by J. K. Rock
“I sat straight ahead of you in a lawn chair behind one of the catering trucks.” She pointed out the lopsided green seat. “I could see everything.”
“It’s great.” And I didn’t just mean the drawing. I was loving the day. The cool experience of being in a film production.
“I figured it would be nice to remember our five minutes of fame after we go home.” She took back the sketchpad as we moved forward in the food line.
My cabin mates talked excitedly about the upcoming scene outside the bar. My heart, on the other hand, had just taken a nosedive, ending up somewhere around my shins.
Five minutes of fame? Ha. I was used to fame in the most negative way possible. But now that I had a taste of people seeing me in a good way, I never wanted it to end.
“What do you want?” Piper studied a tray full of sandwiches.
“It’s not on the food cart, that’s for sure,” I muttered. Grabbing an egg salad on wheat bread, I decided to use the rest of my time meeting everyone I could and learning more about the film business. I’d come to camp to have fun, not regrets. So I might as well enjoy every second before my five minutes of glory were over. For once, I got to play one of the good guys. My summer of payback was finally paying off. If only it didn’t have to end.
Javier
The camp van rolled up to the curb about an hour after I’d finished in the kitchen, just as it was starting to get dark. Helena had chased me out early, insisting I find something to do besides cook. As if I would just stroll out to a bonfire with these kids and join them for a chorus of “B-I-N-G-O.” Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen.
The Fourth of July had been a good reminder I didn’t belong here. Besides, the next time I saw that Vijay dude, there would be hell. I’d barely kept my temper in check, and I was close to losing it on the dude completely. This was a road I’d travelled before with jerks in other foster homes looking to mess with me, and I knew where it ended—a group home, a discipline record, and no chance of being with Mom when she got paroled.
So, for now, I watched Alex from a safe distance on the porch of the administration building while she stepped off the mini-bus with the other kids who’d made the trip to a local film set. I’d expected her to be the first one out, laughing and talking with her friends. But she came out last, and she looked…sad?
Head down, she scuffed along the sidewalk beneath the light of a security lamp. When her friends slowed down to wait for her, asking her something, she shook her head and the others hurried ahead. Probably going to the beach for the ghost story marathon they were having tonight. Even the counselor chaperones were jogging toward the cabins.
“Hey.” I called to her before I’d meant to. Hell, before I’d even decided I should. My heart rate spiked, the traitor.
But then one corner of her mouth lifted, a slow smile curving her lips. Crap. Seeing her smile and knowing I’d put it there made it impossible to do anything besides walk toward her. “Hey, yourself.” She picked up her pace, going off the path onto the grass. Her eyes drifted down as she got closer, zeroing in on the book under my arm. “What are you reading?”
A mischievous light danced in her eyes as we met near the trees that separated the administration building from the beach.
“A gift from my Secret Camp Angel.” I flashed it in front of her. “Look familiar?”
She folded her arms, trying to give me her best poker face while the night birds chirped and sang. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I’ll bet you don’t.” I tucked the book into a camp mail slot outside the building where I could pick it up again in the morning before breakfast. “I’m sure there are plenty of other campers who know me well enough to hunt down a copy of Traditional Venezuelan Cuisine for a gift.”
She made a point of studying her nails. “There are probably tons of kids who are psyched to have a talented chef working at camp. Maybe someone is hoping you’ll make more arepas.”
I laughed. For the past few days, I’d been brooding over what had happened on the beach. Blaming Vijay, Alex, and myself. But when I had seen her thoughtful gift, I knew I had to see her again. Maybe I’d judged her too quickly. I hated it when people did that to me.
“That’s a pretty good acting job. They must have loved you on the film set.” I pointed toward the trees, thinking I should walk her down to the beach before we got caught alone.
Her expression shifted, the glow in her eyes dimming somehow.
“I wish it hadn’t had to end. I’ll tell you more about it sometime.” She gave me a crooked smile, a half-hearted effort at best. “But first, I’m so sorry for what happened the other night.”
I shrugged. When I’d seen the book she’d left me, I’d forgiven her. “You wanted revenge, and you got it. I get it. Only next time, leave me out of it.”
She touched my arm. “I wasn’t playing games. I wanted to be with you, not because I wanted to get Vijay back for being a jerk.”
It was tough to follow her conversation when she was touching me. Two heartbeats slugged my chest before I forced myself to take a deep breath and step back. My heel jammed into a tree trunk.
“It doesn’t matter.” Even if I had forgiven her, it didn’t mean we could be together. We might have more in common than I’d thought, but our worlds were too different. We were separated by more than rules in my employee handbook.
“It matters to me.”
The fierceness in her voice shouldn’t have surprised me. I knew this girl was a fighter. The fact that Alex fought for me—something only my mother and Helena had done before—was killing me.
“Alex, we can’t be together.” Line in the sand, damn it. I wasn’t stepping back over.
“What’s stopping us?” She looked behind her, her gray hoodie slipping as she moved. The thin, lace strap of a tank-top was the only thing covering her smooth shoulder. “I don’t see any counselors. No Gollum. No obnoxious ex-boyfriends.”
Exactly why I needed some distance. I had control issues of a whole other kind around Alex.
“I used the computer lab today.”
Her eyes went wide. “You can do that? Campers don’t usually have electronics hour until Sunday.”
“Helena says it’s cool as long as I’m not in there when campers are. After I got your gift, I wanted to read your parents’ blog. Know more about you.”
Emotions passed over her face in quick succession. Relief. Surprise. Anger. “Excuse me?”
“I read the Wholesome Home archives.” My chest tightened up, remembering the scroll of endless happy family stories where the problems went about as deep as separation anxiety in toddlers. Of course every story that featured trouble had also featured Alex.
I could relate.
But Alex’s problems were nothing compared to mine. She’d never gotten stitches in her hand for punching a window or gotten thrown out of a foster home for fighting with another kid who’d messed with her mother’s picture. Those were my issues. Ones I’d been trying to control. I was a work in progress, according to Helena. Alex’s family wouldn’t begin to know how to deal with someone like me. Especially if I was dating their daughter.
“What does that have to do with us not being together?” She clenched her hands at her side, her whole body tense.
The sound of a twig snapping nearby answered before I could.
Signaling for her to be quiet, I looked. Listened.
In the distance, a flashlight bobbed toward us. I didn’t have time to think. We were about to get caught.
I waved for her to follow me, and she did, quick and quiet on my heels. I wasn’t just worried about what would happen to me if I got booted from camp. Now I worried about what would happen to Alex back in her “wholesome” home if her dad found out she’d been sneaking around with a guy like me. Or what they’d do to her at that school I’d also looked up. The one with the bars on the windows.
The flashlight swung in an arc closer to us.
“Who’s there
?” Gollum’s unmistakable voice called.
We raced behind the administration building toward the mess hall and into the garden. I knew my way in the dark, weaving through the plants and fruit trees to a tool shed.
I even knew at what point the door would creak, so I only opened it a little way. Enough for us to slip inside. Hide.
Alex was in my arms in a nanosecond. Her arms tight around my waist. Her head buried against my shoulder and her nose tucked into my chest. Her breath came fast but silent, her heart pounding like crazy. As for the rest of her pressed tight to me…
Not thinking about it.
Not thinking about it.
But if I had? She felt good.
Alex’s lips brushed against my cheek, and my mouth went dry. I held myself rigid, wanting to crush her against me but knowing if I crossed that line, I might not find my way back. I stepped back, but her body followed mine in the dark, her lips nibbling my jaw. I groaned, my control slipping out of my grasp, especially when her lips found mine.
Adrenaline rushed through me, and my pulse sped. My hands spanned her back, and I gave in with a moan, deepening our kiss. My mouth captured hers in a frenzy to make the most of this forbidden moment. When she stood on tiptoe, I parted her lips and slid my tongue along hers, tasting her grape bubblegum flavor. Her heart fluttered against my chest, and I held her tight, the feel of her soft body driving my senses wild.
My lips traced her cheeks, kissed each of her closed eyelids, wandered to her earlobe where the caress made her shiver. I inhaled the scent of her shampoo, something fresh and tropical, and buried my hands in her long hair. I tugged her head back so I could kiss her neck, my mouth lingering at her leaping pulse.
An arc of light swept across the tool shed floor, startling us apart. We moved deeper into the shadows, and I peered around the window frame. A flashlight swung in searching half-circles, but the sweep moved away from us and toward the van.
“He’s leaving.”
“That was close.” She peered up at me with wide eyes, her chest rising and falling, her breath as labored as mine.
“Too close.” I raked a hand through my hair. “What were we thinking?”
“We weren’t,” Alex sighed.
Unable to resist, I slid a finger along her soft cheek. “You should stay away from me.”
Any hope of scaring her off with that comment faded when she grinned, her teeth flashing white in a shaft of moonlight.
“Why would I?” She stared me down. “I wanted a fun summer. And I can’t have that if you’re not in it.”
“But I can’t be part of it. Not really. We’d have to sneak around, hide. You deserve to have a boyfriend you’re proud of, not someone like me.” I had nothing long-term or permanent to offer her when my life was so unstable.
“What if I don’t care about that?”
“I do.” I shook my head, the air in the cramped tool shed suddenly suffocating. “I’m trying to do the right thing.”
“Great,” she sighed. “Another person protecting me from my ‘bad choices.’” Alex made air quotes with her hands. Her voice sounded as bitter as I sometimes felt. “Well, maybe I’d like to call the shots in my life for a change.” She flicked a clump of dirt off a broken tiller blade lying on the tool bench. “Get in trouble if I want. Have the summer I want to have. How about that?”
“How about thinking about the big picture? Beyond the summer. Who you want to be. What you want your life to be like. Or maybe you’re just looking for a good time.”
She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it.
Hurt by her silence, I went on. “And for that matter, with a camp full of guys, why kiss me? If you’re looking for someone to get in trouble with, look somewhere else.” Anger simmered inside me, but I knew I’d never let it surface. Not with Alex. Not with any girl. “My life isn’t a game, so stop treating me like it is.” I untwined her hands from my neck and brushed past her. “Do you want me to get booted out of camp? Or are you so determined to piss off your family that you don’t care who you bring down with you? What if that TV network, BLISS, had been following us instead of Gollum?”
Shoving out the door, I tromped north toward the boys’ cabins for about ten steps before she caught up. Jogging in front of me, she stopped short so that I almost ran into her.
“For your information, Mr. Expert-on-My-Life, I couldn’t care less about my parents’ stupid pilot. I’m already cast as the villain, so you can skip the lecture.” She poked a skinny finger into my shoulder. “As for you?” She narrowed her eyes. “Try and remember it wasn’t me who came looking for you tonight.”
She had a point there. I dragged in a deep breath to clear my head.
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” I swiped a hand over my eyes. “You’re the only… friend I’ve made here, and I guess I wanted to see you. Hear how things went during the filming.” There. The truth. Or part of it. I’d never see Alex as only a friend. Especially after that kiss.
“Friends, huh?” She gave me a skeptical look, then laughed. “Right. Well, maybe we should just start over.” She held out her hand. “Hi. I’m Alex Martineau. And you are?”
I couldn’t help but laugh back and take her hand, my dark mood lifting. “Javier Kovalev. Nice to meet you.”
Alex nudged me with her shoulder as we walked toward the cabins. “Good. At least that’s a start. And the movie was amazing.” She seemed to forget all about our argument. I admired that about her—how she could get mad and then let it go. “Best day ever.”
Was it possible to envy a movie? I wished I’d been the one to make her that happy.
“I’m going to the Mine Forever set next weekend.”
She went still. “What?”
“I guess they had trouble with their catering company. They called the camp to see if we could spare any people or kitchen equipment.” I’d be cooking for a crowd even bigger than Camp Juniper Point.
“You’re kidding.” She took a step closer but stopped herself before she put her hands on me.
I swallowed hard, missing the feel and the scent of her hair when we’d kissed. Just friends, I reminded myself.
“I’m 100 percent serious. It’s Parents’ Weekend anyhow, so it’s not like I’ll have anything to do here.” Most of the kids left the campus to do stuff with their families, so Helena could handle the mess hall alone.
“You’re cooking for the Mine Forever cast and crew?” She paced in front of me, biting her lip and frowning.
“They only want the best.” I grinned. I was looking forward to it. “Helena thought it would be good for me to get away from camp for a couple of days.”
I didn’t mention that Helena probably wanted me to take a break from seeing Alex, too.
Alex quit pacing. Gave me a level stare.
“You have to take me with you.”
Alex
“Ouch! Are you trying to hit every bump from here to the film set on purpose?” Although my tongue stung from the last teeth-jarring lurch, riding in the camp van beside Javier felt awesome. In his fitted forest-green polo shirt and khaki shorts, he was handsomer than ever. Better yet, he was all mine…for the day at least. And I intended to make the most of it. This was supposed to be the best summer ever. Payback. Riding with Javier made me feel like that was possible.
His large hands rested on the wheel, his chocolate eyes sliding my way, one side of his mouth lifting. “We just got on the main road and you’re already complaining? This is going to be a long day.”
“Speak for yourself.” I crossed my arms and leaned my cheek against the warm window glass, grateful Helena had let him drive. He was seventeen, after all, and he had his license. Best of all, that meant no chaperone for the whole day.
Even though I was officially spending Saturday helping Javier cater the movie set, I planned to peek in on the filming, too. I’d thought of little else since my last trip there—that and the feel of Javier’s strong arms around me in the tool shed.
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�So how long before you ditch me for the big screen?” Javier’s biceps flexed as he down-shifted, the early morning sun making his bronze skin glow. Saliva flooded my mouth. Down girl.
“Sick of me already?” I swatted his thigh, the downy hairs tickling my palm. He jerked away as though my touch was fire.
“Knock it off, Alex.” His voice sounded lower than ever, its huskiness sparking the jittery feeling I got whenever he was near. And in the close confines of the van, we were as alone as camp would ever allow. “We’re friends, remember? You know we can’t flirt.”
“Hey, those are your rules. Not mine.” I tickled his earlobe until he chuckled and swatted me away. “Besides, this may be the only alone time we get today.”
“Don’t remind me.” Javier cranked down his window, and the fresh, pine-scented air doused us like a cold shower. “How much longer is this ride?”
“Come on, you love it. Why else would you have invited me?” How awesome that I got to go with him. It had to mean he like liked me.
“Because you begged when Helena asked for volunteers.” He punched on the radio, and a classic rock song rumbled out of the speakers. His head bobbed along with the bass, rattling the doors, a deep dimple popping in his cheek.
“Details, details.” I flicked a gnat away from my shoulder, hoping the gesture would draw his attention off the road and back on to me. Where it belonged. “We were destined to have this day together.”
His fingers walked up the side of my arm and stopped to lightly chuck my chin before returning to the wheel. “You’re like that gnat—always buzzing around.”
“Like a fly to honey.” I laid my head on his broad shoulder, loving the feel of his worn tee over hard, shifting muscles.
For a second, it felt like he leaned his cheek against the top of my head, but another bump sent me sliding away.
“You did that on purpose.”
“Maybe it was destiny.” Laughter filled his voice.
I waved back at a couple of roadside vegetable stand owners, then glanced at his smirking profile. But so what? I was glad for the day of freedom. This wasn’t just freedom from my parents and Wholesome Home. Today was freedom from everything. I’d even ignored a letter I got postmarked from Honduras. So not ready to deal with whatever my parents had sent.