Camp Forget-Me-Not (6 page)

When I heard his feet on the path, I couldn’t help a little buzz of excitement. Nick always made me feel happy inside. Plus I had something fun to show him.

“You got my note?” I called, waving to him as he leaped over a fallen tree.

His jump startled two birds and sent dead leaves flying.

“Sure did.” He pulled a crumpled sheet of my notepaper out of his shorts’ pocket. “You put it in a perfect spot.”

He looked happier today than he had earlier in the week. His folks had blown off Parents’ Weekend to go watch his athlete-brother play a baseball game. I’d made him a present to cheer him up because I knew it had bothered him.

“Well, yeah. Only because it’s the same place you use on my cabin.” I matched my step to his as we walked toward the falls, the sound of water rushing getting louder as we neared the river. He was faster than me, but my strides were longer.

I’d found a note from him the first morning after we met, but only because he’d told me where to look during breakfast. When I went back to check the spot between the spindles at the base of the railing, I found the folded paper. It had said:

It’s going to be a good summer.—Nick

The handwriting had tilted sharply to the right and those few words had made me forget all about the way some girl had thrown popcorn pieces at me during Movie Under the Stars the night before, chanting “feeding time at the zoo.” Nick and I had been writing notes every day since.

When we got to the falls, he jumped up to a log that spanned the water in a quick, athletic move. His balance was amazing.

“Here.” He held out his hand to help me up.

I’d started looking forward to stuff like that. Him touching me. His fingers closed around mine while I found my footing on moss-covered rocks.

“Ready for your surprise?” I sat beside him, smiling while the rush of water kicked up a small spray on my bare ankles.

“You’ve got something for me?” He sounded surprised. As if that alone—knowing I wanted to give him something—was special for him. “That’s what the note said but—”

He stopped when I took out two friendship bracelets from my front pocket.

“For us!” I announced triumphantly.

I always complained about lanyard making, but I was good at it and these were nicer than most.

“Really?” Nick’s eyes darted from the bracelets to me and back again.

“Yes.” I slipped mine onto my wrist easily since I already had it pre-tied. Then I went to work knotting the strings on his.

He held his hand up while I concentrated, his skin super warm beneath my fingers even though it was shady and cool by the falls.

“It’s awesome, Kayla.”

He admired his new friendship bracelet, a black-and-gold cuff that was the same colors as the hoodie he wore to the bonfires at night.

“Mine is the same pattern.” I held up a cuff that was a trickier pattern than most kids tackled—just like Nick’s except mine was yellow and white. “I didn’t want to be too matchy, but they go together, right?”

“They’re awesome. But just curious…why didn’t you want them to match?”

“I didn’t want the kids in your cabin to…you know…” I shrugged and picked at some mushy bark on the damp log where we sat above the falls. “They could give you a hard time about being my friend.”

“They’re cool. They wouldn’t say anything bad about you, Kayla.” Nick picked up a rock and skimmed it along a patch of slower-moving water to one side of the falls. “Everyone knows we’re friends.”

Best friends
, I amended silently.

Ever since Nick had helped me up the path on Tennent Mountain, we’d hung out a lot. We had tons in common.

“Do you think it’ll be the same next year?” I was already worried. In my experience, things changed. One year, you were cute and everyone said you were a sweet little girl. The next year, you needed plus-sized shorts and you had cooties.

I knew that was baby stuff, but I also knew that a whole year would make a difference for me and Nick.

“Don’t be crazy.” He linked his arm through mine, and I felt all sing-songy inside. “Who else would I talk to about my brother, the jerk?”

His older brother was the star of his family and some big-deal baseball player. Nick had started coming to Camp Juniper Point because his parents followed his brother’s Minor League team around to every dopey game he played. Nick said Single-A wasn’t like the Major Leagues, but it was close and his brother would get there one day. All I knew was that his parents didn’t pay much attention to Nick.

“You’ll tell me.” I knew I’d be there for Nick. Would he be there for me? “Obviously, I’ll still be your friend. But…”

I didn’t know how to say it. I hated seeming like the girl who was scared all the time. And with Nick, I usually wasn’t. But I was scared of this. My chest ached with the worry.

“Kayla, I’ll be here for you.” He threaded his fingers through mine. Almost like a boy-girl thing. Except we were just kids and I knew we were only friends. “I’m always going to be here for you.”

I let out a breath I’d been holding, and my heart started again. I threw my arms around him, and it didn’t matter about the boy-girl thing or that Nick was two inches shorter than me. It should have been weird, but it wasn’t at all.

Nick was my BFF.

“Thank you,” I whispered against his dark curls, knowing that bright yellow-and-white bracelet wasn’t coming off my wrist until the threads wore down to nothing and it fell off.

TODAY

Three days after my chicken fight with Brooke, I jogged up my porch steps and eased open the screen door, carrying a peace offering to Nick’s girlfriend.

Since I was stuck at camp for the rest of the summer, forced to witness the Nick-Brooke lovefest, I was trying to get over it.

Him.

“Cameron came through!” I announced, trying to sound excited as I skidded to a stop in the middle of Divas’ Den. “He got them!”

I held up a small bag of what looked like spiders but were really false eyelashes from my ex’s secret, contraband camp store.

Brooke clutched a pillow to her chest, a dreamy smile frozen on her mouth.

I waved the package as I approached her. “Hello? Earth to Brooke. Your false eyelashes.”

Rachel closed a sports magazine and sat up. “Forget it, Kayla. She’s been like that since she and Nick came back from their hike.”

I stumbled mid-stride. “They hiked during free time?”

Brittany’s blue eyes twinkled over the top of her bunk. “I think ‘hike’ is now code for ‘hook up.’”

“When was it ever not code for that?” Hannah muttered from her bottom bunk nearest the bathroom.

I dropped down beside Rachel and tried not to care.

And failed.

“Oh.” I cleared my throat. “Do you know where they went?” Please don’t say Crystal Falls, I begged silently, my chest tight.

Rachel picked up her magazine again. “Who cares? They probably only made it a hundred yards up the trail.”

My eyes closed, blotting out that image. Hopefully they hadn’t gone up to Crystal Falls. It used to be our special place—mine and Nick’s. We’d almost kissed there before he told me about his Olympic tryout invitation, and his decision to turn it down so he could stay at camp with me.

Someone struggled to open the door, but it slipped from her hand and thumped against the frame.

“Coming, Nia!” Brooke snapped out of her trance and sprang to her feet. She hurried to her overworked personal assistant who balanced a large laundry basket with her uninjured arm, piled high with clothes, an oversized bag of candy, and a handful of lip gloss wands in varying shades of red. I spotted a wine shade and knew it’d be perfect for Nia if she ever let me make her up again.

Nia hadn’t gotten a day off to have fun since she’d arrived with Brooke four weeks into camp. Her suitcase remained unpacked, her one drawer under her bunk taken over by Brooke.

“What is
this
?” Brooke’s nose wrinkled as she sniffed at the sweets.

Nia glanced over her shoulder, then stuffed Brooke’s clean clothes in her drawers, her hands a blur as she balled up socks. “Uh…the sour apple gummies you ordered.”

“Gummies? I asked for taffy.” Brooke whirled toward me. “Do those sound remotely close to you?”

I sent Nia a sympathetic look and shrugged. Brooke shook her head at both of us and muttered, “Useless.”

“Guess those fans aren’t what they used to be, like oh, say, when you were famous fifteen minutes ago.” Hannah flipped on her stomach, her brown eyes wide and innocent, her hair a red waterfall.

I had a long, difficult relationship with Hannah, but I could have kissed her then for speaking my mind so perfectly. God, I envied that ability.

“Is that so?” Brooke tossed the candy and lip gloss on her bed and stomped Hannah’s way. “Maybe I should get a nerd herd like you.”

Hannah leapt from her bed and glared at Brooke. Rachel, Brittany, and I met each other’s eyes, our expressions basically one version or another of “oh it’s on now.” Nia tossed a silver, leopard-print bikini in Brooke’s underwear drawer and fled.

For a minute, no one breathed as we waited for the volcano formerly known as Hannah to erupt, but a minute passed and then another before she sat back down again. She pulled an oversized jar of taffy from beneath her bed, swirled her hand around for a sour apple one, then casually unwrapped it.

Since Victoria was reading on the porch, there was little chance of getting caught with the outlawed treats…or a fight being stopped.

“Compliments of my nerd herd.” Hannah raised the treat like she was toasting a bride, popped it in her mouth, and chewed. The scent was so strong we could smell it—sweet, tart, and apple-crisp. “Anyone want one? Anyone but Brooke?”

Brittany and Rachel looked at a scowling Brooke, then shook their heads.

“Kayla?” Hannah held the jar out to me. “Plenty to share.”

My mouth watered, and for an instant, I imagined eating one. But taking the treat would mean siding with Hannah and I couldn’t do that. Not if I wanted to keep the rest of my friends. “No, thanks.”

“Suit yourselves.” Disappointment clouded Hannah’s face before she lay back down and tossed a green wrapper over her shoulder.

I blew out a breath. Crisis averted.

Brooke stormed to her bunk. “Whatever.” She uncapped the lip glosses one by one, then threw them aside. “And these all suck.”

“Cameron got your false eyelashes.” I held out the package, and Brooke’s face transformed from pouty princess to YouTube star.

“Thank you, Kayla.” She pulled out a pair and examined them closely before giving me a slow smile. “It’s nice to know I have some true friends.”

I nearly choked on that one, and Rachel had to pound my back. A true friend? Ha! I hadn’t even “liked” her video. And I definitely hated that she’d possibly made out with Nick.

I held up a hand, eyes watering, and hustled out on the porch. My lungs pulled in the pine-scented air. It always cleared my mind and washed away my hurts. Brooke was harmless. I shouldn’t be jealous about her going after Nick. I’d rejected him. Plus, no one knew that I’d liked him. Even Nick hadn’t known that since I’d stopped that near kiss we’d shared three years ago.

I rolled my shoulders and stretched my arms overhead like I did before a swim meet. Tomorrow I’d get up early and do some yoga. The relaxing moves would help my tangled emotions. I gave Victoria a wave she didn’t notice, then finger-combed my messy hair back into a high ponytail with the help of a friendshipbracelet-turned-scrunchy. My hands froze when I spotted a scrap of paper thumb-tacked to the bottom railing between the main post and the first rail.

I stepped closer.

Impossible.

My pulse quickened. It was like the notes Nick and I used to exchange. Had he left this note for Brooke?

My heart squeezed at the thought. Jealousy had me snatching the note free and, after an over-the-shoulder glance at an oblivious Victoria, scrambling down the steps. I sat against the birch tree beside our cabin, its peeling bark scratching through my tank top.

My fingers trembled as I unfolded the note. If it was for Brooke, then I’d tack it back in place and tell her where to find it, as much as that would hurt. But what if it wasn’t for Brooke…? My eyes flew across the writing on the paper square.