Maddie's Camp Crush (10 page)

“Your dad must be really smart!” Gabriel remarked.

“He is,” Maddie replied. Then she realized what she'd said. She still was never sure what tense to use. “Well, I mean, he was.”

Gabriel looked at her questioningly, and Maddie decided there was no use keeping it from him anymore.

“My dad died last fall,” she said. “He was sick for, like, a year, and then it looked like he was getting better, and then he got really sick again, really fast.” Her eyes started to tear up, remembering.

Gabriel was tearing up too. “Oh, I'm so sorry.”

“Thank you,” she said.

And then they just kept paddling. Gabriel didn't ask any more questions or say anything to try to make her feel better, and Maddie was grateful.

At the sound of the counselor's whistle they brought the canoe back to shore.

“Thanks for telling me, Maddie,” Gabriel said when they climbed out of the boat. “I really am sorry about your dad.”

Then he hugged her. At first, Maddie thought she
might faint. She stood there for a second with her arms at her sides.

Hug him back!
a little voice inside her urged, and she cautiously returned the hug. Gabriel smelled like sun and water and summer.

The hug lasted maybe five seconds, but when it was done Maddie felt like she was tingling from head to toe.

“Um, thanks,” she said shyly. “See you later.”

Gabriel smiled and waved to her as she headed back to the bunk—and it felt like she was floating the whole way. She knew she had to get ready for her next activity, but after she changed out of her swimsuit she took out one of the flower cards she and Liza had made together.

Dear Liza,
she wrote.
You will not believe what just happened . . .

MADDIE COULDN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT THE HUG
all day. At lunch, she waved to Gabriel as he walked back to his table with his tray, and he waved back. Part of her wanted to go up to him and say something, but she stopped herself. That wasn't their thing. They ate meals separately, and then hung out during downtime. She didn't want to rock the boat.

Rock the boat. Just thinking about the canoe brought back that tingly feeling she got from the hug. She realized she must have been smiling because Emily quizzed her when she sat down.

“What's up, Maddie? Are you as happy about the mac and cheese as I am?” she asked.

“Um, yeah,” Maddie lied. She wasn't ready to tell anyone else about that hug yet. “Gotta love that mac and cheese.”

But at dinner that night, neither Maddie nor Emily were smiling—but for different reasons.

“Mac and cheese again?” Emily asked. “I mean, I love it, but twice in one day?”

“Be careful what you wish for,” Libby quipped. “At least, that's what my grandma always says.”

Emily sighed and poked at her macaroni and cheese with her fork.

But Maddie wasn't paying attention. Her eyes were focused across the mess hall, where Amelia had planted herself next to Gabriel, at a boys' table! Not only that, but she and Gabriel were talking and laughing. Maddie felt jealous, and then wondered if she had a right to. He wasn't her boyfriend—but what about that hug?

During the evening program that night, the counselors led the campers in a game of flashlight tag. It wasn't super dark out yet, but the flashlights made it more fun. But Maddie couldn't really get into the game, because she kept watching Gabriel. Just like at dinner, Amelia planted herself right by his side, running after him and chasing him.

So Maddie was relieved when the game was over and
Gabriel walked right to her, just like he always did.

“All that running has me famished,” he said. “I might need two cookies.”

They got their milk and cookies and then sat on their rock, talking more about school. Gabriel still seemed nervous about it. Maddie was relieved that Amelia didn't try to hang out and talk with them.

When downtime was over, Maddie and Gabriel stood up. She looked at him expectantly, hoping for another hug, but he just gave his usual wave.

“Night, Maddie,” he said as he walked away.

“Night,” Maddie replied, feeling deflated.

Back in the bunk, Maddie flopped down on her bed.

“What gives, Maddie?” asked Ashley, who now had Liza's old bed. “You look down.”

Libby walked over and sat on the edge of Maddie's bed. “Is it because of Gabriel hanging out with Amelia? I saw them at dinner.”

“No! I mean yes. I mean . . . I don't know!” Maddie cried, putting her pillow over her face.

“Whoa. This thing with the British dude sounds complicated,” Ashley said, and Maddie removed the pillow and sat up.

“It is complicated,” she confessed as Emily, Alexis, and Abigail moved in closer, listening intently. “This morning he hugged me. And then he's hanging with Amelia? And at downtime he acted like everything was the same as before. Aaargh!”

She flopped down again.

“Wow, he hugged you?” Libby asked. “Maddie, he must
so
like you.”

Emily nodded. “I haven't even hugged Seth, and he's my boyfriend.”

“So what does that mean?” Maddie asked. “He's your boyfriend. How is that different from when you were just friends?”

Emily shrugged. “I don't know. It's just different.”

“But Gabriel isn't your boyfriend, so you just want to know if he likes you, right?” Ashley asked.

Maddie nodded.

“So let's look at the facts,” Ashley said in her matter-of-fact way. “Does he talk to you?”

“Yes,” Maddie answered.

“When you're with other people, or do you hang out and talk alone?” she asked.

“Mostly alone,” Maddie replied.

“And he hugged you?”

Maddie nodded again.

“That settles it,” Ashley said firmly. “He likes you.”

Alexis and Abigail were shaking their heads.

“That's not enough,” Alexis piped up. “He has to do something special for you.”

Emily nodded. “Right. Like give you a papier-mâché head.”

Maddie made a face. “Um, I don't think he knows how to make a papier-mâché head.”

“Then he could make it out of clay,” Emily suggested.

“I think what Emily and Alexis are trying to say is that if he really likes you, he'll ask you to do something special with him, like go out for ice cream or something,” Libby interpreted.

“But he always gets me a cookie at downtime,” Maddie pointed out. “And anyway, it's not like you can go out for ice cream at camp.”

“I think it's clear that he likes her,” Ashley said. “And so what if he's not her boyfriend? They can still like each other, right?”

“He has to make it clear,” Abigail chimed in. “He has to do something cool, like what Seth did for Emily.”

“I really do not need a papier-mâché model of my head,” Maddie protested.

“You know what she means,” Libby said. “I think he does like you. But maybe he likes Amelia too. So you need to be sure.”

“Exactly,” Maddie said. “But how?”

“The ball's in his court,” Libby replied. “It's his serve.”

Maddie stuck out her tongue. “Please don't make this about tennis.”

“Just wait and see,” Emily suggested. “I bet he'll do something. I have a feeling.”

Maddie sighed. “Whatever he does, I hope it happens before camp is over!”

AS MADDIE DRIFTED OFF TO SLEEP, SHE KEPT
thinking of the hug and wondering what it meant.

He probably just felt bad for me when he heard my dad died,
she convinced herself.
The hug didn't mean anything more than that.

And then, unexpectedly, her grandmother's voice popped into her head.

Your dad wanted you to have a wonderful summer doing fun things.

Maddie's dad knew how much she loved camp. He wanted her to have fun—and she was, except when she was trying to figure out the whole Gabriel thing.

I will keep having fun,
she promised herself.
And I won't ruin it by thinking about Gabriel all the time
!
Not thinking about Gabriel all the time wasn't easy, but as the week progressed, Maddie found herself getting into a rhythm, just like on the tennis court. She fell in love with Apple, the chestnut-brown horse she was assigned in her horseback-riding class. Even though she was more comfortable in the water than on a horse, she quickly got the hang of Apple's gentle trot.

In photography, she took shot after shot of the lake, trying to capture the water as it rippled in the breeze. In ceramics, she painted a beautiful vase in her mom's favorite colors, red and green. And in rope climbing, she tried her best to get through the rope course. A series of ropes crisscrossed a small field, leading to obstacles to climb over. The object of the activity was to learn how to get through the course, and Maddie knew it wasn't going to be easy. Libby, on the other hand, scrambled up the obstacle walls as if she was defying gravity.

“It's my tennis training,” Libby would say, playfully showing off her biceps when Maddie would ask her how she did it. “Just another reason to keep playing, Maddie.”

And every night, she and Gabriel still met at downtime. They talked about boating and school and American TV shows and music, and every night Maddie secretly
hoped she'd get another hug, but it never came.

After downtime, Maddie would head back to the bunk to find Tara on the porch, reading with a flashlight as she waited for the girls to get home.

“Did they ask you to double-check on us or something?” Maddie asked one night. “I mean, you always used to check on us
after
curfew.”

“No, it's just that my friend Lara—you know, one of the swim instructors?” Tara began, and Maddie nodded. “Well, she had to leave camp early this year and I miss her. We used to hang out at downtime, but not anymore. So here I am. It stinks because I can't even text her or call her.”

“Yeah, that does stink,” Maddie agreed. “I miss Liza a lot too. But I've been writing her letters.”

“She's lucky to have you as a friend, Maddie,” Tara said.

“Thanks,” Maddie said. “And we're lucky to have you for a counselor.”

Tara smiled. “Thanks.”

Before Maddie knew it, the last week of camp began. Week six was always exciting and sad at the same time. The Lewises always did something really special for the evening programs. Monday night it was a movie under
the stars, and curfew was extended by an hour so everyone could watch.

Maddie grabbed her blanket and headed to watch the movie with Libby and Emily.

“I hope it's not a scary movie,” Libby said with a worried expression on her face.

“They're never scary,” Maddie promised. “In fact, it's usually like a boring little kid movie with talking animals or something because they don't want the little kids to get scared. But it's still fun because it's outside.”

When they got there, Gabriel was waving her over, motioning to the rain poncho he had spread out on the grass. Maddie turned to her friends.

“Do you guys mind?” she asked.

“Not at all,” Libby said, taking the blanket from her. “Have fun!”

Maddie felt nervous as she walked over to Gabriel.

“I saved you a spot,” he said, sitting down on the poncho. Then he motioned for her to join him.

Is this the “something special” I've been waiting for?
Maddie wondered, and her palms immediately got sweaty. Normally Gabriel would sit with his friends during the evening program, but they were nowhere in sight.
She scanned the crowd and saw Seth and Scott from Gabriel's bunk sitting next to Emily and Libby.

Okay, so maybe it's not a big deal,
she told herself.
Maybe the boys are just mixing it up.

But she couldn't shake that awkward feeling.

Patty Lewis appeared in front of the crowd. “Welcome to movie night, campers!” she announced in her game-show-host voice. “We've been getting requests to do something a little spookier on movie night, so we've switched things up a little bit. So tonight prepare to enjoy . . .
My Uncle's a Werewolf!
”

Most campers clapped, and a couple groaned.

“Poor Libby! She didn't want to see a scary movie,” Maddie said, looking over at her friend, who was hiding her face in her sweatshirt.

“I saw it on the plane,” Gabriel said. “It's a kid's movie. Not too scary.”

The crowd quieted down as the movie started, and Maddie soon learned that Gabriel was right. The film was pretty tame, but in one scene, the kids in the movie are walking through the woods at night, slowly, and then suddenly . . .

“Aaaaah!” Maddie shrieked, along with half the
campers, as a werewolf jumped out of the shadows in the film. Instinctively, she reached out and grabbed Gabriel's arm. He looked down at her and smiled.