CHAPTER SEVEN
I wake up refreshed after going to bed early.
The boys walked me back to my cabin after dinner and left with short goodbyes and see you tomorrows. Mindy officially moved out, and since I was the only one in the cabin, I took time to unpack my stuff and make my bed. Once I finished, exhaustion overcame me. At first, I didn’t think my mind would cooperate with my body’s request for sleep, but it didn’t take long before sleep overtook me.
Since the others still sleep, I slink to the bathroom to prepare for my day. My legs shake lightly from excitement. Today, I learn more about the camp and the secrets Noah refused to share with me. As I slide the curtain to the shower changing area back, Lily enters the bathroom.
“O! M! G!” she yells at me before covering her mouth and glancing back into the sleeping area. “How did you manage to get four of the hottest guys at camp to hang out with you? I’ve been trying to get Noah to talk to me for the last two years.”
“I didn’t do anything. I think they just feel sorry for me because of how Mindy has been acting. I didn’t go out of my way to track them down. I’ll put in a good word for you if Noah talks to me today.” I make the offer to appease her, but I don’t know Noah well enough to engage in his love life.
“You’re the best.” She bounces and claps her hands. “Ask him if he’ll sit with me at the bonfire tonight. That would be perfect. Do you think he’ll do it?”
“Lily, I just met him yesterday. I make no promises, so please don’t get your hopes up. He also told me that most teams stay together. Don’t we find out what team we’re on today?”
Her bounce lessens as she contemplates my statement. “Yes. He’s always so devoted to his team. Maybe you can talk to Jay for me. He’s hot.”
I want to shake my head at her. Is she going to go through each guy?
As non-committal as possible, I answer with, “I’ll see what I can do.”
“You’re the best!” She grabs her stuff and hops into the stall next to mine.
I step into the changing area and pull the white, plastic curtain closed. I hang my toiletry bag on the back, shower wall and my clean clothes on a hook in the small changing area. After undressing, I hang my pajamas on the opposite wall and step into the shower area, closing the curtain shut between the shower and the changing compartment.
I finish my shower before Lily and dress quickly in case others are up and want to take a shower. Standing in front of the mirror, I’m pulling my hair up when Fallon joins me. “We aren’t allowed to wear shorts today. They like to keep things formal for our ceremonies. Did you bring something to wear? If not, I can probably find you something.”
“I’m good. I hate dresses, skirts…well, most clothes. But Jeannie, my foster mom, bought me a couple sundresses and skirts, which I brought. Will those be okay to wear?” I hope she tells me no, so I can skip the ceremony. I just want to find out my team.
“Either of those will work. There will be people from the group that owns the camp at the ceremony. They’re still old school where they think if you dress the part, you’ll act the part. As long as you don’t do anything stupid, everything will be fine.” She shrugs and heads into a shower stall.
I don’t care who attends or how nice we’re supposed to look. I plan to pull my hair into a sloppy bun because it’s too hot to leave it down.
Before long, everyone’s ready. We walk down to the Corral together to grab breakfast. Instinctively, I glance at my table, but no one sits there. My chest falls in disappointment. I’m not sure why I’m looking for the boys. They make me feel grounded, I guess.
Breakfast is quick as everyone is ready to get this over with. Fallon wants to find out her team to start strategizing immediately. Lily wants to be able to map out all the people. Lara wants to go back down to the lake. I want to finally find out what this place is about.
When we reach the auditorium, it bustles with activity. Despite eating fast, most of the campers arrived before us. The area we stand in reminds me of a church one of my foster families attended with a large stage upfront and pews lining a center aisle up to a large pulpit in the front middle. Like the Corral, the ceiling is all wood, but it has a lighter stain, making the place appear bigger.
Fallon grabs my attention and points to the pews on the left. “This is similar to a graduation ceremony. They’ll call the name of the team lead first. That person will walk up to the front. Afterward, they will call each team member up. The teams are normally four to five people. It depends on the strength of the members. They try to keep the teams balanced so no one team has an advantage. Once your team is assembled, you’ll sit as a team on the right side.”
Please let Lily, Lara, or Fallon be on my team. I don’t want to be in a group with all new people. Please don’t let Mindy or Jenny be on my team. If that happens, I’ll be in jail by the end of the day. I sound like I’m praying. It can’t hurt.
“They give the same speech every year. Most people will tune it out, but you should listen since it’s your first time,” Lily says to Lara and me.
We sit seven rows back. Adults fill the front three rows. Those must be teachers or counselors. Students mill around the next three. I don’t see the boys in those. I turn around and scan the rest of the room. Jay sits in the row behind me, but he’s at the far end of the aisle by the windows. Two rows behind that sit Lucca and Parker. Noah’s missing; I hope he won’t to be late.
As I do one more scan of the room, Kelly, Mindy, and Mr. Pratt enter. Kelly glances around the room, and her eyes fall to me. I quickly turn back to the front. There’s no way she would address the situation with Mindy now, right?
Wrong.
Kelly, along with an irritated Mr. Pratt and Mindy, stop at the end of my aisle. “Cassie, would you come here for a moment?”
If I say no, can I get out of this? I don’t want to do this now or ever. Anything that comes from Mindy’s mouth will be a lie. If I’m forced to accept her apology, I’ll be lying, too. Regardless of my thoughts, I stand and squeeze past Lily and the two girls at the end who I haven’t met yet.
After I join them, Kelly turns to Mindy. The entire auditorium becomes eerily quiet as the crowd focuses on us. If looks could kill, I would be dead by now.
Mindy’s hate-filled eyes bore holes into me as she speaks. “Listen. I didn’t realize you were going to bend over as I walked by. I got a little too close, which made me bump you.”
Am I supposed to say something? Was that an apology? I peek at Kelly because I’m not about to acknowledge Mindy’s half-assed excuses. Kelly, in turn, raises her eyebrows to Mindy.
Mindy starts again, “I’m sorry if you were hurt.”
I decline to speak. She wasn’t sorry she pushed me. If I had to guess, she probably wanted to humiliate me. Kelly’s eyes plead with me to accept the apology. I’m not sure what sort of deal was made between them, but my acceptance must have been included.
I turn to walk away, but before I do, I say, “Okay,” then go sit down.
No more acknowledgment of the subject will come from me so okay should do. Fallon winks at me from the other side of Lara. I turn, and Jay gives me a smile. When I glimpse Lucca and Parker, Parker gives me a thumbs up while Lucca blows me kisses. How do I respond to that? I ignore the others staring at me. As I’m about to turn around, Noah rushes in. He sits in the last pew and gives me a small wave. I return the wave. Lucca and Parker turn to see who grabbed my attention, and Noah shrugs at them.
Before my mind explodes from the overload of stares and whispers directed at me, a well-dressed, middle-aged man steps up to the pulpit. “Good morning. My name is Charles Smyth. I represent the organization that helps fund the camp. With me today is Janice Carlton. She will help with the group organization and oversee the female groups that will be formed. This camp has a long-standing tradition of developing strong minds, bodies, friendships, and work ethics out of our students. I have read the dossiers of each student, and I believe this year will prove to be our most productive year ever. I’m proud of the people that help run this camp, but more importantly, I’m proud of the students that make this place great. I would now like to turn the mic over to Ms. Carlton who will describe our next steps. Ms. Carlton.” He swings his hand toward her.
Everyone around me claps, so I join in.
Ms. Carlton appears to be about Kelly’s age, possibly older. She has shoulder length, golden-brown hair that curls slightly at the ends. Her eyes crinkle slightly when she smiles, but from here, I can’t see the color. “Thank you, Mr. Smyth. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is indeed a pleasure to stand in front of you, today. For generations, this camp has helped mold the futures of the world’s best and brightest. Your year will shine just as brightly. Before we go to the group assignments, I want everyone to be aware of the rules.
“Once your team is assigned, you’re to sit as a group in one of the empty pews to my left, your right. There are no changes to team assignments. Please do not ask. If someone does ask, there will be an automatic ten point penalty to that team. Points will be tallied daily, and the totals will be posted in the Corral each morning. Each team will have a minimum number of tasks to complete each week out of the tasks assigned. It’s up to your team to decide which tasks they would like to complete. Some tasks are mandatory and will be handed out later. You can also request bonus tasks, but remember, bonus tasks must be completed. You cannot opt out of the task once it has been received. There will be a fifty point penalty for any bonus task not completed. There is a fifty point penalty for not completing the minimum tasks each week. Bonus tasks do not count toward your minimum tasks.”
I know I heard everything she was saying, but I don’t understand most of it. What sorts of tasks do we have to do? How will they know we’ve done them? Lara’s brow creases in confusion as we glance at each other, and I shrug.
Janice concludes her speech with a reminder about no switching teams. She then invites Mr. Smyth back up. Again, there’s applause for them as they change places. “Now that we’ve established the main rules, you will have additional directives in the planner provided to your team lead. I would like to introduce to you Mr. Harold Baker, head boys’ counselor.”
Everyone claps again as Mr. Baker heads to the pulpit.
Mr. Baker sets down a stack of papers. Mr. Smyth stands in front of our pews while Ms. Carlton stands on the other side. “As I call your name, please walk up to the appropriate leader. Boys’ teams will be with Mr. Smyth and girls’ teams with Ms. Carlton. They will hand the lead the planner that has been assigned to that team.”
I listen as he calls out the names. Lily ends up on a team with one of the girls sitting next to her. Lara joins a team with the other girl next to us but also has Jenny on her team. None of the boys have been called yet, and neither has Fallon. As the numbers reduce, I tap my foot, excited I might end up with Fallon. I ignore the possibility of ending up with Mindy since her name hasn’t been called, either.
Mr. Baker calls Parker’s name. I watch him as he walks by. He skips to the front, happy to be the team lead. Next, Mr. Baker calls up Noah. If Parker wasn’t happy before, he should be now. They seem to get along well. Noah passes me and gives me a quick wink. After Noah, a Jameson Wright is called. I search the crowd to see who that is, but Jay stands up. Jay must be a nickname for Jameson. Last, he calls for Lucca. Sighs echo from some of the girls left sitting around me. How silly to get caught up over some guy that will probably never talk to them. I assume they’re done when Mr. Baker talks again. “Cassandra Martin.”
My eyes shift to the people around me then to Fallon. Was my name called? I stay in my seat. There has to be a mistake. Fallon purses her lips at me like she doesn’t understand either. Mr. Baker lifts the paper to review it closer. I remain still until Mr. Baker says my name again. I slowly stand. The boys grin at me as I slide from the middle of the pew.
Did they know about this? Is this why they’ve been so nice to me? Mr. Smyth smirks as well. I’m really confused at this point.
I stand in front of the boys who tower over me and look back at the room. Stunned faces spin to whisper to their neighbors. One of the boys must have said something because someone pokes me in the back. “We have to sit down now, Boo,” Parker whispers into my ear.
I climb down the steps and follow Lucca into the next empty pew. My mind races with possibilities.
Lucca leans over to me and whispers, “It’ll be alright. We’ve got you. You aren’t alone here.”