by Rock, J. K.
Mine was a toucan. I pulled on the emerald-green tights and slipped the matching leotard over them. A cropped jacket made of yellow, green, and white faux feathers, and a green mask complete with a bright orange beak, completed the ensemble.
After donning the last two pieces, I gasped at my exotic reflection. The green darkened my eyes, giving them a mysterious look. The feathers floated around me, lending me grace before I started moving. I felt transformed, an endangered animal about to execute a dangerous plan—one I was less and less sure of as the hour drew nearer.
A towel-clad Kayla bumped into me as I stuffed my feet into matching green jazz shoes and headed for the door.
“Sorry,” we both blurted, then looked away.
“That looks great.” Kayla swung her shower tote in her hand. “I’m sure Seth will love it.”
I didn’t bother responding to that one since she would believe what she wanted anyhow. At least she hadn’t ignored me. I was fortunate that the choreography for our number meant they couldn’t exclude me from the routine. After our planning session, we’d held more formal practices in which my part, like the others, became an integral part of the dance.
Before I could think of anything to say, Kayla had already turned on the shower spray.
I slipped off the mask, put it in my bag, and lugged my suitcase down the shower house steps. Where to go? Then inspiration struck. Within minutes, I reached Emily’s cabin. My former cabin. The other Munchies would already be at the arts building.
“Polly want a cracker?” Emily croaked when she opened her door. She wore a glittering pink bustier and a green mermaid’s tail that nearly reached her red platform heels. Hopefully this was her talent show outfit. But with Emily, who knew?
“I need a place to store this until tomorrow,” I gestured to my luggage. “Can I keep it here?”
Emily stopped giggling and looked at me, her smile fading. “Lauren. Are you okay?”
A lump formed in my throat. I nodded, unable to speak.
Emily put a thin arm around my shoulder, led me to her bunk and sat me down. “No, you’re not. I can see it. Honey. I know a lot has happened to you—at least, according to Trinity’s diary—but these are supposed to be the best years of your life.”
A bleak laugh escaped me. Emily squeezed me tighter.
“Hey. Do you think I was always this confident? That everyone liked me the way they do now?” I swallowed back a gasp as she continued. “For years I tried to be everyone’s friend, fit in, be what they wanted. Look—” She grabbed a spangled purse and pulled out a picture of a stylish young woman wearing an argyle sweater and dress slacks, standing with a preppy family. “That’s me.”
I looked from the photo back to Emily’s outlandish outfit, trying to comprehend that this was the same person.
“The only difference?” she continued, tapping the picture, “I was miserable there.” I examined the snapshot, noting the huge ring on her finger and a man as handsome as Rob standing beside her. Was this an engagement party? My eyes flew to her bare left hand.
Emily followed my gaze and wiggled her acrylic tips. “Yep. Single—well, kind of.” She plucked at the dog tags that hung from her throat. “Bam-Bam said I could keep these, so I guess that means we’re together.”
“Why not Rob?” I blurted. He had always seemed like the ideal man. And he’d made it clear he liked Emily.
Emily laughed. “Oh. I’ve dated a hundred Robs before. Almost married one to please my parents.” She lowered her voice and leaned in. “My family’s loaded, and they expect me to marry someone who’s either rich, gorgeous or preferably both.”
She tossed the photo aside. “But in the words of the late, great rocker Kurt Cobain, ‘Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.’ I didn’t want to waste a minute of my life being with guys like that, so I came—”
“—here,” I breathed, taking a guess.
Emily’s broad smile appeared. “How did you know?” She walked over to her mirror, a tube of lipstick in hand.
“I did the same thing.”
Emily met my eyes in the mirror, her bottom lip painted a bright fuchsia. “Weird. No wonder you’re my home girl. We’re exactly the same, except,” a furrow appeared between her brows, “you didn’t get your Prince Charming.”
I hung my head. “Nope. Definitely not. But I turned in my application to the Houston Aerospace Scholar program.” My chest loosened, recalling the satisfaction I’d felt in making the deadline.
Emily pulled me up and caught me in a tight hug.
“That’s awesome. Who needs men anyway? I didn’t come to camp looking to find someone, and I ended up with Bam-Bam.”
“And I came to camp looking for someone and ended up with no one,” I said with more than a touch of irony.
She released me and shook her head. “You did find someone.” She jabbed her finger at my chest. “Yourself.”
I nodded. For a girl who dressed like a dancer in an old music video, gave up her supposedly perfect life, and dated an eccentric war veteran, she made a lot of sense.
Whether or not my plans to win back my friends and the guy I loved worked, I would always have myself and, hopefully, the Aerospace Program. Anything less, according to Kurt Cobain and Emily, was a waste of my life.
* * *
The recreation room had been transformed into what looked like an underwater wonderland. Blue and green streamers undulated from the rafters while blue and white cardboard waves covered the walls. Cutouts of fish swung from the ceiling, and a papier-mâché replica of coral, complete with clay sea creatures, dominated the center of the room.
Bam-Bam tested the sound and light system while Emily lined up chairs. I lent her a hand, unfolding the last chair while the youngest campers trooped in, their leader ushering them to the front. The intermediate campers followed and filled up the center seats, while senior campers took the back rows.
I handed out programs, hurt when none of the Munchies, except for Siobhan, took one. As always, the Divas saved their grand entrance for last. Hannah breezed by me in a skintight leopard costume and sat beside a smiling Matt. I grabbed Kayla’s arm, careful not to damage her silk brown-and-white-spotted moth wings.
“Will you promise me something?” I asked.
She wrenched free and crossed her arms. “Like the way you promised to stay away from boys?”
“I haven’t broken that promise. But listen, this is about something else.”
Kayla shrugged, then looked away.
“Whatever happens during our act, will you just go with it?”
Her eyes flew to mine and narrowed. “What’s going to happen?”
Brittany, clad in a fitted black fruit bat costume, yanked Kayla away before I could answer.
“Promise?” I called to her retreating back, hurrying to take my seat as the house lights dimmed.
Her shoulders lifted and dropped as she left without a backward glance.
Sighing, I settled into my chair in the back. Alone. After three hip-hop dance numbers, a cheer routine, a jaw-dropping contortionist act, and bicycle tricks that made everyone gasp, Matt stood.
Silence descended as he mounted the steps. Hannah swayed behind him, flicking out her costume tail before sitting on the piano bench beside him. His deep-green eyes caught mine as he turned to the audience and spoke into the microphone. “This is for someone special.”
His baritone filled the room, powerful and hypnotizing. I gasped, never imagining he had so much talent. Gazing more into the audience than at the pages Hannah turned, he sang,
When the cold
Freezes you body and soul
And it seems like
There’s nowhere to go
I could offer you
The warmth you need
And wrap you in my love
When the sun falls
And the stars emerge
And it feels like all your
Dreams are submerged
I woul
d listen
Till your blues are purged
And wrap you in my love
I know you’re guessing
If the one is me
If I’m the guy
Who fits all your dreams
Take a chance
And trust how
Good we’ll be
I’ll wrap you in my love
I’d move mountains
I’d scour the ocean floor
I’d go to hell and back
To prove I love you more
No one has ever made me
Feel more sure
That you are my love
The stars are shifting
In the twilight sky
But nothing could ever
Change you and I
The future’s certain
Since you’ve opened my eyes
So won’t you be my love?
Come back and be my love.
Our eyes locked as his final note lingered in the silent room. I felt my heartbeat everywhere, even in my toes. Captivated, I was on my feet. I even took a step forward, then stopped when Hannah threw her arms around him. The crowd rose and cheered. The rafters shook with stamping feet and shouts for an encore.
“I’ll give you an encore,” Hannah yelled and kissed an uncomfortable-looking Matt. The crowd went wild. Cameron grabbed Kayla’s hand while Eli threw his arms around Brittany. On the Munchies side of the room, Vijay put his head on Alex’s shoulder while Seth tugged at Breyanna’s headband. I turned away before I saw more. Halfway to the exit, Emily stepped in front of me.
“You’re on next. Remember the plan.”
I brushed away my tears and pulled down my mask.
Matt and Hannah and Seth and Breyanna had had their moments. Now it was my turn.
“Thank you Matt. That was–ah–surprising,” Bam-Bam, our MC, announced as the Warriors cabin erupted into another bout of raucous cheering. Matt grinned and waved to a younger girl who screamed, “Marry me, Matt!” He jogged down the aisle to rejoin his friends, incredibly handsome in a light blue polo shirt that darkened his eyes and clung to his muscular build.
Bam-Bam tapped the microphone, but the excited crowd kept cheering until Emily shouted, “Free ice cream!”
After nearly eight weeks without refined sugar, that got everyone’s attention. Even Alex and Vijay came up for air.
Emily toyed with what looked like a seaweed boa and smiled. “Kidding.” The room groaned. “But I’ve got something even better for you. We’ve saved the best for last. Let’s give it up for ‘Earth Song.’”
The Divas scooted out of their seats, but froze when the Munchies took the stage. They were dressed in brown leggings and pulled-up hoodies, branches attached to their heads and wrists.
The group lined up, their limbs pointing in different directions.
Piper stepped to the front. Even from the back of the room, the shaking of her knees was visible. “There are over three hundred different species of tropical rainforest trees, a few of which are depicted behind me.” Her words tumbled over each other like a rushing waterfall. “While the rainforest provides over 40% of the earth’s oxygen, it now covers only 7% of our planet due to human encroachment.”
Hannah leaned across to a monkey-suited Rachel and hissed, “Earth Song’s the title of our dance routine.”
Rachel shrugged, her dark-rimmed eyes creasing in confusion.
One of the Warriors yawned loudly when Piper stopped for a quivering breath. “When’s the talent part start?” His stage-whisper made Eli and Devon burst out laughing.
“Shut it,” Matt commanded, stopping Hannah mid-giggle. “This is interesting.”
The group quieted, and Piper’s knees stopped knocking. I shot a grateful look at Matt, amazed at how far he’d come from the boy who’d high-fived Crash for breaking the hovercraft.
I glanced over at Seth, who’d leaped to his feet at the insult. He and Matt exchanged a strange look before Seth sat. For a moment, it’d looked like respect.
Piper cleared her throat. “Scientists estimate that more than half the world’s plants and animals live in tropical rainforests.” She nodded at Bam-Bam, who inserted a disc as she rejoined the tree line. As the opening music to “Earth Song” began, the group swayed, their branches swooping and bending in unison.
Hannah stomped over to Emily. “That’s our song.”
Emily arched a brow. “Then you’d better shake a leg, or should I say your tail, and get up there.”
“This is a joke. Turn that music off,” Hannah snarled, her leopard whiskers twitching.
“Sorry.” Emily shrugged. “If you want to be in the show, this is your only chance. We’re out of time.”
Hannah groaned and signaled to the rest of the group to follow her on stage. Kayla gestured for me to follow.
Since the opening music was so long, we took our positions as the lyrics began. The Munchies group looked at us in shock. Jackie started to head for Hannah, but Siobhan put out an arm and stopped her.
“They’re dressed as rainforest animals,” she whispered, dipping to the beat with the rest of the puzzled-looking trees. “Just go with it. It’s not what we rehearsed, but it still works.”
As we’d practiced, the animal-clad Divas dove for the floor, rolled, leaped to their feet and reached to the sky, arms spread. Then, somewhere near the middle of the song, Brittany slipped. Before she crashed, Jackie caught her and improvised a dip. The move must have inspired Kayla, because she flitted to Siobhan, fluttering her wings as she encircled the tree. As the song headed into its final chorus, we stopped following the routine and improvised a dance with the trees. Hannah snorted but joined the rest of us.
When Bam-Bam played a chainsaw sound at the end of the song, the Munchies toppled over. In solidarity, I threw myself down beside Alex and played dead. Through slit eyes, I watched the Divas do the same.
Immediately, the audience broke into wild applause. We held our lifeless positions for a second more, then stood and bowed. The cheering went on so long that Gollum had to blow his whistle three times before the crowd took its seats.
“As camp director, it has always been my greatest pleasure to watch my campers grow and mature each summer,” he began, his chest swelling like a puffer fish.
“Go Gollum,” Alex said out of the side of her mouth.
“My Precious,” Kayla whispered back. The girls smiled at each other while Brittany and Piper smothered their giggles.
“Seeing these two very different groups of young women join together for such a noble cause, well—it—ah…” He coughed, pulled a white handkerchief out of his pocket, and blew his nose.
“Didn’t know there were geese in the rainforest,” Siobhan mumbled behind her hand.
“Maybe we should have asked him to join our act,” Rachel put in, her voice low.
Now all of us held hands over our mouths, shoulders shaking as we held back our laughter. I couldn’t believe that these archenemies were finally getting along. Was my far-fetched plan actually working?
Gollum tucked the cloth away and took a deep breath. “This act proved to me that camp is truly a special place. There is a magic here. It catches from person to person, soul to soul.”
I followed his gaze, taking in the tentative accord forming on stage, the way Emily leaned back against Bam-Bam, the fleeting smile Seth gave Matt. He was right. Camp was magic. And I’d been right to come back and try to share it with the person I now realized I loved with all my heart. If only I hadn’t been such an idiot for letting him slip through my fingers. Then again, without spending time on my own, I wouldn’t have had the perspective to figure us both out.
Mr. Woodrow held up a gold-colored metal trophy with the words “Talent Show Champions” inscribed on its base. He handed it to Rachel who, to my surprise, passed it to Jackie.
“We’ve got the Volleyball trophy. I think your cabin should keep this.”
Jackie let out a whoop and raised the trophy overhead. �
�To the Diva Munchies!”
“Diva Munchies!” the crowd roared, the noise moving outdoors as the campers exited the building.
Alex turned to the group. “Let’s celebrate.”
Kayla nodded, her felt antennas wiggling. “Definitely. How about the beach?”
“Let’s change and meet up in fifteen,” Siobhan smiled at everyone, even me. “Later.” She and the rest of the Munchies followed her out.
“They’re actually nice,” Brittany mused, wrapping her bat wings around herself, then releasing them.
“Why didn’t we get to know them before?” Rachel leaped off the stage. “We could have used them on our volleyball team.”
“Could you see Jackie in one of our jackets?” Hannah snickered.
Silence descended. Kayla put her hands on her hips. “Yes, actually I can.”
Hannah stepped back as if slapped.
Brittany tramped down the steps.
“You’re not seriously going to hang out with them?” Hannah called.
Kayla grabbed my hand and pulled me down the stairs. “We’re going to have fun. And for once, everyone’s invited. Even you, Hannah. TTFN.”
I looked over my shoulder at a stunned Hannah. She stood in the now-darkened room, her eyes darting around the empty space.
“I’ll meet up with you, okay?” I let go of Kayla’s hand.
“You better.” She gave me a quick hug.
Back inside, I ran to the stage. Hannah sat on its edge, head down, legs swinging.
“You know it won’t be the same without you.”
“Look. You win. I get it.” Hannah’s voice was heavy with tears. “Just leave. I don’t need my face rubbed in it.”
How could she say that when she’d already won Matt?
I stepped forward. “If you mope in here any longer, I might rub your face in the sand.”
Hannah laughed faintly. “I always knew it’d come down to mortal combat between us.”
“Can’t we settle this over marshmallows instead?”
She removed the elastic that held her plastic nose and whiskers in place and looked up. “Why are you being nice to me?”
I sighed in exasperation. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a little short of friends and I could use one.”