CHAPTER SIX
I breathe deep as I stand under the hot water. After only half of a day here, I made an enemy that’s willing to kill me, met three guys with a strange obsession with me, and learned this camp really is for gifted teens. The most drama I’ve ever encountered before this is which classroom to duck into when trying to skip class.
During my shower, I decide to go back to my original plan to check out the Corral and their computers. I may need my escape plan sooner versus later if Mindy insists on making life hard for me. After I finish drying off, I pull my hair into my usual bun and check my face in the mirror. Light red stains my cheeks, and broken blood vessels dot around my left eye. The beginning of a black eye mars my face. Maybe one of the cafeteria attendants will give me a bag of ice.
Fallon sits on her bed, still in her swimsuit, and glances up with concern as I exit the bathroom. I feel bad that she’s losing out on her free time to babysit me.
Forcing a smile, I say, “Thanks for watching out for me, but I’m fine. I’m going to head over to the Corral for some quiet time.”
She frowns and stands. “Do you want me to go with you?”
I wave her offer away. “No, I’ll be fine. Go back to the pool and have fun with Micah.”
She nibbles her lip, obviously conflicted, and I walk out the door before guilt makes her follow me.
I make my way down the quiet lane. Since camp activities begin tomorrow, most people are probably down at the lake or still up at the pool. This allows me to have the alone time not granted yet at camp.
When I reach the Corral, I open the door, look around, and notice the place is empty. Good, I won’t have to deal with anyone or pretend I don’t want to retaliate against Mindy.
Noises in the back remind me people work here, probably preparing dinner. I walk up to the door to the kitchen and knock. A middle-aged woman answers. When she sees my face, concern fills her eyes. “Oh my dear, what happened?” She directs me back out into the dining area to sit down.
“I’m fine. There was a little mishap at the pool,” I respond quietly, not wanting to go into details. “I know there’s a clinic, but I don’t need to see a doctor. I was hoping someone could give me a small bag of ice.”
“Of course. You really should see a doctor, though. You may have a concussion.” Her stern gaze puts a small smile on my face. Not everyone here acts like Mindy.
“I was looked over at the scene.” I omit telling her it was Fallon and Parker checking me over, and based on her short nod, she seems appeased.
Without saying anything else, she strides back into the kitchen area. About a minute later, she returns with a small bag of crushed ice, a few paper towels, and a bottle of water. “Wrap those paper towels around the ice before you put it on your eye. You shouldn’t put the ice directly on your skin because it can cause damage. You should also drink that entire bottle of water. If you need more, come see me.”
She leaves to return to her kitchen duties.
I stay there for a second as I wrap up the baggy and open the water. The water tastes good and refreshing; I hadn’t realized how thirsty I became. I twist the cap back on, put the wrapped baggy of ice on my face, and head over to the kiosk where I can sign in for computer use.
At the kiosk, I have to input my name and a reason for using the computer. I hadn’t considered that. What should I put? Telling people I need an escape plan won’t go over well. I guess it doesn’t hurt to put I’m reviewing the flora and fauna of the area. I plan to reference my run-in with the poison oak if questioned.
The kiosk accepts my request and gives me my sign-in number. At the desktop farthest from the entrance, I set my bag of ice and water bottle off to one side, sit, and input the number. This brings up a home page with the most beautiful picture of the lake at dawn. The lake sparkles with the yellows and oranges of the morning sun.
Before clicking on the Internet app, something touches my shoulder. Already paranoid from the events of the day, I spin around and nearly hit some guy in the face. He reminds me of a stereotypical surfer with wavy, blond hair that falls over his light-blue, almost clear, eyes.
He backups slowly with his hands in the air. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
My shoulders slump as all the air leaves my lungs. My nerves control my actions, and I need to take that control back. “It’s not a big deal. I was more surprised than anything. It’s been one of those days.”
I clamp my lips shut, refusing to explain anymore.
His hands lower as he nods. “I heard about what happened this morning with Mindy, and then with her later at the pool. Are you all right?”
I gape at him. Is there a viewing room somewhere where you can watch and hear the events of the day? Maybe it’s on a continuous loop so anyone can walk by and review the latest news. Or maybe it’s like CNN with a ticker bar scrolling at the bottom of the television screen giving live updates.
“I’ve been through worse.” My dark mood wants to avoid people and talking. This guy may be Mindy’s golem. “Did you need something?”
“I was going to tease you about sitting at my computer, but you don’t seem to be in a joking mood.” At least this guy’s perceptive. “Do you mind if I sit here?” He points to the seat next to me.
Maybe he’s not as perceptive as I thought. What do I say? I don’t want company, but it’s not like I can tell him to go away. At least the guys I’ve met so far today have been decent.
“Please sit wherever you are most comfortable.” I try to be as formal as possible. If I’m not overly friendly, he might stop talking to me.
“Thanks. I’m Noah.” He sits down and turns his chair to face me. No luck on him ignoring me.
“Cassie.” One-word answers might clue him in.
“I just want to warn you that Mindy is going to be forced to apologize to you. She claims she just bumped into you as you were bending over, but several people saw her actually push you. You can probably get her kicked out if you wanted to.”
Why is he telling me? These people confuse me.
“How do you know that?” I turn to face him and study him. Noah has a square jaw, his thick eyebrows darker than his hair.
“I know things, or at least, I have a way of finding them out.” When he shrugs, his broad shoulders stretch the thin material of his white t-shirt. “After I heard what happened, I decided to check on the situation. This place can be challenging enough without someone purposely making it harder.”
Noah avoids answering my question, so I take a different route. I’ll loop back around to question one in a minute. “Do you help out all the new kids this way? Why would you want to tell me all this? I’m guessing this isn’t your first year here, so you must know Mindy. You don’t know anything about me. You may be throwing your hat into the wrong ring.” Growing up, I had a tendency to avoid all things male, so having four guys intercede on my behalf makes me weary.
“I’ve never liked Mindy. She picks one person to be her target each year. Most people are afraid of her, or at least of her dad. He doesn’t have any pull, but new kids don’t know that. Kelly was going to put a stop to it this year, but until the pool, you seemed to be taking care of it yourself.” Pride and awe fill his voice.
I try one more tactic to get him to open up about his source of knowledge. “Did Kelly tell you what the plan was for Mindy? Not just for Mindy’s treatment of new kids but specifically for apologizing to me?”
Noah’s narrow lips kick up on one side, not fooled by my bid for more information. “Would you accept that I’ll tell you more tomorrow? We’re going to run out of time tonight. People will start coming in for dinner in about ten minutes.”
I read a book on tells and lying once, and he doesn’t display any of those signs.
“Agreed, but I want to know everything tomorrow. I’m tired of being in the dark around here.” I instantly regret adding that last part; I didn’t mean to acknowledge it out loud.
“You’ll find out so much tomorrow your head will hurt.” He winks at me as if he knows a secret but isn’t ready to share it yet. Such a tease.
“My head hurts now from all of this, but we’ll see tomorrow. I may ask you so many questions, you’ll think I’m a two-year-old.” I don’t understand why, but I want him to like me. Being nice is the best way to accomplish that.
“Now, that that’s settled. What were you going to look up before I rudely interrupted you?” Noah’s voice lightens now. Is it because of the change of subject, or because I agreed to not harass him anymore tonight?
“Just checking out the flora and fauna of the area. I don’t want to step into any poison oak on accident.” That wasn’t so hard. I didn’t lie to him either.
Noah leans forward, his elbows on his knees. “If you want to know about that stuff, you should check with Jay. He knows this area like the back of his hand.”
My hand flies to my mouth to hold back the laughter. “Jay’s the one who tried to get me covered in poison oak earlier today.” I shake my head at the memory. My introduction packet is probably still sitting in the weeds.
“Jay wouldn’t do that.” Noah shakes his head, his blond hair flopping over his forehead. “I’d say I’d kick his ass, but that will never happen. Do you want me to talk to him?”
“He didn’t really do anything. I was trying to read the rules packet we received, and he told me I didn’t need it. He swiped it from my hand and threw it into the poison oak. He warned me not to grab for it because of where it was.” Now, I’m defending Jay. Not that I shouldn’t defend him, but it confuses me since we only met today.
“That sounds more like him.” He leans back in his chair, one arm propped on the back. “You don’t need the rules. I don’t know anyone that’s actually read them.”
Noah’s relaxed posture means he intends to stay, so my plan to review the area won’t work. Not having the packet limits my understanding of the rules to know where the boundaries are. I might as well spend the rest of our time talking to him. If I ask the right questions, I’m bound to learn something.
As I open my mouth to ask a question, voices from across the room reach us. People arrive and get in line for dinner.
Noah stands and offers me his hand. “We should go claim the table we want before they’re all taken.”
I planned on eating with Fallon and the girls, but Noah’s offer works well enough. Grabbing my melted bag of ice and water bottle from the desktop, I put my hand in his and let him pull me up. “Do people claim tables here?”
“Once we’re in teams, the teams tend to eat together. It helps with the bonding. Not everyone sits with their teams all the time, though.” He runs a hand through his hair to push it back from his face. “Some people need a break from their team because they spend too much time together. Others like to spend time with the opposite sex since the teams don’t mix boys and girls.”
That sounds boring. I don’t know if I want to spend every waking minute with the same group of people. “Why wouldn’t they want boys and girls to mix? I’d think that would give each team a more balanced feel since boys and girls think differently.”
I’ll miss talking to the boys I’ve met. I have to be on a different team than Parker since my team’s going to beat his team, but I wouldn’t mind one of the others on my side.
“Some of the activities have you together with your group overnight. There are campers that would be uncomfortable in that situation.” Noah’s arm bumps against mine as we walk toward the tables. “Would it bother you?”
The question throws me a bit. Would it bother me? Even though I’ve avoided most guys, I’ve not spent enough time around anyone to really know.
I shrug. “I don’t think so. I ran away once and hid for three days before I was found. I was only eleven. I spent my time with all sorts of interesting people. I wasn’t uncomfortable, but I was a little scared the first night.” I can’t believe I admitted that to him. That’s going to open up all kinds of questions.
His mouth drops open in surprised awe. “That’s so cool. Other than camp, I’ve never been away from my family.”
He probably has the family I’ve always wanted. I’m about to ask him about it when he stops next to the table where I ate lunch. “Will this work? It has a nice view, and it’s far enough from the kitchen that it isn’t too loud.”
“I ate lunch here earlier. It seemed fine then, so it should be fine now.” If we aren’t going to see each other much after tomorrow, I’m not sure why it matters. I sit down in one of the middle chairs and glance up at him. “I’ll hold our spot while you grab your food. Then we can switch.”
“Okay.” He nods as he heads to the back of the food line.
Alone at last.
I place the water bottle, baggy of ice, and paper towel on the table before dropping my head into my hands and closing my eyes. I’m not sure I’ll able to make it through months of this. Simon’s excitement for this place encourages me to try harder. He seemed sure I could make it, and this would help show me my true potential.
Before I go too far down that path, my seat bounces. A sense of déjà vu comes over me, and I know Parker sat down on my right.
When I turn to him, concerned green eyes stare back at me. “Your head doesn’t hurt, does it? Why were you holding it?”
“What? No, I’m good.” I straighten from my slump. “I was just thinking about how this has been the longest day of my life, and it isn’t over yet.”
His shoulders relax.
When I glance to the left to check Noah’s progress in line, I find Lucca sitting on my other side. He winces as he sees my face. “Does that hurt? It looks red around your left eye.”
“It’s not bad. I put ice on it earlier.” I point to the baggy with just water in it now and notice they both have their meals in front of them. Ham in some sort of glaze.
I must have made a face because Parker laughs at me. “The food here is really good. It’s not like regular cafeteria food.”
“If you say so. That just looks slimy.” I’ll still eat it, but I don’t have to like it.
“Would you like to try a bite?” Stabbing a piece of meat, he holds his fork out to me.
Before I can tell him no, Lucca chimes in. “Eww, don’t eat after him. He has cooties.” Lucca reaches past me to move Parker’s fork back over his plate.
I giggle at Lucca. “You have a good grasp of the English language. Have you lived here long?”
He smiles down at me, pleased with the compliment. “I spend some time here now and then, but I travel a lot with my parents. We’re always going somewhere. I like it here, though.”
Envy fills me at his casual tone, like traveling the globe is no big deal. I dream of traveling and visiting places I’ve only read about.
“You can go get your food,” Jay says as he and Noah sit down across from me.
I glance around for Fallon, but she sits at another table with Micah. She notices me and winks.
Lucca grabs my arm to get my attention. “Mindy isn’t allowed to dinner tonight. She and her father are eating at one of the restaurants in the town.”
He must have assumed I was searching for my nemeses. I pat his hand so he’ll let go. “Thanks, Lucca.”
Pushing back my chair, I stand and make my way to the back of the food line. Since I waited until the others got their food first, the line isn’t long. When I reach the counter, I spot the lady who helped me earlier.
Her eyes light with recognition. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better, thank you. The water and ice were just what I needed.” I take my tray from her. The food does smell delicious. It also looks better sitting in the food compartments because I can tell it was a whole, spiral sliced ham and not some chopped up leftovers.
I make my way back to the table with the boys. The spot I was sitting in is still empty, but a girl stands behind it. Her hands grip the chair like she wants to pull it out and sit there, but Parker’s arm drapes across its back. As I edge closer, I overhear their conversation.
“This seat is taken, Jenny,” Parker tells her.
“You can’t seriously be keeping it for the white trash, can you? I know you would rather be sitting next to me.” That last part she nearly purrs at Lucca.
I go to move around to the other side of the table when Jay sees me. He glances at Lucca, and Lucca takes the hint. He stands up and greets me in Italian. “My beauty, your seat and my heart have grown cold while you were away. Come warm them up for me.”
I respond to him in Italian. “You are such a romantic, Lucca. I'm sure neither could have gotten that cold in the last three minutes.”
Jenny spins around to glare at me as we talk.
I remind myself I’m not alone as I tell her, “You’re blocking my seat. Do you mind?” I try to be as sweet as I can be.
“Whatever. I don’t need to sit with a bunch of losers,” she bellows as she storms away.
Everyone turns to stare at us. Lucca takes my tray and places it on the table. He then pulls my seat out for me. Before I can sit down though, he takes my hand and kisses it. “Ignore her and those like her. They’re not worth your time.”
“She wasn’t calling me a loser. She was calling you a loser. So if you can ignore her, I can ignore her.” For the first time, I really believe I’m not alone.