by Marta Brown
A hot flash of blood bursts behind my cheeks. “Um…yes, sir.” I bite my lip. “Tyler was very...thorough.”
“Good,” Doctor Newton says, handing me the ice pack to take. “Do you need help getting back to your cabin?”
I shake my head. “No, I’m fine, but thanks.”
With Doc’s help, I scoot off the exam table, tuck the crutches underneath my arms, and then share a quick glance with Tyler before shuffling out of the office and back to my cabin.
Leaning the crutches on the edge of my bed, I’m relieved everyone is still out playing the game, leaving the cabin empty.
I dig under the bunk for my box of stationary—and the three page letter to Kat I still haven’t managed to mail—before unfolding the sheets of paper, and skimming what I’ve already written. I can’t help but laugh at how much has changed since I started this letter. And here I go again, adding to the growing pages of constantly changing updates.
Dear Kat,
I’m starting to feel like my life is a soap opera! (But one of the good ones-like the Young and the Beautiful, or is it the Restless and Bold? Whatever…you know what I mean!)
Anyway, things have seriously changed here since my last update…like falling head over heels (or I guess cleats in my case) for Tyler kind of changed.
Kat, he’s amazing! And not just in the ridiculously good looking and unbelievably good kissing kind of way, but in all the ways. He’s funny, and sweet, and smart, and crazy talented at everything he does. (Well…except maybe playing capture the flag! Long story☺)
But what I really wanted to tell you is I’m thinking about scrapping my plans to get kicked out of camp. I don’t know… Am I going to keep trying to piss my parents off on purpose during college so they’ll stay together? And what about when I’m married? And have kids of my own?
When does it end, ya know?
When one of my schemes ends up hurting me, or worse, the family I’m trying so hard to salvage? I can’t. Even with the best intentions, I can’t keep doing this anymore. And really…no one is happy, even though that’s all I’ve ever really wanted for my family in the first place. (I know you’re probably shouting “that’s what I’ve been saying!”)
I hear you, now. (And love you and miss you like crazy, btw!)
“Hey, Em,” Lucy says, skipping in from the back door of the cabin and startling me. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” She plops down on the edge of my bunk, her face flushed and slightly out of breath. “What’cha doin?”
“Just writing a letter to Kat. What are you up to?” I ask, surprised to see her. “Did you just run here?”
“Say hi to Kat from me, and yes, I did. But being an equestrian doesn’t require quite the same amount of cardio as softball does, so layoff,” Lucy jokes, grabbing the crutches from the edge of my bed, and standing up to hop around the room. “I heard you got hurt, so I came to check on you. I swear you’ve spent more time at the nurse’s station than all of the kids in my cabin put together. I’m starting to think you have a crush on Doc.”
I swallow hard. If only she knew how close to the truth she is.
“Very funny,” I sputter, wishing I could spill, but knowing it’s best to keep Tyler and me a secret. “But really, I’m fine, it’s just a sprain.”
Lucy hands me the crutches. “Well, come on then—let’s go get some food. And I imagine you’ll want to go to the campfire tonight to gloat.”
I furrow my brows. “Gloat?”
“Yes, gloat,” Lucy rolls her eyes, smiling, “your team won… again.”
A smile breaks across my face, since I’m pretty sure that snagging Tyler’s flag helped us win. “In that case, I imagine you’re right.” I grab my pen, and scribble a final note to Kat.
Have to run, (or limp…another long story) but I promise I’m mailing this letter to you tomorrow!
-Em
I fold the letter in half and tuck it under my pillow, so I won’t forget to mail it again, and head out for the night—hoping to do a little more than just gloating.
That is, if Tyler’s game.
Chapter 22
Tyler
“Dude, I think I’m gonna be sick,” Todd moans, walking back from the dining hall, holding his stomach.
Concealed by the darkness, I roll my eyes. What the hell did he think would happen? “You probably should have thought of that before you bet Andy you could drink an entire bowl of salsa after eating fifteen tacos, dude.”
Todd puffs out his chest, but it doesn’t quite rival the distension of his stomach at the moment. “Yeah, but I totally did it—which makes me awesome.”
“Awesome is one way to put it,” I say, shaking my head as he lets out a loud burp that echoes down the trail. “Disgusting might be another.”
“Disgustingly awesome, maybe.” Todd laughs, running ahead of the group, before turning around and wrapping his arms around his body so it appears they’re not his own, but someone else’s pawing at him. “Doesn’t stop The Bod from getting all the ladies,” he mumbles, pretending to make out with himself, which I imagine he does a lot.
“So is your left hand named, All, and your right hand named, The Ladies? Or is it the other way around?” I ask, earning howls from the other guys and a punch to my arm from Todd.
“We actually call that ‘plucking yourself,” Andy says. “And you might not want to brag about it,” he deadpans to Todd, his face as flat as his tone, before he pretends to whip out an arrow from the phantom quiver on his back, load his bow, and shoot. “Bullseye,” he calls out, wearing a giant grin, and cracking everyone up instantly. Well—everyone except Todd.
Who knew archers had their own version of locker room talk?
“Hardy-har-har,” Todd mocks, as I give Andy a high five, and some serious dissing cred. “Very funny,” he says, shoving Andy into a set of thorny bushes before sucking in his taco filled gut. “Speaking of ladies.”
I follow Todd’s line of sight down the trail and see Jenny and the rest of her cabin approaching.
My stomach twists at the sight of Emily shuffling towards us on her crutches. And simultaneously I wish I could take her injury away, and be back in the nurse’s office with her long leg draped over my shoulder like earlier today.
Todd lifts his chin in one quick upward motion, giving her the cool guy nod. My gut tightens until I realize it’s actually aimed at Jenny and not Emily for once. It’s about time.
“Hi,” Jenny says, bouncing to a stop with Emily right beside her.
“You girls headed to the campfire?” I ask, unconsciously directing my attention to the tiny magnet wrapped up in my red hoodie, her smile lighting up the dark trail.
“Hey, you know that’s our color, right?” Todd yanks on Emily’s sleeve like a caveman and knocks her off balance.
My fists tighten and I have to work to relax my clenched jaw as she takes a few small hops to regain her footing.
Emily seems unfazed though; her eyes—and her smile—never leaving mine. “Apparently…” Emily draws out, “I brought back the winning flag today, so I decided to pay tribute to the team who gave us our color war victory.”
This time, Todd shoves me. “Nice job, dude.”
“Trust me,” I give him a small shove back before returning my full attention to Emily, “it was stolen way before I even knew what was happening.” I offer it as an explanation for losing my flag, but from the soft smile Emily gives me, I’m pretty sure, just like earlier, she knows I’m not talking about the flag at all. At least—I hope she does.
“You’re coming down, right?” Jenny asks, glancing over her shoulder to where the faint glow from the campfire on the other side of the trees is starting to burn high and bright, the whole camp gathering to celebrate the end of the Color Wars.
“Unless you guys are too embarrassed to show your faces now?” Emily tosses me a flirty smirk, reveling in her win.
“Oh, we’ll be there,” I say, shooting her a quick wink before Jenny can turn back a
round and catch it. “Soon.”
“All right, we’ll save you seats then,” Jenny says. She tosses a small wave over her shoulder before she, Emily, and the rest of their cabin head down the dark path.
Waiting until they’re finally gone, I start up the trail in the opposite direction.
“Uh, Tyler, the campfire is that way.” Andy points, his red hair and pale white skin almost glowing in the dark.
I drop my voice to a whisper. “Yeah, but cabin number eight is that way.” I point up the trail.
The guys look from one to the other and I’m surprised it’s Todd who figures it out first.
“Raid!”
…
Donning all black, we cut through the trees behind the cabins to avoid getting caught by any stragglers on the trail, our arms stuffed with as many rolls of toilet paper as we can carry.
“This is going to be epic,” Todd says under his breath, crouching down outside the back of the girl’s cabin.
I wrap my hands on the ledge and lift up just enough to peer into the window to make sure the cabin is empty. “We’re clear.”
Waving them in, we slip through the back door of the girl’s cabin like a black ops team—single file and silent. Carefully, we take turns checking behind each door, and shower curtain, to make sure we’re completely alone before we start to cover each and every surface of their cabin with long, white sheets of toilet paper.
Holding onto the thin paper at one end, I take the thick roll and toss it up and over the ceiling fan. Gravity does its job by bringing it careening back to the ground and leaving a twelve foot high streamer in its wake. I tear off the roll and repeat. Tossing it up and over, again and again, until all four blades of the ceiling fan are draped in dozens of long streamers, twirling around at a dizzying rate.
I glance around the room, impressed with how almost every visible surface in the small log cabin is covered in big white loops of paper strung between bunks, around dressers, and even wrapped around each individual bed.
In the far corner, a pair of bright white tennis shoes smudged with reddish-brown dirt—from tripping over third base—sit next to a bunk made up with a pale pink comforter covered in even paler pink flowers and a picture of Emily and Kat taped to the headboard.
Emily’s bed.
Expecting something bold and bright, like the red tips of Emily’s hair on the first night we met, I’m surprised, at first, her bedding is such a delicate shade of pink. That is until I think about the light and airy girl from Team White I’ve gotten to know over the last few weeks and I smile, realizing the girl I have fallen for is the perfect mix of both.
But while she might be pink, tonight, her bed is going to be white.
I grab several rolls of toilet paper and begin to wrap Emily’s bed like a mummy, until it’s completely covered, except for her pillow.
“Looks good, Ty,” Andy says, checking out my handy work as he finishes hanging streamers off of the lamps and lighting fixtures along the walls.
“Almost,” I say, picking up Emily’s pillow to complete the job and accidently scattering sheets of light pink paper across the ground at my feet.
I snatch up the pages of stationary, covered in big loopy girl cursive, and begin to stack them back together when I see my name in big bold letters underlined multiple times on the first page. I know I should slip the note back under her pillow and walk away, but the fact Emily’s writing about me causes my face to break into a smile, and I can’t stop my eyes from passing over the short sentences.
Update- Sneaking out was a fail. Got caught. By Tyler. And then we both got caught by Walter Robbins, the camp’s owner! But Mr. Goodie two-shoes came up with some excuse for us being out so late, and we didn’t get in trouble at all! UGH! But I’m not giving up.
Maybe I’ll use Tyler to get kicked out…breaking the fraternization rule might be a fun way to go.☺
And just like that—I lose my breath.
Emily is using me to get kicked out of camp.
I drop the letter on her bunk, the last few weeks of flirty banter, late night rendezvous, and close calls flash behind my eyes. I shake my head.
It was all a game to her.
And I got played.
Chapter 23
Emily
“Hey, Slugger,” I call to Tyler, limping to catch up with him after breakfast, concerned why he never showed up to the campfire last night even though the rest of his cabin did. “Hey,” I say again, reaching out and touching his arm to slow him down, which it does, but only slightly. “I missed you last night. What happened? Why didn’t you come down after we saw you on the trail?”
“Uh, just tired I guess.” Tyler shrugs before picking up the pace again, his head down and jaw tight as he makes his way towards the baseball fields.
I furrow my brows. Too tired?
“Let me guess…you were too tired from toilet papering my cabin to come down.” I smile, expecting Tyler to do the same, confirming with a simple grin it was his cabin that tp’d us, but instead he scowls, which throws me off. I’ve never seen him so much as frown since the day we met.
He couldn’t actually be mad Team White won the color war because I stole his flag, right? Right?
“You’re not mad at me are you?” I ask as I pick up my speed to keep up with him—despite the shooting pain running up my leg since I left my stupid crutches in the dining hall after Tyler jetted.
Tyler pauses almost imperceptibly, before continuing up the trail, the muscles in his jaw flexing so hard, he’s either biting his tongue or forcibly keeping his mouth shut.
“I’m serious. Is everything okay?” I ask, unsure what’s going on, but starting to really worry as we pass by a group of guys kicking a soccer ball back and forth.
Tyler eyes the group until they’re finally out of earshot. “I don’t know, Emily—but right now isn’t the time,” he says under his breath, his tone telling me all I need to know. Something is definitely wrong, and by the way he spit my name, it’s pretty clear I have something to do with it.
My heart is beating quicker than Tyler’s footsteps up the trail when I stop, cross my arms, and dig in my heels. He might think this isn’t the time, but right now is as good as any. I have to know what’s going on with him. “What’s wrong?”
Tyler takes a few more steps before coming to a stop himself, the trail deserted except for the two of us now.
He pulls in a deep breath through his nose before he shoves his hands in his pockets and turns to face me.
“What’s going on with us?” he asks abruptly, his question coming so out of left field it takes me by complete surprise.
“Us?” A slow smile spreads across my face, liking the way that sounds. “Why?”
“Because last night—”
I choke out a laugh before he can even finish. “Is that what this is about?” I can’t help but smile. “Yes, I chased Todd around the campfire last night, but it was to smear marshmallow goo on his face after he wiped melted chocolate on mine. It’s not like we were flirting or anything, Jenny and Andy got in on it, too. We were all a sticky mess.”
Glancing around to make sure no one is heading up or down the trail, I step close enough to brush my hand down his arm until our hands touch. “You’re not jealous, are you?” I tease, then lift up on my toes to sneak in a quick kiss, relieved it was all just a misunderstanding.
Tyler drops my hand and takes a step back, his eyes narrowing. “Can you be serious for a second? I’m not kidding—what’s going on with us?”
The smile falls from my lips at the unexpected sharpness in his tone. “I…uh…thought…we were having fun, I guess.” I shift uncomfortably under his stare.
Tyler’s lips press together into a tight line, causing his jaw muscles to pulse again. “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” he says, turning around and taking a few steps up the trail before stopping and facing me again. “You know what, Emily? It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.”
Before I
can muster up a thought, let alone a response, he spins around—hiding what looks like a mixture of anger and sadness on his face—and leaves me standing shell-shocked and alone.
What. The. Hell?
My mind races with unanswered questions as I wander back to my cabin in a daze. I replay yesterday over and over, trying to pinpoint what happened to cause Tyler to act that way, but I come up short.
When I finally get back to the cabin—still covered in mounds of toilet paper—I fall onto my bed, and stare up at the ceiling as his question swirls around in my mind faster than the streamer covered fan above me. ‘What’s going on with us?’
My chest aches as I consider the answer I gave him. Maybe I should have told him the truth—that it’s more than just fun for me and that I’m falling for him—because maybe that’s what he needed to hear.
“Mail call,” Jenny says, pulling me from my scattered thoughts as she walks into the cabin with a handful of letters and a small box tucked under her arm. She waves a postcard in the air before tossing it to me like a Frisbee.
The front is a picture of the ocean with a tall white lighthouse sitting at the end of a sandy peninsula. Greetings from Martha’s Vineyard printed across the top. Martha’s Vineyard? Who do I know from there?
I flip the postcard over and I’m surprised to see Kaitlin’s chicken-scratch on the back.
Hi Friend,
You’ll never guess where I am. Just kidding, the postcard pretty much gives it away, but I bet you’ll never guess with who...Pete! (Maybe that’s not such a stretch, either.)
Anyhow, Pete got me a job as the towel girl at this swanky country club he valets cars at for the summer and it has been so much fun.
We rented a small shack on the beach with like twelve other people we work with and every night is a nonstop party.