ex.

  “What the . . . ?”

  She watched as Eddie leaned into Tori, murmured something in her ear that brought on another round of giggles, and then slowly ambled off in the direction of the guys’ bunkhouses.

  “Excuse me,” Cassie said to Charlie.

  She hopped off her hammock and caught up with Tori just as she was turning toward her cabin.

  “Hey,” Cassie called out.

  “Cassie!” Tori lit up with one of her superwide grins. “What are you doing here?”

  “Doesn’t matter. What are you doing flirting with him? I thought you were over that guy.”

  “Well . . . I was but . . .”

  “But what? What about Wesley? Remember? The guy who pulled you out of the ocean? Who saved your life?”

  Tori looked down at her feet. “Wesley is great and all but . . . I’m just not sure about him anymore.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s just . . . after all we went through with him saving me and stuff, I thought for sure he’d ask me to the Tiki Dance. But instead he wants to go on some big fishing expedition. Fishing! Can you believe that?”

  “So you ran back to Eddie? Just like that?” Tori shrugged. “Not exactly. I was taking a walk to let off some steam and just sort of ran into him. And he seemed so glad to see me. And well . . .” She smiled sheepishly. “I might have let it slip that I wasn’t going to the dance with anyone. And he might have asked me.”

  “I don’t believe this! You’re actually going to blow off a guy—a guy you literally risked your neck for—because of some dance?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t answered Eddie yet. I don’t want to mess things up with Wesley but . . . I really want to go to the dance.”

  “So go by yourself.”

  “But that’s lame!”

  “Thank you very much—I don’t have a date. I guess I’m lame then, huh?”

  Tori paused for a second, processing the information. “But you’re you. I’m me. I kind of have a reputation to keep up.”

  “Seems like you’re worried about your reputation in a totally wrong way.”

  “What’s with you? Why do you care so much?” Tori crossed her arms angrily. “First you get in my face at the infirmary the other day, and now this. You’re my cousin, Cassie. Not my mother!” She spun about and started stomping off in the direction of her bunkhouse.

  Cassie let out a long, Charlie-type sigh. “Wait!” she called, jogging to catch up with Tori. “Look, I’m sorry. I know I’m being a big pain. It’s just . . . I hate all this game playing. Nothing makes sense, you know? Why can’t it make sense—at least a little bit?”

  Tori shrugged. “I don’t know, Cass. That’s just how it is.”

  Cassie nodded sadly.

  “But hey.” Tori smiled and socked her lightly on the shoulder. “That doesn’t mean you can’t knock ’em dead at the dance tomorrow. Let me help you choose an outfit. Please?”

  “No way. I’m not going.”

  “But you have to. Simona said all C.I.T.s and counselors have to be there to work it and help chaperone.”

  “Great,” Cassie groaned. “Fine. Whatever. At least I can dance with Charlie. He doesn’t have a date either.”

  “What? You mean he never asked Andi?”

  Cassie shook her head.

  “Well, we’ll just have to do something about that.” Tori turned her entire body to face Cassie. “Speaking of relationships . . . Have you had your talk with Micah yet?”

  “You could say that. I mean, I know it’s over for sure. I ran into him just now and he was so different. He was all angry and mean. He tried to make me out to be some big snob.” Her voice cracked as she felt the pain all over again.

  “Pig!” Tori growled. “Probably trying to make himself look better. So did you demand to know what was up with Danica? Did you make him squirm?”

  “Well . . . I did kind of raise my voice.” Cassie uttered it as if it were a question.

  Tori folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. “Not good enough. Come on, Cass. There’s, like, a limited time opportunity here. Trust me. You’ll feel much better.”

  Cassie knew she was right. She did deserve reasons why he’d suddenly transformed into a cold jerk.

  Only . . . she wasn’t totally sure she wanted to hear them.

  Ten

  “And I looked all over the place. On the beach.

  In the water. I’m talking everywhere. And then this morning he comes over and says, ‘Is this your shoe?’ And he had it! Then he asked me to the dance!” Sasha hopped up and down happily, making the end of the tablecloth she was holding wave up and down like a flag.

  “Omigosh! That’s totally like Cinderella!” Sierra exclaimed, struggling to hold on to the other end of the fluttering tablecloth. “Don’t you think so, Danica? Just like in the books?”

  Danica shrugged. “I guess so. Unless this guy actually stole the shoe as a lame excuse to go find her and look like a hero.”

  Sasha looked as if all the air was coming out of her. Even the tablecloth drooped. “I didn’t think of that. Do you think he could have done that, Sierra?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. But hey, at least you have a date,” Sierra grumbled.

  Danica lay back on the picnic table she was sitting on—totally not caring if she messed up their perfectly aligned tablecloth. She was kind of glad she’d sucked some of the joy out of Sasha’s big happy spaz attack. It was like Sierra said. Unlike the two of them, at least the girl got asked to the dance—even if it was by Henry, that geek of a first-year C.I.T.

  And Cinderella? Please! How sad could you get?

  Danica had never ever believed in fairy tales. Even as a little girl, she thought they were stupid.

  Cinderella should have hitchhiked out of that place long before the stupid ball.

  Beauties never fall for Beasts unless they have a private jet and a Swiss bank account.

  And if a pea can turn some princess black-and-blue through fifty feather mattresses, that girl has some sort of rare skin disorder.

  “So, I still don’t get why you and Micah aren’t going to the dance together,” Sierra said.

  Danica bristled. Because he’s lame, she grumbled inwardly.

  Out loud she said, “Because it’s just a dumb dance. And besides, even though we had fun together on the trip, that doesn’t mean I’m his girlfriend. I haven’t decided whether I want him back or not. I’m keeping my options open.”

  “At least you have options,” Sierra pouted. “I so need a boyfriend.”

  Danica ignored her and stared up at the cheesy lights on the ceiling. Why hadn’t Micah asked her? It was so stupid. He and Cassie obviously weren’t together, so what was stopping him?

  She almost threw herself at him yesterday, after hearing him and Cassie break up. But she didn’t. Micah had to come to her. That was the whole point. She didn’t want to win him just because Cassie lost him. Instead, she wanted him to want her. She wanted him to come running up and beg her to take him back—which she would do. Probably.

  But at least Cassie did lose him. That, at least, was an awesome thing.

  The sound of the screen door opening made Danica sit up. Speak of the she-devil. It was Cassie and that annoying cousin of hers. Cassie was walking backward into the mess hall holding up one end of a large box while Tori held the other end and steered them forward.
/>   “What’s all that?” Sasha asked.

  “Food,” Cassie replied. “Some mini sandwiches. Fruit. Lots of hors d’oeuvre things.”

  “Snacky stuff,” Tori explained.

  They shuffled over to a long table on the other side of the “dance floor” and set it down. Danica noticed Cassie sneak her a quick glance.

  “So Cassie,” Sierra began in a not-so-matter-of-fact tone. “Are you bringing Bo to the dance? Or . . . someone else?”

  “No, Bo’s just a friend,” Cassie replied. “I’m going by myself.” She held her head high, but her eyes were downcast.

  She looked so . . . defeated.

  Danica smiled. Now that she really thought about it, she had every reason to be feeling good right now. Cassie wasn’t with Micah, which meant she was back in her proper place. And it meant Micah was free. Which meant any day now he’d be coming back to her—possibly even tonight.

  She lay back on the table again. The sun was setting and the lights Micah had strung up across the ceiling made it look as if they were underneath the night sky. In fact, if she squinted her eyes just a little, they really did look like stars.

  For just a moment she could almost see why people wanted to believe in fairy tales.

  Almost.

  Cassie suddenly remembered something important: She didn’t like dances.

  They were just so . . . so . . . so.

  Everybody always got dressed up and excited, like they thought some magical thing was going to happen. Then they showed up and realized that their date was rude or annoying (if they even have a date), that the music and food sucked, and that they would much rather be back at home watching reruns of Buffy.

  Or at least that’s how every dance Cassie went to ended up—all one and a half of them.

  She still thought Micah was a big jerk, but at least he’d been nice enough not to come with Danica tonight and rub it in her face. Were they not together? Or were they standing on opposite ends of the room for her sake? Somehow she doubted Danica would go along with that.

  But whatever. She didn’t care. At least, she shouldn’t have.

  “Hey, Cassie,” Ben said, walking up next to her. “What are you doing stuck here? That’s just wrong.”

  “It’s not so bad.” She didn’t want to tell him that she was thankful to have been given the job of guarding the food table. It meant she wasn’t out there trying to fake as if she were having fun while waiting for someone to ask her to dance. Plus it partially blocked her view of Micah, who was hanging with Zeke and Charlie by the music table. “How’s your stomach?”

  “Much better.” He grabbed a handful of mini quiches and piled them on his plate.

  “Hey! Everyone has a three snack minimum until 9 P.M. Can’t you read?” She pointed to the sign Simona herself had hand-lettered. “The counselors want to make sure some people don’t hog it all before everyone’s had a chance to get some.”

  “Aw, come on. I’ve got to make up for lost meals, you know.” He flashed Cassie his most obvious aren’t-I-cute smile and reached for a mini pineapple-and-ham pizza.

  Cassie whapped his knuckles.

  “Ouch!” He stared back up at her, astonished. “Did you just slap my hand?”

  “You already got more than your allotted three. Keep moving.”

  Still looking shocked, Ben shuffled away.

  Great. Suddenly she had become one of those mean lunch ladies from her old elementary school. All she needed was a hairnet and orthopedic shoes.

  Now she was not only having a horrible time, she was making sure other people didn’t enjoy themselves either.

  “Hi.” Tori trudged up beside her and sighed.

  “Having fun?” Cassie asked, trying to sound upbeat.

  Tori rolled her eyes in her best “have you lost your mind?” expression.

  Cassie felt a twinge of guilt. Maybe she shouldn’t have come down so hard on the girl yesterday. It wasn’t any of her business whether her cousin went to the dance with her ex-boyfriend or not. If Tori had said yes to Eddie, maybe she’d be having a good time right now. One of them should be.

  “So . . .” Cassie racked her brain for a safe topic of conversation. “When should we go talk to Charlie?”

  Tori wrinkled up her nose. “What do you mean?”

  “You said we should help him. Remember?”

  “Sure. But I’m thinking we need a new approach.

  I’m thinking we need to start working on Andi.” Tori pointed across the room. Andi’s curls were sticking out up above a small crowd of people.

  “Oh no. No, no, no.” Cassie shook her head vigorously. “We can’t tell Andi that Charlie likes her. That’s so . . . middle school.”

  “I’m not going to do that! I just think that, if Charlie’s too much of a wuss to approach her, maybe Andi could go to him. Maybe that way she’d actually stay put a while and not zoom off. Plus it would give him confidence.”

  Cassie had to admit Tori had a point. The guy did need a boost.

  It was odd how much she cared about Charlie’s obsession with Andi. Sure, Charlie was a pal, but that wasn’t the only reason she wanted to help him. It was like . . . she needed to see someone nice have a victory in the whole romance department. She needed to believe that magic could happen for the late bloomers and inexperienced people. Like her.

  “So . . . how do we get Andi to walk over to him?” Tori asked.

  Cassie made a face. “Don’t ask me! I’m worse than Charlie when it comes to relationships, remember?” All of a sudden tears clouded her vision. Stupid, stupid. And here she’d been doing such a good job of keeping it together.

  She stared at a nearby wall, trying not to blink, hoping the tears would evaporate before anyone noticed.

  “Hey.” Tori gave her elbow a supportive squeeze. “Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

  “I’m fine,” Cassie lied. “Really.”

  Tori’s eyes bored into her. “So I noticed Micah showed up alone.”

  “So?”

  “So . . . is it possible you’ve got it wrong and he’s not back together with Danica?”

  “No way.”

  “How can you be so sure if you’ve never even asked? You’ve got to talk to him and nail down the truth, if for no other reason than to get some closure.” Again Tori’s stare seemed to dig right into her. “It will help.”

  Cassie sighed. Closure. She hated that word. It sounded so final. “You know, Tor, I don’t understand why you think I need closure so badly. You’re the one who keeps running back to flirt with your ex. You’re not exactly a poster girl for good-byes.”

  Tori quickly looked down at her hands, which were fumbling with the hibiscus-patterned plastic tablecloth. “I know. But hey. At least I didn’t come with him tonight. This is the very first time I’ve gone to a dance by myself. It’s, like, historic.”

  Cassie’s mind filled with sarcastic comments, but she managed to stop them from flying out of her mouth. She was proud of her cousin for making that decision. Besides, Tori had been a real friend lately.

  “And anyway, I like being able to dance with lots of guys instead of just one,” Tori went on. “You should try it.”

  “Maybe.” Not.

  “Attention, everyone!” Zeke had stepped into the middle of the dance floor and was now shouting through his cupped hands. “Attention!”

  Gradually people stopped talking and stared at him.

  “It’s now time to start the limbo contest!” he announced. “Everyone please line up to demonstrate your limbo skills!”

  Several cheers and just as many boos echoed through the mess hall.

  “Limbo contest?” Cassie exclaimed. “We never discussed that at the meeting.”

  Right at that moment, Charlie walked past. Cassie reached out and grabbed his arm. “We never planned this, did we?”

  “Aw, well. You know. It’s tradition,” he said with a shrug. “Let’s just see what happens.” He flashed her a shifty smile and headed off towar
d the dance floor.

  Hmm. There was something different about him—something hidden but strong. Like a riptide.

  “Come on, Cassie! Let’s do the contest!” Tori tugged on her left arm.

  “No. I can’t. I’ve got to stay and work the table.” Cassie tried to look a little disappointed. Truth was, she was sick of game playing and competitions. Plus, she wasn’t sure her sundress would hold up. It was old—something her mother made her pack. “But you go. I’ll cheer from here.”

  “Okay. If you’re sure. But save some of those snacky things, ’kay?”

  Cassie tried to look busy as the entire camp moved toward the other end of the room where Zeke and Haydee were holding up a pole. She really felt like an outsider now.

  One by one, everyone bent backward under the pole. The first to fall down was big strong Ben—which made her laugh. He looked hilarious. Lower and lower the pole went. Soon more people lost their balance. Guys who clowned around too much, girls who feared the structural integrity of their outfits might give way (one of Cassie’s own fears). Each time the person fell, he or she would laugh and scramble back onto his or her feet to claps and cheers.

  Cassie was beginning to regret staying out of it. So what if it was just a lame game. These people were willing to risk looking stupid in order to have fun—to fully take part in life. Meanwhile she rearranged finger food.

  Would she always be afraid of getting hurt?

  After a while she couldn’t even watch the contest. The pole was too low and the crowd had swarmed in superclose. Eventually she heard a gigantic cheer and everyone started to scatter.

  Tori ran up, grinning gigantically.

  “Did you win?” Cassie asked.

  “No, Charlie did!”

  “Charlie?”

  “Yeah. That guy is amazingly limber. Who knew? Guess everyone is good at something.”

  Cassie felt that was true. Too bad she was too scared to do what she was good at anymore.

  “Man, Charlie was, like, superhuman! There he is. See?” Tori pointed across the room. “He’s over by Zeke, holding his trophy.”

  “And he’s about to get another one. Look.”