by J. K. Rock
“Who asked you? Like, no one talks to you, so beat it.” Brooke turned to Brittany, Rachel, and me. “Right, girls? Tell her.”
“Why don’t you beat it?” Everyone’s heads swiveled in my direction, their expressions as shocked as I felt. Had I really just said that? Signed my own social death warrant?
Brooke pointed a finger at me. “You are so going to pay for that, little Miss Wallpaper. And you can forget about being in my video.”
“I think I’ll survive,” I said, meaning it. And I would survive, I marveled. With or without Brooke or anyone who wasn’t my real friend. If they didn’t like this new me, then that was their issue, not mine.
“Brittany, Rachel, let’s go. This party is over.” She glared at Nia and me.
Brooke stomped off and realized, ten steps away, that she was on her own. When she turned, her face contorted. “Are you kidding me?”
“You’re the one who’s the joke.” Hannah opened her mouth to add more, then closed it when Julian stepped close and slid an arm around her.
“So you chose these losers over me?”
Brittany and Rachel exchanged nervous looks but said nothing and stayed by Nia.
Brooke turned to an approaching Nick. “Do you see what’s going on here? Your little frenemy, Kayla, is up to her old tricks, dumping me to stick with Hannah. And stealing my assistant, too.”
Suddenly, Brooke lunged, her claws aimed at my face again, but Nick intercepted her.
“Let’s get out of here.” He put an arm around her shoulder and steered her toward the door. “I’ve seen enough.”
Chapter Nine
“Come on, Nia, it’ll be fun.” My pen hovered over the activity sign-up sheet at breakfast the morning after the dance. There were blank spaces next to Emily’s Personal Growth and Development workshop, and I wanted to attend this week’s session. “Plus, I really need this and I don’t want to go alone.”
“What’s Brooke going to do?” Nia looked down the table where Brooke sat with Gollum, of all people. Our camp director didn’t look as smitten with her as usual. He frowned and pointed to a piece of paper on the table between them. “Do you think she’s getting in trouble?”
Nia sat with the rest of the Divas this morning after our fun night at the dance. Well…fun except that Nick never returned and neither did Brooke. For a boy who supposedly didn’t sneak out of the cabins with her last night, he sure spent a lot of time with her. He wasn’t at breakfast with the other Warriors today, and I wondered where he could be. Were Olympic medalists allowed special privileges? I hadn’t asked him much about the aftermath of his wins at Sochi, but I knew he had endorsement deals and plans for his future career. What if he left camp as abruptly as he’d arrived?
Swallowing down the panic I should not be feeling about a guy who didn’t trust me and didn’t seem to listen to me anymore, I focused on Nia.
“Of course not. Brooke’s probably trying to sweet-talk Gollum into letting her bunk with another cabin or recruit different dancers for her video now that she’s mad at us.” Or was that just wishful thinking on my part? The more I saw of Brooke, the less fun I had at camp. So if she moved out of the Divas’ Den, it would be great for me.
“I want to be a singer,” Nia confided, her fishtail braid still draped along one shoulder. She loved it so much she hadn’t taken it out after the dance. “That’s why I wanted to help Brooke.”
I wished I had that kind of certainty. Basically, I had no clue about my future.
“She doesn’t seem the kind to reciprocate.” I wasn’t just Brooke-bashing because she wanted to claim Nick. She’d been mean to Nia. “Besides, if you want to go after a big dream like that, Emily’s workshop will help give you the confidence and inspiration to do it. She really helped one of the Munchies’ Manor girls who wants to be an actress.”
It reminded me that Alex had a dream, too. It seemed like everyone else was thinking about their futures heading into senior year while I still had no plan.
I slid the sign-up sheet toward Nia and stuffed the pen in her hand. Saving her from Brooke had become my new mission. That much, at least, was a good goal. It was like going back in time and saving myself from Hannah. No, more than that. It was like saving myself from turning into a person with no confidence. I couldn’t let Hannah take all the blame for that. I had esteem issues a long time before I became a Diva. A part of me would always see a heavier girl in the mirror.
Frowning, Nia stared at the paper for another second before scrawling her signature next to mine.
“I can’t believe I’m doing another activity on my own.” She passed the paper back to me along with the pen, the paper sticking slightly on a patch of leftover maple syrup from our whole-grain waffles. “The rest I’m going to do with Brooke.”
She sounded so definite, I didn’t want to argue. One step at a time, right? Maybe Emily would make more progress with Nia than I had.
“Okay. This will be good for us.” I couldn’t wait for breakfast to end so I could hop on the road to personal growth and development. Maybe that path would actually lead somewhere instead of chasing Nick in circles.
An ear-piercing whistle broke the din in the mess hall.
“Attention!” Gollum stood, clutching his whistle in one hand. “All activities on the lacrosse field are being relocated to the lawn in front of the administration building for today only.” He grabbed his clipboard from the table where Brooke still sat. “Our Olympian, Mr. Desanti, is filming a commercial today on the lacrosse field, and we need every camper’s cooperation to stay out of the way.”
A rush of excited conversation filled the mess hall.
My eyes went to Brooke. Her expression was sort of frozen. Her posture stiff. Hadn’t Nick told her about this? She looked upset.
“That won’t make Brooke happy,” Nia whispered.
“What? Why?” I couldn’t deny a whole lot of curiosity about Brooke now that Nick was spending time with her. Okay, and jealousy, too.
“She really likes Nick.” Nia picked at her Secret Camp Angel bracelet. “I think she wanted to be in his commercial since she’s putting him in her video. More promo for her and she really needs it because—”
Another blast of the whistle quieted everyone before I could ask about that.
“Turn in your sign-up sheets on the way out. Would Ms. Kayla West see me before she leaves for the day?”
My heart sank as at least a hundred pairs of eyes turned toward me. Couldn’t Gollum have just tugged me aside? But with another quick blast on the Precious, we were dismissed from breakfast.
“Wait for me, Nia. I’ll see what Gollum wants then I’ll walk with you to Emily’s workshop.” I didn’t want to leave Nia alone. What if Brooke swooped in and dragged her into some dopey task like holding her beach towel for her or carrying her gum around for the day?
“No need, Ms. West.” Gollum was suddenly right in front of us. “Nia, you are excused to attend the workshop. Kayla won’t be able to make it today.”
“What?” I watched as Nia bailed on me, sprinting faster than Rachel on her best day. I turned to Gollum as the mess hall emptied out, with campers in a rush to hit the beach, the athletic fields or the arts buildings. “Why can’t I go?” A stray thought occurred to me. “Does my mom want me to come home?”
I’d been anxious to call her tomorrow to see how things went in the Hamptons. I had been so caught up in my own drama I’d almost forgotten about Mom’s job hunt.
“No, my dear. Although I did speak to your mother yesterday and she wanted you to know she’ll be making a trip down to see you tomorrow.” Gollum put a hand on my shoulder and steered me toward the side of the room.
“She’s coming here? To camp?” My mind worked frantically to process that. We lived in New York. Camp Juniper Point was in the mountains of western North Carolina. How could she afford the plane ticket? “It’s not even Parents’ Weekend.”
Sure, my mom came to camp to drop me off. But she’d never been down to visit during
the summers. In the past, she’d been too busy. Now, I knew we were too poor.
“Parents are always welcome here,” Gollum reminded me. “And tomorrow is Sunday, which is the easiest day for campers to have guests.”
Right. So Mom’s visit didn’t worry the camp director. Yet, it made me nervous. What if she was coming to take me home after all? I’d been anxious to leave earlier in the month, but now it felt like I was starting to make headway with Nia and…with me. I wanted to finish out the summer and see if the Kayla who left was still the same old wallpaper, or someone stronger than that.
“I’ve been working with Nick Desanti’s commercial sponsor to set up their photo shoot at Camp Juniper Point, and Nick would like you to be in the commercial with him.”
“Me?” I looked around the almost-empty dining area. Had anyone else heard that crazy news? I half-expected Nick to jump out and laugh at me. This had to be a prank. “I’m sure he wants Brooke to be in the commercial and not me, Mr. Woodrow.”
His eyebrows lifted while he polished the silver whistle on his shirt. “I have delivered a successful camp experience to one thousand young men and women every summer, Ms. West. You may be sure I understood the details of the Backcountry Gear shoot. I mentioned the opportunity to your mother yesterday, and she was able to fax a release form for your appearance.”
So Nick had already made the decision for me? With Gollum’s help? I wanted to stomp my foot, but our camp director looked more than a little aggravated with me right now.
“Oh…er…sorry.” I guess I’d offended him. “I just thought I’d attend the personal growth workshop with Nia. I missed it last week because of CIT commitments.”
“Emily does a very good job.” Gollum cleared his throat. “But I don’t have to tell you how much we appreciate Backcountry Gear using our camp in their ad. We’ll have a link to our website on theirs. It’s an exciting opportunity for you as well. The filming starts on the lacrosse field in another hour.”
I was tempted to ask him if that was an order. Did I have to be in the commercial just because Gollum wanted to suck up to Nick and the Backcountry Gear people? But just because I was learning to speak up didn’t give me the right to be rude. Besides, I’d save my hostility for the proper target.
Nick.
But if I got up to the lacrosse field and Brooke White was already on the set with him, I was leaving and I wasn’t looking back, no matter what Gollum said.
“Kayla.”
Nick smiled at me as I trekked up the path to the lacrosse field, now transformed by the presence of two RVs and a truck full of lights, dollys, and generators. I recognized the equipment from my mom’s former work as a magazine’s fashion editor. Nick sat in a chair off to one side of the set while a stylist held up color swatches to his face.
She’d have a tough time finding a color he didn’t look good in.
“Hi.” Awkwardness slowed my step as I neared. I couldn’t call him out in front of a stranger, as much as I might want to. “I tried to tell Gollum that he had the wrong girl, but he insisted on sending me up here.”
The stylist glanced up at me, a petite African-American woman with retro cat’s eye glasses and a slightly bouffant hairdo around a wide pink headband.
“You are so not the wrong girl.” She smiled at me and then turned to Nick to give him a high-five. “Good job, Desanti.”
He ducked his head in a way that reminded me of the old Nick. The one that I’d fallen for. Hard. “Misty, this is Kayla. Kayla, Misty is in charge of the clothes.”
“I’m the stylist,” Misty translated, reaching to shake my hand. “Nice to meet you, Kayla. Would you mind trying on some outfits for me? I don’t have long before I have to get you on set, and I’d like to see what colors work best with your hair and with Nick’s outfit.”
She had a whole rack of lightweight ski jackets, as well as a folding table full of hats. With the sun already beaming full blast, we were going to sweat to death shooting this commercial. Which wasn’t really a huge problem for me. I was kind of curious to watch the photo shoot in action and that alone would be worth a couple of sweaty hours. But how could I stand next to Nick when he didn’t trust me? When we didn’t trust each other?
“Um.” I took a deep breath and tried to imagine what Hannah would say if she was in my shoes right now. “Could I speak to Nick for just a minute first?”
I didn’t need to explain why or make excuses. If Nia was here, I’d tell her to speak up. So why shouldn’t I?
“Okay.” Misty gave Nick a stern look over the top of her retro lenses. “They’ll be ready for you soon.”
Nick nodded. I glanced over toward the set where it looked like they were trying to set up a half-pipe.
“Are you doing a skateboard trick?” I asked as we walked away, remembering that he’d done one for a camp talent night when he’d first arrived.
“Not really. It’s more for the background. I’m filming the action shots at another location.” He shoved his hands in the pockets of his khaki shorts as we headed for a bench along the path that led up from the lower campus, his body moving with the easy grace of an athlete. We stopped behind it but didn’t sit. “Is everything okay?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Why do you want me to be in the commercial? Last night, you admitted that you came to camp wanting revenge. Then, when I told you I’d changed, you didn’t believe me.”
My heart beat hard. Not just because I was nervous around Nick, but also because I was speaking my mind. Not going with the flow. It really hurt when Brooke called me wallpaper. I’d always thought of myself that way, but hearing her say it confirmed that others saw me that way, too.
“I do trust you.” His hazel eyes shimmered with sincerity. His thick, dark lashes cast a shadow, darkening them to almost green. The eyes that had sucked me in so long ago and made me follow him off the trailhead to a faster way up the mountain. “I was upset last night because I wanted to be with you at the dance. Put things behind us. I admitted I wrote you a nice—a really nice—note. And you didn’t believe me. You say you’re sorry for the past, Kay. But it doesn’t look like you want anything with me now.”
“You’ve changed.” Sometimes I wondered if I just saw what I wanted to see when I looked at him, like that day at CIT training when he’d helped out the asthmatic boy. I’d thought it was sweet, but then again, if Nick hadn’t made the whole day a competition, the poor kid wouldn’t have been struggling for breath. “I’m not sure if I know you anymore.”
“I’ve grown up.”
Something about the way he said it implied that I hadn’t.
“Right. And you think I’m still just this follower who’ll do anything to be accepted.” That hurt, but I guess we were at a stand-off if neither of us trusted the other. “So why drag me up here for your commercial? Any other girl at camp would be thrilled to take my place.”
He stared at the ground for a second before he answered.
“I put your name in for the commercial on the day I wrote you that note.” He folded his arms over his chest, and I hated that my eyes went to the lean muscles outlined by his second-skin shirt. “I figured it would give us a chance to be together and you wouldn’t mind doing it since it doesn’t put you in the spotlight. They need someone’s back and hair next to me.”
“I’m the back and the hair,” I repeated, thinking about what that meant.
He asked for me because he didn’t think I had anything to offer other than nice hair. And he must regret asking me now that I’d supposedly chosen my friends over him. Was just a “follower” again.
My heart hurt. Like really, honestly, hurt. But I tried not to show it.
“Nick, ask for someone else.” I took a deep breath to keep my voice steady. “There’s a workshop I’d like to attend—”
“Kayla, I’m sorry.” His jaw flexed. “But it’s too late to ask anyone else and Gollum said your mom signed off. It’ll only take a couple of hours.”
He looked as frus
trated as I felt. If there were any other choice, he’d definitely grab any other girl, but since I was the one with the signed release form, we were both stuck.
“Fine.” I nodded. “But we’re even after this. I’m done apologizing for the past. And no matter what you think—you don’t know me now.”
I stalked back to the stylist’s table ahead of Nick. If I was only going to be a hair prop for his commercial, then what did it matter if we weren’t speaking to each other? Part of me wanted to ask him why Brooke couldn’t be here since I imagined she’d love to prance around and have the cameras follow her every move. But maybe that was the problem. She found out her face wouldn’t be on TV and bailed.
“I’m ready now.” I smiled at Misty and tried to look on the bright side. I was the fashionista of Divas’ Den, according to my friends, so I could at least enjoy looking at the new line of Backcountry Gear’s clothes. “What would you like me to do?”
The apparel they’d brought with them for today’s shoot wasn’t ski wear, thank goodness, or we’d melt in the heat. But still, there were a lot of light fall jackets on the rolling rack. Most of the clothes were in bright, sporty colors with an athletic vibe. I saw a lot of oversized hoodies, vests and tees.
I heard Nick’s feet scuffle in the grass behind me and knew he’d arrived, too. Misty waved us both over to a table where she had a few outfits laid out.
“I pulled some clothes already, and I think we’ll do two or three changes.” She held up a blue-gray jacket next to my hair. “I thought maybe this would work for you and I’d put Nick in the black denim.”
Personally, I thought it was too many dark colors, but I wasn’t the art director and it wasn’t my commercial. I was only here to be a prop in Nick’s glamorous life.
“Okay.” I shrugged my way into the big hoodie while Nick pulled on the black jacket.
I noticed some Olympic medals on the table when Misty reached for a headband for me. I knew the medals probably weren’t the real thing, just props, but seeing them gave me a funny feeling. Like he’d achieved so much and I’d never really congratulated him for that.