by Jen Calonita
Lucas just cried more and Cole went over and put his arm around him. "I want Hunter to sit with me on the hill," he sobbed. I looked at Hunter. He rolled his eyes again.
"Lucas, buddy, I'll take you," Cole said soothingly. "Can I tell you a secret? It's a better view up there anyway. That's where I always watched when I was your age." I smiled. Cole had such a way with kids.
"But I want Hunter!" Lucas continued to wail.
"Guess what?" Cole tried again. "I have some cotton candy stashed in my backpack to share with you guys if we head up the hill."
"I'm not missing the fireworks." Hunter sounded frustrated. "Cole, you deal with him." He turned to me and grabbed my hand. "Ready, champ?"
Suddenly everything seemed clear. As the first rocket sent a glow over the lakefront, I knew. Hunter was a hottie, yes. He was picture perfect on paper and every time I saw him my eyes watered, my heart leaped, and I felt like I could faint. But standing in front of him, watching him act the way he did with his campers and be so shady about his conquests, I knew I couldn't like someone like that.
I dropped Hunter's hand. "Nope, sorry, I'm not ready," I said. "I'm going to sit on the hill with Lucas, Cole, and the kids."
Hunter shook his head. "Suit yourself," he said, and then he slipped away in the dark, presumably to find someone else to sit on that rock with.
"Sam," Cole started to say, but I stopped him. Another firework exploded overhead, illuminating the serious expression on Cole's face.
"Come on, guys," I said to the boys. "Everyone take someone's hand and Cole and I will lead you up the hill so you don't miss anything else."
We had them settled in minutes, tucked in beside Alexis and the girls, on the cool, damp grass. I could smell gunpowder in the air, and the sky was growing smoky from the explosions. Mackenzie saw me and smiled. She and Serena scooted next to me. Next to them was Cole, with Lucas under his arm. He had calmed down and was eating cotton candy happily.
"I didn't mean for things to get weird back there," Cole said.
I shrugged. "You didn't make things weird," I pointed out. "At least now, I won't waste any more time..." But I couldn't finish the sentence. I couldn't say "having a crush on Hunter" to Cole. I always seemed to have a hard time with Cole teasing me about him. "It's fine. Really. I'm glad things turned out the way they did," I said instead.
"You are?" Cole asked, and held out some cotton candy.
"Yeah," I said, and I meant it.
Cole smiled. "Good. Because like I said that first day, you can do much better."
I looked at Cole and I smiled. "I know I can," I agreed. And I was starting to think I knew exactly where to look to find him.
9 Reporting for Duty
I'd been this close to Cole dozens of times, but this time it felt different. The two of us were on kitchen duty that morning and even though we had to show up at 7:30 AM, Cole looked amazing, and I noticed it right away. His hair smelled like mint, and he was wearing yellow nylon shorts and a navy tee that looked great against his summer tan. I couldn't stop staring at him.
Truthfully, I hadn't been able to stop staring or thinking about Cole since the Fourth of July. I didn't know how I hadn't seen it before. I always thought Cole was cute, but suddenly I noticed how charming he was, how witty, and how amazing he was with his bunk, which made him all the more appealing. Em said I needed to get Hunter out of my head to realize all this, and that's what had happened. The downside to this revelation was that our comfortable banter had become awkward -- on my end. Because now, it wasn't just conversation, it was me, talking to the boy I realized I liked. And I sort of felt guilty about it because I hadn't noticed I liked him till I realized I didn't like Hunter.
"Are you okay over there?" Cole asked me with a wry smile.
I was so freaked out when I saw Cole this morning that I set up my pancake batter post on the other end of the kitchen where my view of Cole was partially blocked. That way Cole couldn't catch me staring. "Um-hum," I mumbled.
Not knowing Cole was on duty with me, I had shown up in my pajama pants, like my bunk and I always did for breakfast. MY PAJAMA PANTS! My pink heart patterned pajama bottoms and a red tank top. If I wasn't embarrassed before, I really was now.
"Earth to Sam! Come in, Sam!" Beaver, our head chef, was waving his hands in front of my face and motioning wildly. "You've been stirring that batter for ten minutes. Don't tell me it's still lumpy."
I handed over the bowl and smiled sheepishly. "I guess I lost track of time."
Beaver looked at me skeptically, took the bowl, and handed me a new one filled with pancake batter powder. "Let's try to keep this for less than two minutes so that everyone can have pancakes this morning, okay? The natives are getting restless out there." Beaver was kind of scary in that I-ride-a-Harley-and-could-whip-your-butt-in-a-fight kind of way. But when kitchen duty was done, he seemed sane. (At our cookout the other night, he even did some karaoke.) This being the start of breakfast duty, Beaver was in crazy mode.
"No problem," I told him sweetly.
Cole came over to my table and I stood up straighter. "Let me help you," he said. "I finished my job already." Cole took the bowl from my hands, added some water, and began whisking like a maniac. All without looking at the directions on the batter box.
"How do you know how much goes in there?" I wanted to know.
Cole shrugged. "I make these all the time at home. I like to bake." He blushed.
A boy who liked to bake? Could Cole get any better?
Cole's face was deep in concentration, but then for some reason, he looked up and gave me this smile that, if I were pancake batter, would have made me ooze all over the floor.
"Sam!"
Uh-oh. That was Beaver again.
"Yes?" I said.
"If you've got someone else doing your battering, then maybe you could get some more OJ out to the tables. A few have already run out." He pointed to the pitchers nearby.
"OJ, sure," I repeated. I mouthed "sorry" to Cole, grabbed two big pitchers, and used my butt to push open the kitchen door. The smell of syrup wafted into my nose immediately. The clanking of forks and plates scraping made me want to cover my ears.
The difference in the noise level between the kitchen and the mess hall, even at 8 AM, was deafening. The place was packed and kids were either running around to different tables, or singing (they did a lot of singing in this place) while they waited for Hitch to do the morning announcements (which would lead to more singing of the "announcements" song). Once Hitch entered the room, the place quieted down while everyone ate, and then everyone got rowdy again when it was time for mail call.
I dreaded mail call.
Not because I didn't get mail. Mom sent two more care packages, one with these amazing tank tops she got me in Paris -- she was in Europe with work at the moment -- and Grandma sent this sweet care package with all these cookies and chocolate -- that Ashley saw and tattled on me for having, but only after Gabby had already stolen some -- but I STILL hadn't gotten anything from any of my friends, or Mal for that matter. It was really starting to bother me. I had sent Mal two videos and the rest of my friends postcards (that was all they were getting, I had finally decided). But I had gotten nothing in return. I was thisclose to asking Court to borrow her secret phone so I could call Mal just to make sure she was still breathing.
Thump. I put down the first pitcher of OJ at a table full of rowdy boys. I was about to put the next pitcher down at a table of peeps, when I heard my own bunk whining and yelling my name. The benefit of being a CIT instead of a full-fledged counselor was that you still got to eat most meals with your own bunk rather than your charges.
"Thirsty! I'm dying of thirst!" Courtney motioned to her throat and pretended to be choking.
I brought the pitcher over and placed it by Court, Grace, and Em.
Gabby moaned. "No fair! I want it first."
"Ew," Ashley said. "Sam brought us one with pulp. I would never drink pulp," she complained.
"Bring me another pitcher." Ashley had on cool pajamas. Hers were these cute boy shorts and one of those fitted logo tees that said "Everything in Miami is Hotter." Why didn't I have pajamas like those to wear for kitchen duty?
"Ash," Meg warned, "this is the OJ we have today. If you don't like it, drink milk."
"NW," groaned Gabby. "I'd rather drink H2O. It's better for you, anyway."
I gave Meg an appreciative glance, then crouched down next to my friends. They leaned in closely.
"I'm on kitchen duty with Cole," I told them quietly. Em squealed.
"It's a sign!" she said dreamily. "You have to tell him you made a mistake and you don't like Hunter, you like him."
"That will look good, Em," Grace said sarcastically. "Cole, I know I never actually admitted I liked Hunter, but I've decided I don't like him now, I like you!"
Em and Court glared at her, but I groaned. "Grace is right. There is no way to tell Cole without it sounding bad."
Em cleared her throat. "Maybe it's time we had a longer conversation about this," she said empathically. "One with the sleepaway girls."
"Huh?" At first, that statement didn't make sense to me. Then I realized what Em was talking about. We needed to have a sleepaway girl taping to discuss my Cole problem. It would be our first one.
"It's definitely time," Grace said excitedly.
"I smell a midnight sneak-out," Court whispered. "We could do it Wednesday night when the counselors have their weekly meeting."
"I don't know," I said nervously. "What if we get caught?"
"We do it every year," Grace told me. And if Grace was that calm, then maybe it was not as big a deal as I thought it was.
My stomach growled and Em laughed. "That hungry, huh?"
I nodded. "I'm starving and it all looks good today." I was dying for some pancakes.
Court pushed over a plate piled high with eggs, bacon, pancakes, and fruit. "We saved you a little of everything." She looked guilty. "But I'm having a hard time resisting the pancakes. They're calling my name and they're the last ones."
"You can have them if you want," I said without thinking.
"Sam, you haven't had any yet!" Grace pointed out. "Court's already had three."
"But I'm still hungry," Court whined.
"Take mine," I insisted. "There's plenty of other stuff I can eat."
"Here she goes again," Grace muttered.
"What?" I asked.
Ashley interrupted our conversation loudly. "Meg, isn't Sam supposed to be on kitchen duty, not talking to people?"
She smiled nastily at me and I gave her a dirty look. As much as I wanted to do otherwise, I was still choosing the non-confrontational route when it came to Ashley. I let her have her digs, but I never came back at her. I was terrible at arguments and my skills hadn't improved much at camp.
"She's right, Sam," Meg said. "You should finish up in the kitchen and we'll save you some breakfast."
"Not," I heard Gabby say.
Finish up in the kitchen? Oh God. Work! I left Cole in there with the batter and I still had all that OJ to bring to the tables. "I've got to go," I told the girls.
"Wednesday," Court mouthed to me as I backed away toward the kitchen and plowed right into Hunter.
"Cute PJs, champ," he said with a wink.
I walked quickly past him with my head down and rushed into the kitchen to collect more OJ, but it was all gone. Gulp.
"Hey," Cole said, coming up behind me. "I finished the batter -- and told Beaver you did it. And I hope you don't mind, but you still had a lot of OJ to deliver, so I took all of it out for you. You just have one pitcher for your peeps left."
I was so grateful, I threw my arms around Cole's neck. "Thank you!" I gushed. Then I realized what I was doing. My arms were around Cole's neck. His neck that smelled deliciously like soap. I could have breathed in that aroma all day. I felt Cole's hands tighten around my waist and I tensed up. Normally, I wouldn't think twice about hugging Cole, but that was B.C. Before I liked Cole. Now... what was I doing? Cole wasn't just my friend anymore, he was the guy I liked, and I was thisclose to him. I backed away and I could see Cole was blushing.
"Good thing Hunter didn't see that," Cole said, not looking me in the eye.
"I don't like Hunter," I said quickly and firmly and Cole looked up at me curiously. "I told you already. You were right about him."
"Nice to hear you're thinking clearly," he said and sort of smiled. My heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest and my mouth felt unusually dry. "So I was going to ask you, does this mean..."
"Lovebirds," Beaver interrupted, yelling from the edge of the stove, where he was flipping more pancakes. I jumped, hitting my knee on the wood table next to me. Ouch.
"Yeah, I mean you two," Beaver said. "You're off-duty. You can join your bunks."
Nooooooo! What was Cole about to say to me? But it was too late. Cole and I looked at each other awkwardly. Then we looked around. The other CITs and counselors were already at their tables. We kind of mumbled good-bye to each other and then turned toward the door, knocking into each other. I remembered I still had to bring Alexis's bunk their OJ so I grabbed the pitcher on the way out.
"Sam, there you are," Alexis said when I got to the table. Our peeps could be kind of wild, but Alexis always looked calm. "I was beginning to think you forgot about us."
"Sorry, Alexis," I apologized.
"It's okay," Alexis told me and nudged me in the side. "I always moved slower during kitchen duty too. I hated it."
My eyes widened. Alexis hated something about camp? I couldn't believe it. I wanted to hear about this one. "Really?" But before I could ask Alexis our whole table started to shake. The jelly jar started bouncing toward me, the pancakes were popping off the plates and the syrup was sloshing over the table.
"EARTHQUAKE!" A few of the peeps screamed at the top of their lungs. They were holding the edges of the table and shaking it for all it was worth. I tried to steady my side, but I was no match for eight little girls.
"What are you doing?" I asked, alarmed, when they finally stopped shaking the table and burst out laughing. Alexis was laughing too. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"It's called earthquake," Mackenzie said proudly. "We saw the pez do it."
"Classic camp mess hall game," Alexis told me in confidence. "I was a master at it. I could shake the whole table by myself and never knock over a single glass."
"Good morning, Whispering Pines!" Hitch broke through the sound barrier and made the girls' earthquake seem tame. "How is everyone doing?"
"I still don't think I'll ever get used to your dad using the megaphone before 9 AM," I told Alexis. She laughed.
"I have a few announcements to make this morning," Hitch said happily. "Today is supposed to reach ninety-five degrees so we will be forgoing third period so that you can all have an additional free swim." A loud cheer erupted. "If the weather continues, we'll do the same thing tomorrow," Hitch added. "I also wanted to tell you all about an exciting new craft activity for session two..."
I stared across the room at Cole's table. He was sitting with his bunkmates, but one of his peeps, Caleb, was on his lap. He had the little boy in a playful headlock. He was so cute. How did I not realize this before?
"... and finally the talent show auditions will take place in two weeks." Another loud cheer from the mess hall went up. "If you're interested in signing up, there'll be a sheet outside the mess hall doors."
"I wonder what you'll be doing for the show," Alexis said.
"Me? No, I don't perform," I told her. "I'm more of a behind-the-scenes kind of girl than an actor."
"Your bunk is always in the show," Alexis told me. "My sister always cooks up something for the group to do together. I'm sure you won't be able to get out of it."
Yikes. I was about to say I wasn't doing it when our table started shaking again.
"AFTERSHOCK!" the peeps yelled.
This time I was prepared and I didn't fig
ht it. Alexis started shaking the table as well while I sat back and watched. This was so silly. But I guess it was sort of fun if you were six. Oh, what the heck. I started shaking the table too and screamed "Aftershock!" Then the OJ pitcher fell over and the ice-cold juice spilled all over my pajamas. I jumped up and screamed. I must have been loud because everyone looked at me. From across the room, I could hear Gabby and Ashley cackle.
"Oh, Sam!" Alexis said. She was laughing, but not in a mean way. "At least you didn't get dressed yet." She blotted my pants for me. Serena guiltily handed me some napkins.
My pink heart pants were practically see-through and I was wearing purple underwear. Thank God my butt wasn't wet, but still. I had to get back to the bunk and change. "Can I..." I started to say.
"Go," Alexis finished. "We'll meet you at the arts and crafts cabin after your chores."
I was walking out of the room when I heard Hitch start to do the mail call and call my name. I almost fell over. One of the campers ran over to me carrying a small brown padded envelope. One big enough to carry a videotape. I felt the package. It was a videotape and it was from Mal!
Now I didn't care that I was wet. If I wasn't, then I'd have to go back to the bunk with everyone else and I wouldn't be able to watch my tape. Now at least I would have a chance to start it. Mal's and my tapes were always at least thirty minutes long. I was halfway out the door when I heard my name again.
"Samantha," Hitch said in his typical gruff manner. He strode over to me and smiled. "How are you?"
"Fine," I told him. Ever since Mom told me her and Hitch were "phone dating" I'd felt a little awkward around him.
Hitch nodded. "Good. Good. I promised your mom I'd keep a close eye on you," he told me and patted me on my shoulder. "I'm sure your mom is upset that she has to miss visitors' day."
I knew Mom probably wouldn't be able to make parents' day. Her work trip was extended at the last minute. At first I thought it would be weird having no one come see me at camp -- it's not like Mal was going to take a day off from Malomark time to get her parents to drive her two-plus hours -- but Em's parents weren't coming either (she sort of talked them out of it). Most of our bunk was parentless for the day -- like Ashley (since Hitch and Alexis were busy running visitors' day) and Gabby (whose parents weren't flying in from California for what they called a "four-hour H and G" -- hi and goodbye. Now I knew where Gabby got her weird abbreviations from). Court's 'rents were stopping for a few hours before they caught a flight to Miami.