Camp Forget-Me-Not

by J. K. Rock

  Camp Forget-Me-Not

  J.K. Rock

  SPENCER HILL CONTEMPORARY

  Copyright © 2014 by Joanne Rock and Karen Rock

  Sale of the paperback edition of this book without its cover is unauthorized.

  Spencer Hill Press

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  Contact: Spencer Hill Contemporary, an imprint of Spencer Hill Press, PO Box 247, Contoocook, NH, 03229, USA

  Please visit our website at www.spencerhillcontemporary.com

  First Edition: October 2014

  J.K Rock

  Camp Forget-Me-Not / by J.K. Rock – 1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Summary: popular girl starts feeling alone, even in a crowd, and finds love at camp with a newly returned friend who isn’t shy guy he used to be.

  The author acknowledges the copyrighted or trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this fiction: ACE, Catwoman, Divergent, Dungeons & Dragons, EpiPen, Eveready, Facebook, Frisbee, Fudgesicle, Harry Potter, He-Man, Instagram, iTunes, Keds, Lord of the Rings, M&Ms, Nerf, Ping-Pong, Sharpie, Speedo,Styrofoam, Teflon,Twilight, Twizzlers, Uno, White Sox, Wolverine, X Games, YouTube

  Cover design by K. Kaynak, based on a design by Jennifer Rush

  Interior layout by Jenny Perinovic

  ISBN 978-1-939392-30-5 (paperback)

  ISBN 978-1-939392-29-9 (e-book)

  Printed in the United States of America

  From Joanne:

  To Jane Austen, for inspiring this story. And to Karen, whose love of YA has given me a whole new world of words to read, share, and write. Cheers to you for your big, broad vision and the courage to see it through. High fives!

  From Karen:

  To Joanne—my amazing sister-in-law, writing partner and dearest friend. You believed in me before I trusted in myself, helped me realize dreams I was too afraid to imagine, and saw an incredible future that included the magic of US. Thank you for this unforgettable journey. You made me bloom.

  Quotes from the Camp Juniper Point Summer Yearbook:

  Munchies’ Manor:

  Emily (Counselor): “I stand for freedom of expression, doing what you believe in, and going after your dreams.”—Madonna

  Alex: “Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”—Nora Ephron

  Trinity: “Everything you can imagine is real.”—Pablo Picasso

  Piper: “The earth does not belong to us. We belong to the earth.”— Chief Seattle

  Siobhan: “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.”—Albert Einstein

  Jackie: “Better to be strong than pretty and useless.”—Lilith Saintcrow, Strange Angels

  Yasmine: “When you know better, you do better.”—Maya Angelou

  Divas’ Den:

  Victoria (Counselor):“I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I’m awake, you know?”—Ernest Hemingway

  Hannah: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”—Oscar Wilde

  Brittany: “Twilight, again. Another ending. No matter how perfect the day is, it always has to end.”—Stephenie Meyer, Twilight

  Rachel: Winning isn’t everything—but wanting to win is.”—Vince Lombardi

  Brooke: “Don’t hate what you can’t imitate.”—Unknown

  Nia: “Look forward, not backward. Be a leader, not a follower.”—Alexander Lockhart

  Kayla: “A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.”—Coco Chanel

  The Wander Inn:

  Bruce (Counselor): “We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.”— J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

  Rafael: “Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.”—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Julian: “I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

  Danny: “I have to face the fear. I have to take control of the situation and find a way to make it less frightening.”—Veronica Roth, Divergent

  Garrett: “So you’re a little weird? Work it! A little different? OWN it! Better to be a nerd than one of the herd!”—Mandy Hale

  Warriors’ Warden:

  Rob (Counselor): “I’m sorry that good-looking people like us made you throw up and feel bad about yourself.”—Derek Zoolander

  Nick: “Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.”—William Arthur Ward

  Eli: “Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else.”—Will Rogers

  Devon: “Bicycles are almost as good as guitars for meeting girls.”—Bob Weir

  Jake: “Football is like life—it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority.”—Vince Lombardi

  Cameron: “Be believing, be happy, don’t get discouraged. Things will work out.”—Gordon B. Hinckley

  Buster: “There are no losers in wrestling, just winners and learners.”—Unknown

  Lake Juniper Point Director:

  Mr. Woodrow (Gollum): “We wants it, we needs it. Must have the Precious.”—J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

  Chapter One

  “Damn. Nick is gorgeous.”

  “Definitely. He’s the hottest guy at camp.”

  “Or anywhere.”

  Holding my breath underwater, I peered through gray-blue murkiness at my cabin mates’ kicking legs. Despite my depth, their muted words found me when I’d hoped to leave my problems on Lake Juniper’s surface. This was my last day at camp, and I didn’t want Nick Desanti drama. I had enough other problems waiting for me at home.

  “He went here like three years ago, right?” Brooke, our newest Divas’ Den bunkmate, asked.

  “Until Kayla broke his heart.” Brittany dodged Rachel’s kick. “What? It’s true. Everyone knows he left because she totally dissed him.”

  I cringed at my name and that bad memory. It was the biggest regret of my life. Well, that and the bangs I gave myself before my fifth grade school picture.

  I tucked my knee into my chest and turned over in a slow roll, lungs burning. For a second I emerged behind them, gulped air, then sank again before they, or Nick, noticed. The only good thing about Mom losing her job and not being able to afford the last half of camp was that I wouldn’t face Nick anymore. Since his arrival last week, he’d acted like I either didn’t exist or reeked.

  “Kayla?” Brooke’s shrill voice knifed right through the water. “But she’s so—you know. Forgettable. One of you guys should have hooked up with him.”

  Forgettable? Who’d remember YouTube It-Girl Brooke White after her fifteen minutes of fame ended? I wished I dared to say that, but her “fans” and our friends might turn against me.

  “He was different then.” Rachel’s no-nonsense voice found me like a heat-seeking missile. “Barely noticeable.”

  “Gollum was more doable.”

  I snorted a water bubble at Brittany’s joke about our camp director, then clapped a hand over my mouth. If I held my breath for a couple more seconds, Nick would swim past us. As a diver on my school’s swim team, I could ignore the fire scalding my lungs. Plus, it didn’t hurt as much as his rejection.

  “Now he’s an X Games snowboarder,” Brooke said. “And an Olympic medalist. Lame to fame.”

  “Don’t forget he’s the spok
esman for Backcountry Gear. Lots of money.” As a professional volleyball hopeful, Rachel paid attention to endorsement deals.

  “So he’s rich, famous, and gorgeous.” Brooke’s long legs crossed genie style while her arms twisted her back and forth in the water. “Like me. As of last week, I had three hundred thousand subscribers and more than fifty million views for ‘So Not Into You.’” She hummed a few bars of her home-recorded YouTube song. Another bonus for leaving camp…I wouldn’t hear her song for the millionth time. Or the crazy lyrics she came up with for her next “hit.”

  “Girls.” Brooke’s excited clap sent water jetting my way. “He’s perfect.”

  I nodded involuntarily. Nick was perfect—except for the tiny problem that we used to be close and now he hated my guts. I should have objected when my friends signed us up for swim today with his cabin, the Warriors’ Warden. But I’d been afraid they’d leave me behind. Alone. I was all too used to that back home.

  “Totally perfect.” The water almost vibrated with the force of Brittany’s sigh. “But seriously, he wasn’t always Diva-worthy. That’s why Kayla dropped him when she joined our cabin.”

  A bubble escaped as I growled in frustration. My reasons went deeper than that…but I guess they wouldn’t know.

  “Where is Kayla?” Rachel’s voice rose.

  Oh God. Please don’t let anyone hear her…

  “Kayla!”

  “Kayla!” chorused my friends.

  Damn.

  I shot to the surface and sucked in a long breath. So much for the underwater hiding spot I’d ducked into when Nick flashed by in his swim lane. So far, I’d mostly stayed off his radar, and I meant to keep it that way until I left tomorrow. We had too much history to start another chapter.

  “We were looking for you.” Rachel lifted her swim goggles and frowned down at me with light brown eyes that matched her springing, shoulder-length curls. “You scared the crap out of us.”

  “Sorry.” I swiped my hair off my face and swirled in the cool water so that my back faced the returning guys. My pale shoulders crisped under the bright sun. “Didn’t think you’d notice.”

  Brittany patted my hand on the floating rope, her eyes a light blue without her vampire contacts. “We’d probably notice if you were dead.”

  “Ya think?” Rachel hoisted her sleek, Speedo-clad body onto the swim platform. “I thought you only had eyes for Nick, Britt.”

  My heartbeat tripped over itself at his name. Despite the splashing, churning water around us, the catcalls and whistle-blowing, it was all I heard. Reason three for needing to leave camp: it sucked being around an ex that I still liked. Especially now that everyone else liked him, too.

  “Nick!” cough/hacked Brooke, and we all froze. I swear, even the dripping water suspended in midair.

  “What’s up? Everything okay?” rumbled a deep voice that was as familiar as it was different. “Everyone accounted for?”

  I felt his eyes slide over me before he lifted the lane separator and joined us. Nick Desanti. Even when we’d been no more than hiking partners before we became best friends and nearly more, I’d always been super-aware of him. I met his hazel gaze for a split second, the vivid color contrasting against his dark Italian skin and black-brown hair.

  “Nothing to see. Let’s move along, folks,” I muttered under my breath and reached for the platform. Strong hands spanned my waist and lifted me onto the worn wood.

  I turned around to object, even though his touch sent heat streaking through me, but I closed my mouth at the sight of Nick’s back. Kayla dismissed. It hurt more than the splinter digging into my big toe. The quick boost was no more than he’d do for anyone. And that’s all I was to Nick now. Anyone. Or worse…no one.

  Ouch.

  “Ohhhhh, lift me next, Nick. You’re so strong!” Brooke wriggled her bikini-clad behind like a dog in heat, her purple-tipped black hair swishing in the water. Would I be justified in calling her a bitch? It was the right term, but I could never say that out loud. I was the girl who never spoke her mind…except in her mind.

  A loud squeal sounded in the humid, mid-July air as Nick tossed first Brooke, then Brittany at Rachel and me, toppling us like bowling pins. From the shore, a whistle shrilled. Gollum. We’d nicknamed our camp director, Mr. Woodrow, after the Lord of the Rings creature for a whistle obsession so intense we called it his Precious. He waved his arms at us and our oblivious counselor, Victoria. Despite dripping around her like a rainstorm, we didn’t cause her to look up from her magazine.

  “Thank you, Nick.” Brittany finger-combed her long blonde hair and batted her water-spiked lashes.

  Nick’s eyes crinkled as he smiled up at her. “Anytime. If you need me, just give a shout.”

  Brooke waved her hands overhead, her violet eyes flashing. “Shout!”

  Everyone laughed but me. Instead, I scooted behind the pack of posing, preening girls.

  “Careful or you’ll slide right off that platform again,” Nick called, and all eyes turned toward me. Some of the nearby campers laughed, remembering the time I’d once missed a relay race dive and belly-flopped off the slippery dock.

  I crossed my arms and glared at him, my scowl only making his smile widen. First he ignored me and now he tried to humiliate me. Was that why he’d returned to camp? I didn’t believe his story about needing time off from practices and endorsement appearances. He could have gone somewhere way more glamorous. No, Nick came back to Juniper Point for a reason.

  Revenge.

  “Kayla, phone call for you in Mr. Woodrow’s office.” Victoria’s voice floated through the steam-filled girls’ shower building thirty minutes later.

  I turned off the lukewarm water and groped for my towel on the bench outside the vinyl curtain. Soap stung one eye.

  “Nia, fetch Kayla her towel,” hollered Brooke from her stall.

  “Right away, Miss White.” Nia, the newest and youngest Divas’ Den member at just barely sixteen, hadn’t quite gotten it through her head that we were a cabin of campers and not Brooke’s personal servants.

  Someone thrust soft terrycloth into my hand.

  “Thanks, Nia. I can get my own stuff though.” I dried my hair, then wrapped the towel around me, tucked the end under my arm, and stepped into the misty corridor.

  “You don’t need to thank her.” I averted my eyes as Brooke emerged from her cubicle and slid into the robe Nia held out. “As a member of the Brooke White Fan Club, it’s her job. She’s here because she wants to help me.”

  “Um. Okay.” How big was this club? I definitely didn’t want to be in it. I shrugged on my robe, snatched up my toiletries bag, and headed for the door.

  “Nia, did you take down those last few lines I was singing in the shower?”

  I grabbed the door handle. I so didn’t want to hear this.

  “Kayla, wait! You’ll want to hear this. Read it, Nia.”

  “I have a phone call, Brooke. And I have to hurry since I need to stop at the cabin to get dressed.”

  “Just tell them you were with me. Everyone wants a piece of this.” Her hip slap was answered by enthusiastic agreement from her “fan”/bathroom attendant. “We’re writing the next number one iTunes hit. You could be a part of history, Kayla.”

  “An auto-tuned hit,” I mumbled, but released the door and turned with a sigh. “Okay. Listening.”

  “Oo-ooh-ooh,” Nia began, peering down at her inkcovered palm. “Hoo yeah, yeah-yeah, yeah, yeah-ahah, yeah-ah-ah, yeah-ah-ah, yeah, yeah, yeah.”

  Brooke grabbed the girl’s hand. “I’m sure there was another ‘yeah-ah-ah’ before the last part. Get it right next time.” She frowned then turned to me with a shrug. “Fans just aren’t what they used to be.”

  I looked around the space. Was she delusional? As far as I could see, it was just the three of us. Brooke was the biggest Diva that the Divas had ever had. How many more minutes of “fame” did she have left? Fourteen?

  “Uh—I really have to go now. See ya.
” I dashed outside and down the path before Brooke had another flash of “genius.” Too late, I realized that I’d timed my mad dash to the cabin at the same time the Warriors were sauntering back from their showers.

  My skin heated, and I would have bet money that the old red splotches were coming out on my upper chest and neck, a nervous thing that hadn’t happened in years. Nick turned away and studied a shrub. Apparently celebrities didn’t pay attention to girls with spots. Suddenly I was glad—really glad—to be getting out of here.

  “Looking good, babe,” called Cameron, my on-again-mostly-off-again boyfriend. Dating a Warrior was practically a Diva requirement, and I’d been lonely without Nick. But this summer, I’d avoided Cam.

  I waved over my shoulder and sprinted to my cabin. Their laughter followed me until I heard what could have been, if I didn’t know better, Nick’s deep voice telling them to shut it.

  A couple minutes later, I arrived at the administration building dressed, winded, heart pounding. I’d heard so much bad news lately. What could this call be about? My father hadn’t contacted me ever. So why did I always imagine it was him whenever something unexpected happened? How weird to resent and wish for someone at the same time.

  Gollum waved behind the screen door. “Come in. Your mother wants to talk to you.”

  I dropped into a wood-slatted chair, the backs of my thighs immediately sticking to the seat. When he handed me the phone, I put it to my ear but waited to speak until he left…which he didn’t. After a couple of seconds, I gave up and said, “Mom?”

  “Kayla, hi!”

  I nearly dropped the phone. It was the first time she’d sounded cheerful since the fashion magazine she edited stopped publishing.

  “Hey, Mom. I’m almost packed, and I’ll be ready for the morning bus in case that’s why you called. Um… that’s why you called, right?”

  My mom was a perpetual worrier. Then again, I was the main thing she had to worry about now that her sixty-hour-a-week job ended.