Snapshot (8 page)

“Not only do you play guitar, but your name is Adam!” She cocked her head to the side. “You are Adam. Adam. Fucking. Jamieson!”

He glanced around to see if anyone heard. “Yes,” he finally said.

“And you’ve been playing us like a Les Paul ever since you got here. Well guess what? Your secret’s out!” And she was finished with him. Right then and there, it was over. He lied about his name, that he played guitar, where he lived, and probably everything else he said too.

Marti stomped past. She didn’t look back, and she didn’t know if he followed her or not. She seriously could care less.
 

Guys like Adam, famous rock stars, were always trouble. Always. Her dad, the king of messed up, egotistical, selfish musicians, couldn’t pull out of his driveway without doing something horrible like running over some little kid’s bike.

Marti shivered in revulsion. She marched back to the cabin, gritting her teeth the whole way. She wanted to like AJ—no, Adam—but he lied from the word go, a sure sign of his true character. He might not be like her dad, yet, but he was only sixteen. He had plenty of time to perfect the skill.

The last thing she needed was another loser in her life. Her mom was so screwed up on drugs that Grandma forbade her from coming around, and her dad was a poor excuse for a father. Marti spent the past six years wishing that man out of her life for good. And now Adam Jamieson showed up, tempting her back to that screwed up world. Well, she’d learned a thing or two and refused to let him do it.

She let the creaky screen door bang shut and took a long hot shower to wash away her frustration.

*
 
*
 
*

Adam let Marti go. What could he do? He had no idea why his real identity pissed her off so much. He figured that if the kids at camp found out, they’d be star-struck or at least a little impressed. So he hid his real name, big deal! He didn’t want the whole camp to know that Adam, lead guitarist of the chart-topping band Jamieson, was on the property. Only Tony, the camp director, knew the truth.
 

And now Marti too.

He stood in the middle of the path still wet from the swim test. He didn’t feel like going back for his towel, so he followed the path to the cabin. No danger of running into Marti. She flew out of there so fast, she could be to town by now.

When he reached the last two cabins, he glanced over at hers, but didn’t see any activity. Maybe Marti had left for town. He entered his cabin, unlocked his cabinet, and grabbed his cell phone. He knew the rules and not to use it while on camp property, but exceptions must be made.

He pulled on a t-shirt, slid on sandals and took the hiking path that lead up to Eagle’s Point. Once the cabins and beach were out of sight, he called his brother. The one who understood girls and had experienced plenty of his own girl problems the past year.

Peter picked up on the third ring. “How’s Boy Scout camp?”

“Very funny.” Adam relaxed at the sound of Peter’s voice. They spent so much time together it felt odd to be apart these past couple days. “How’s everything with Libby? Did she turn you down again? Or even more likely, did she flee the country to get away from you?”

“Nice one. Nope, she’s right here.” Adam could hear the happiness in Peter’s voice and was glad for him.
 

“Hi Adam!” he heard Libby call through the phone.

“Tell her hi,” Adam said. “So, where are you guys?”

“You’re not gonna believe this. Wall Drug.”

Adam burst into laughter. “What the hell are you doing there?” Wall Drug, famous for nothing more than serving free ice water, had grown into a tourist mecca.

“I know, but Libby saw the signs, so we had to stop.”

“Bro, you are so whipped, it’s pathetic.” But deep down Adam wished he had someone special too. He thought Marti might be that person, but apparently not.

“So what’s up? What has lured you away from making candles in the sand and singing Kumbaya? Don’t tell me. Since the girls don’t know who you are, they’ll have nothing to do with you.”

“Not exactly.” He hesitated. “See, there’s this girl.”

“Hey Libby, Adam’s got a girl!” Peter yelled, ignoring Adam.

“Way to go, Adam!” Libby called back. “Don’t break her heart.”

Adam shook his head. Calling Peter was probably a mistake, as his brother couldn’t see anything in the world other than his girlfriend. Hell, Peter probably didn’t know if it was day or night.

“Sorry, so there’s this girl. What’s the problem? You finally get a girl alone, and you don’t know what to do with her?”

Adam rolled his eyes. “No, she has this huge issue with musicians. Let’s just say she hates us all.”

“Harsh. Why, what did we ever do to her?”

“Her dad is Steven Hunter.”

“No shit!
The
Steven Hunter? The one who created Graphite Angels?”

“Yup, the one and only.” Adam spied a log bench at the top of the hill and sat down.

“I’ve heard he’s pretty messed up, so I guess I can understand why she doesn’t like musicians. I mean he’s a genius, but a dysfunctional genius. So you’re afraid she’ll figure out who you are?”

“She just did.” He ran his hand over his short hair realizing it had been a waste of time to shave it.

“Oh. So now what?” Peter asked.

“That’s just it. I don’t know. Will she be so pissed off that she tells everyone? Then kids will be tweeting pics of me, and crazed fans will start showing up, or worse, paparazzi will start flooding into camp.” He drew patterns in the dry dirt with the toe of his sandal. “No one else seems to recognize me.
 
Should I ask her not to tell anybody?” He wanted to head off trouble.

“Is she a reasonable girl? Can you talk to her?”

“Not right now. She’s pissed off that I lied to her.”

“Give her some time to cool down. If she doesn’t spill it right away, you’re probably okay.”

“I guess. But how do I get her to stop hating me?” How could he get things back to how they were last night in the moonlight?

“That I can’t help you with. Just be yourself, and hopefully that won’t make it worse.” Peter laughed.

“Not real helpful.” Adam gazed out across the expanse of crystal blue lake. A warm breeze rustled the leaves on the trees.

“You know what they say,” Peter said. “There’s a fine line between love and hate.”

Adam now understood what that saying meant. “And right now I’m feeling the hate!”

“Hey, I gotta go. We found one of those Mold-A-Rama machines that make a plastic elephant.”

“Alright, well thanks for the help,” Adam said.

“Anytime. Oh, and could you build me a picture frame out of Popsicle sticks?”

“You know what you can do with those Popsicle sticks. Later.”
 

Adam ended the call and leaned back against the bench. An eagle soared overhead, catching the updraft. On the lake, a couple sailboats raced across the water. One took a sharp turn, the wind caught the sail and the boat flipped. He laughed. Somehow it made him feel better to see someone else take a fall.

Chapter 5

Marti tousled her long, damp hair. No need to use the hair dryer when outside the sun glowed bright and a light breeze blew on this eighty-degree day. She pulled on a pair of shorts, a coordinating tank and with a flick of mascara, felt complete.

She slid the camera strap over her shoulder and headed back to the beach to join the others. The shower cooled her temper after the confrontation with AJ.
 

No,
Adam
. She had to relearn his damn name. While she wanted nothing to do with Adam Jamieson, she wasn’t about to let his presence ruin her time at camp. She couldn’t wait to see if he ‘fessed up his identity to the others or kept playing his game.

On the way to the beach, she saw a butterfly sail from flower to flower. She stopped and captured several pictures as it fluttered from one Black-eyed Susan to another. The vivid yellow-black flowers, together with the orange and black of the monarch displayed a brilliant array of color against the forest green backdrop. She reviewed the new pictures and knew she had some winners.

As she arrived at the beach, she spotted a group of kids gathered at the sand volleyball court.

“Hey Marti, just in time. We need you on our team,” Kyle called.

Kayla ran up. “Where did you disappear to? All of a sudden you were gone.” Friendly concern lit her perky, freckled face.

“Sorry about that. I realized I promised to email my grandma and haven’t yet. And then, as long as I was back at the cabin, I figured I might as well shower.” Marti felt a little guilty that she was lying over someone as stupid as Adam and that Grandma really would like a an email, but she hadn’t sent one.

“Oh. I kind of wondered if you and AJ snuck off to make out.” Kayla grinned.

“Not hardly. He is totally not my type.”

“Who’s not your type?” Haley joined them.

“Oh, Kayla thought I was off with AJ, but that’ll never happen. I promise you.” She kicked at a pinecone on the ground.

“I thought you liked AJ. You even said he was hot.” Haley looked confused, since only an hour earlier Marti kind of said exactly that.

“Okay, he is hot, but after talking with him more, I realized I’m just not that into him.” She yanked on her camera strap and tried to sound blasé.

“Really? Maybe I’ll go after him.” Kayla said.

Marti’s head popped up. She certainly didn’t want Adam, but she didn’t want one of her friends with him either. Wasn’t that an unspoken Girlfriend Rule?

“Just kidding,” Kayla said after catching the look on Marti’s face. “He’s really fun, but I met this guy on the beach who is in the drawing camp. He is so freakin’ hot! OMG. I’m going to meet up with him later tonight. I’ll introduce you guys, but then you have to leave, because I don’t want any distractions.”

“Okay,” Marti said, happy to know Kayla really didn’t have her eye on Adam. All these conflicting feelings confused the heck of out of her. If she didn’t want to see him, why should she care if anyone else did? Why did she care? Her insides tangled into a jumbled mess.

“Girls! Hurry up. It’s game time,” Kyle called again.
 

Marti noticed that the whole gang—Brooke, Justin, and Ryan—assembled for the game, but not Adam. Had she hurt his feelings? If so, he sure needed to toughen up. What a wimpy rock star. A few others from the photography group filled out the team. They were playing against the watercolor campers.

“Gather round.” Justin waved them over.
 

Marti kicked off her sandals and joined Team Photag.

“Okay team, we’re gonna go out there and crush ‘em!” He put his hand in the middle of their circle, and they all placed theirs on top. After a team chant, they cheered and took their places on the court.

What Marti assumed would be a friendly game quickly turned intense. Justin torpedoed the first ball across the net. A stunned girl from the Water Color Team turned to the side so it wouldn’t drill her.
 

Point
!

“Nice one, Justin!” Brooke, wearing a sparkly bikini top and micro shorts, fist bumped him.

Justin raised a sexy eyebrow above his sunglasses and smiled.

This time their opponents watched, alert for the serve. A skinny, red-headed guy returned the ball. Kayla nailed it back. A short stocky kid returned it. Ryan set the ball and Marti moved in and spiked it over the net.
 

Score!

“Nice one,” Ryan said.

“Thanks.” Adrenaline pumped through Marti as she relished the chance to blow off some steam.

“AJ! You’re late! We need you,” Kyle yelled.

Marti turned to find Adam jogging down the footpath barefoot, still wearing his swim trunks. She huffed and her shoulders tightened at the sight of him.

“Sorry, man.” He ran up and joined them on the court.
 

Of course, the jerk would stand right next to her. She refused to look his direction.
Traitor
. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he bothered her.

Justin served again. This time they volleyed back and forth a few times. Then, the ball soared right to Marti. She hustled to return it but smashed into Adam instead. The ball hit the sand.

“What the hell was that? I had it!” Marti yelled and drilled him with her worst glare.

“You didn’t call it, and someone had to get it.” Adam ignored her biting tone.

“Well you didn’t!” She rubbed her shoulder where they’d crashed. Running into Adam felt like running into a wall.
 

“My bad.” He shrugged and moved back into position. Marti fought the urge to smack him.

Within minutes, all the guys played shirtless and looked a sweaty mess of tan, sand-covered bodies. The game went on with Adam continually moving into Marti’s playing space. She muttered under her breath a lot. Finally, Team Photog won.