Girl on the Run (17 page)

I didn't recognize Cabin 4A at first; in fact, I almost walked by. I stopped dead in my tracks. Beads of sweat dotted my forehead. Spencer stood on the porch with his arms folded. His evil smile beamed down at me.

There was no time to take it down; there was no time to hide. Mother Bear had been shot, stuffed, and mounted. The crowd gathered around me. It was at least ten seconds before anyone spoke.

All of my underwear had been strung around the front of the cabin, with water-filled condoms interspersed between each thong. Hanging in the middle of the pattern, in the place of honour, was a huge pair of frumpy white underwear.

L
ewis's voice broke the silence. “Is the dryer broken?”

“What's the theme?” Tyler asked. He was wearing a button that read “Judge.”

“Is this about safe sex?” Susan checked her clipboard, as if a note would explain my underwear exhibit.

“It's not so much the quantity,” Lewis said. “But the variety that impresses me.”

Grandma! I hadn't read the labels on the condom boxes. But from the display, the sizes, colours, and even the shapes, were all different.

“Is this…all yours?” Tyler asked. The tone of his voice gave me the creeps.

I pointed to the pantaloons in the middle. “Except for those.”

“But the weenie roast thong is?” Lewis asked. I could tell by his voice that he was trying hard not to laugh.

“Yeah,” I said, weakly.

Susan made a few notes on her clipboard and the group sauntered away. Lewis and I stood staring at the sexy clothesline of shame.

He tilted his head as if viewing a canvas in a museum. “I think I should tell you,” he said, “condoms aren't meant to be recycled.”

I had no fight left in me. All of my energy had been drained away—along with my pride. “It's important to be green,” I said.

“Nice job, Just Jesse.” His voice was right behind me.

I didn't bother to turn around. “What took you so long?” I asked. I was in shock, frozen to the spot, unable to look away from the embarrassing mess. Of course Kirk would show up right then.

He let out a sound of surprise. “You know,” he said, “when I squint, it reminds me of your necklace.”

Lacey came by with one of her cupettes and studied the decorations. “I have that pair!” She looked me up and down. “I never figured you for a Victoria's Secret kind of girl.”

I pictured her with an eel wrapped around her neck. “Never judge a girl by her thong,” I said. Spencer appeared, and his grin made me finally lose it. “You used all four boxes of condoms!” I screamed at him.

“Four!” Kirk and Lewis said together. Tyler dropped his clipboard.

“Oh man,” Liam said, now joining our group.

I did a double take. Liam had shaved off half of his hair. “You have a mohawk,” I said.

“No more mix-ups,” he shrugged.

“I like the spikes,” one of the cupettes said.

And the world keeps turning.

“Where's Duff?” I asked.

“He's waiting inside,” Spencer said. “He didn't even want to help.”

I glared back at him. “I'll interpret that as a sign of maturity.”

“Is everything going to be okay?” Liam asked. “Is Duff in trouble?”

“It's okay. Although your little stunts almost got me fired,” I said, “again!”

“Fired?” Spencer frowned.

“We'll talk later.” I held up the envelope. “I have to give this to Duff first.”

I left the entourage to continue staring at my underwear. Old Jesse would have been ripping down the line, but my experiences the last two weeks had increased my capacity for embarrassment. I discovered that humiliation, like pain, is completely relative.

When I rounded the corner of the cabin, the envelope was snatched from my hand. Spencer raced up the green slope toward the hiking trail.

“You little…” I called out. Without thinking, I began to chase him. He was wearing his new sneakers and my flip-flops were making me slip all over the grass. But I couldn't let him out of my sight. My humiliation was one thing—Duff's was another.

The sunny grounds turned into the shadows of the woods. I focused on his back as he twisted up the trail in front of me. Between breaths, I yelled at him to stop, but that made him run even faster.

I ignored the stones and pine needles stabbing my feet through my flip-flops and pumped my arms, making my stride faster. I reached out and gave one last lunge. I got a hand full of red hair and yanked hard.

“Ow!” He arched his back.

I whipped Duff's envelope out of his hand and let him go. He rubbed his head, bent over trying to catch his breath.

“What is wrong with you?” I said.

“You weren't angry enough,” he said, still panting. “I had to make you chase me.”

“Chase you?”

“We're on the top of the trail, J.J.,” he said. “See? You
can
run.”

I shook my head. “It's not that easy. You don't understand. You're just a kid.”

Spencer stood up and waved an arm down the trail. “Why are you lying? I might be younger than you, but I know when someone is jerking me around. You could win the cup for us. This stupid camp has never won anything. My dad would…” His voice caught and he looked away.

“What about your dad?” I asked.

Spencer blinked a few times, then dabbed his face with his arm, keeping his head turned away. “He's kind of into winning,” he said. “And if he thought we might have a chance, he'd show up on race day. He'd come to watch, for sure.”

I wasn't the only one with family secrets. Spencer's dad, it seemed, needed an excuse to visit his son. Duff's crumpled envelope suddenly weighed a ton in my shaking hands. I wanted to tell Spencer that it was beyond my control, but I couldn't without sharing the whole truth. No cup, no matter how shiny, was going to fix my mistake.

Things got really quiet. Spencer was letting a little of himself shine through the bratty exterior. He waited for me to do the same. One liar can easily see through another, I guess. His eyes pleaded with me to at least consider what he was suggesting. That tiny voice deep inside me was trying to wake up Old Jesse, but I wouldn't let it. I slowly shook my head at him. His shoulders slumped and he weakly kicked the dirt.

“Come on.” I motioned for him to follow me. Spencer gave in and we started down the trail, sensing we'd shared a bit too much for comfort.

We emerged into the sun-dappled lawn and met Kirk, who was coming to look for us.

The roving crowd of judges had left the grounds. A spiky, mohawked Liam was having a water balloon fight with Scotty and one of the cupettes. Duff, I guessed, was still keeping a low profile. At least my underwear had been taken down. When we neared the group, it was painfully obvious that I was prophetic, as the condoms filled with water were being flung back and forth.

“Guys!” I pleaded.

“So what?” Liam yelled back. “The clipboard said, ‘Water activity before lunch.'” Then he launched a bloated condom, just missing us.

I was too tired to bother trying to get control of them as Spencer joined the fight. Kirk must have felt the same way; he stayed with me on the sidelines.

He shifted his weight a few times and his shoulder brushed against mine. I didn't dare move. Kirk kept still and the contact tingled down my arm. I decided to ignore it. No point in enjoying the tingles if Lacey had dibs.

Not only has he pulled me out of the lake, listened to my private diary, seen me making out with his gay friend, caught me naked, and seen all my underwear, but now he's standing by as I watch the kids I'm supposed to be in charge of have a water fight with condoms my Grandmother bought for me.

I guess he really is waiting to see what happens next.

“That's not a safe place to stand,” I said, our shoulders still touching. “I'm not sure if you've noticed, but every time I'm in an embarrassing situation you're close by.”

He smiled but kept watching the guys. “So?”

“What's next? Projectile vomiting? Spontaneous diarrhea? I'd leave if I were you.”

He laughed and adjusted his ball cap. A swollen purple condom flew by us and smashed against the porch.

“I am so fired,” I groaned.

“Not if I can help it.”

I let that beautiful sentence wash over me a few times.

“What are you doing this afternoon?” he asked.

“Besides flag football and blindfold tag?” I said, heavy on the sarcasm. Then I dropped my voice. “Laundry,” I told him. “The fact that Spencer had his hands all over my underwear creeps me out.”

“I like the big white ones.”

“That's my party pair,” I said. “I'm wearing them to the bonfire tonight.”

“Good.” He tipped his cap, and then joined the water fight with a few hits to Scotty's head.

I wiped a hand over my face and tucked a stray hair behind my ear, determined to stay focused. I still hadn't completed my delivery.

I found Duff lying on his bunk bed with his hands behind his head. I tapped him on the shoulder.

He sat up quickly. “Sorry,” he signed.

“Everything is all right,” I said. “Diana…”

He winced when I said her name.

“Diana,” I began again, “wants you to read this.” I held out the wrinkled envelope. “Um, it got a little mauled by accident. She's waiting on the beach.”

I went to my bedroom and saw my thongs piled on my bed. I kept an ear against the door and heard the crinkle of paper, then after a few moments, footsteps crossed the floor and the screen door opened and shut.

Climbing over the pile of underwear, I poked my head out the window and watched as Duff walked down the slope toward the lake.

Diana met him in front of the beach then led him to a spot on the grass and sat down. The notepad and pencil soon came out.

“Now that,” I said to my underwear, “takes balls.”

O
ur little table in the corner of the main hall had never been so animated. Duff was now sporting a permanent grin. All through supper he and Diana were sneaking peeks at each other. Scotty, in a show of team spirit, had taken hair gel and given himself a makeshift mohawk. Cabin 4A, “A” for arseholes, was slowly becoming “A” for awesome.

Spencer hadn't given up, though. He and I were talking about his stunt this morning. He was still trying to convince me to run again.

“You say no today,” he warned. “But next time it won't just be an envelope.”

I called his bluff. Some things scare me, but Spencer isn't one of them. “I'm sure you've got better things to do than hang out here all summer.” I was trying to change the subject by putting the focus on something he loved to talk about—himself. “Don't you go home for a weekend or something?”

“No,” Spencer said. There was an unexpected edge to his voice. “I'm always here for the whole summer.”

“Really?” I asked.

He looked down at his plate of chicken wings. “Yeah,” he said.

“Me too,” Scotty added.

“It's different for you, though,” Spencer said.

I wondered what he meant by that. I noticed Scotty glance toward Kirk's table, but as I already knew, since I had been checking every two minutes, he was not in the main hall tonight. Lacey was AWOL as well.

Kirk was so hard to figure out. It seemed like he was interested, but then there was the Lacey factor. Maybe he was trying to make her jealous.

I needed advice. I arranged for my guys to play a game of soccer with Cabin 8. Hardly a huge favour, since Cabin 8 had two counsellors and only six kids—two had gone home early with stomach flu.

I planned to send Chloe an email, but when I logged on, I saw there was already one from her. It'd been sent this morning.

Dear Jesse,

Your mom got a catering job to do the wedding cake for the big fancy schmancy owner of the Queen's Galley. She's so nervous but I know it will be spectacular, and it will be awesome exposure for her business.

I bit my lower lip. Mom wouldn't have to work so hard if I got a scholarship.

I shook my head and kept reading.

Your grandma wanted to know if you needed any more care packages sent up. I'm assuming she means cookies and clean socks.

I'd gone through four boxes already—surprise, Grandma!

Things are so boring here without you, I'm totally jealous of all the stuff going on at Kamp. But I know you're where you should be, it's obvious from your emails this summer is exactly what you needed. I can't wait to hear you tell me everything in person. I really miss you, Jesse, I'm so happy you're feeling more like yourself.

My stomach dropped a bit. I really missed Chloe too, but it was clear that she was still hoping for Old Jesse.

How's Kirk? Sorry, but I had to ask. I think someone has a crush! Seriously, get some alone time with that guy.

Speaking of crushes, Ben was asking about you...AGAIN. I gave him your message, but today Sam told me he quit his job at the beach and said he planned on leaving town earlier than expected. Sorry.

I rested my elbow on the table staring at the monitor. The news about Ben was an unexpected downer. I guess I really did want to see him again. I re-read the email. Everyone back home was doing all right. More than all right, I mean Mom on TV and now catering for The Queen's Galley!?! She hated doing anything like that. She never even wanted to record the message for our voice mail.

Dad and I used to be on our message. After he died I would call our number over again, just to hear our voices together. I linked my fingers together and rested my forehead on my knuckles. Mom was doing everything she could to move on, and I had to do the same.

I logged off and jogged down the steps, running right into Lacey.

“Watch it!” she said.

“Why are you so upset? Oh wait, I don't care.”

She gave some snarky retort, but I didn't bother to stay and hear it. Funny, but the fact Lacey was upset made me feel better. Immature, but true.

Some of the counsellors were getting the beach ready for the bonfire. Kirk was standing there talking with Tyler. Here we go, I thought. If Mom can go on TV, I can certainly approach two cute guys. I pretended I was in a movie.

“Hey,” I said. “Need any help?”

“It's going to be a good time tonight,” Tyler smirked.

I dared to look at Kirk. “You're coming to the beach tonight, right?”

“No,” he said. “Change of plans.”

Before I could say anything else, I was grabbed from behind. Hands gripped my shoulders, shaking me.

“J.J.!” Scotty said, practically dancing on the spot. “You're not going to believe this.”

I looked around. Spencer was missing.

“Is there a nest of snakes in my bed?” I asked.

“No.”

“Are my bras hanging from the branches of the trees in the woods?”

“No,” Scotty said. “We won the decorating contest!”

“Lacey is so mad,” Tyler laughed.

“How could we win?” I asked. “It was underwear and condoms.”

Tyler gave me a wink. “I was one of the judges,” he said.

I guess Tyler was ready for the weenie roast
.

“Spencer is getting rewarded for humiliating me?” I asked. “Again?”

Scotty looked genuinely hurt. “I thought you'd be happy,” he said.

“J.J.!” Liam waved from the top of the lawn. “We won!”

I turned to Tyler. “What did they get? More video games?”

“They're going off-site,” he said.

“The midway's in town,” Scotty said. “You know, like rides and cotton candy.”

Kirk's eyes moved between me and Scotty. “The van leaves in one hour,” he told me.

“I'm driving,” Tyler said. “Are you coming?”

“Me?” I asked.

“It's all of Cabin 4A,” Tyler said, stepping closer. “And they were your panties.”

Here's a random fact about me. I HATE the word ‘panties.' Perverts and flashers use the word ‘panties.' Tyler stood there grinning at me, unaware I was picturing my fist smashing into his smile. There was no way I was getting into a van with him.

“Actually, Tyler,” Kirk said. “You don't have the right insurance. I'm driving.”

Tyler's smile disappeared. “But you said this morning…”

Kirk stepped forward, blocking Tyler's confused face. “So,” he said, turning to me. “Are you coming?”

“How many does the van hold?” I asked, wondering if Lacey would hop in at the last moment.

He smiled. “It'll be us and the four guys.”

“Say yes.” Scotty nudged my arm.

“Yes,” I said.

“Good.” Kirk looked at his watch. “We leave in fifty-five minutes.”

I purposely walked extra slow to our cabin while my mind raced with makeover calculations. Fifty-five minutes would be cutting it close. I pulled open the drawer under the bed.

MIDNIGHT STROLL or HOT DATE.

Leaving the midnight stroll ensemble for another time, I ripped open Chloe's version of an outfit for a hot date.

There was loud knock followed by an exasperated sigh from the other side of my door.

“Hold on,” I said, stepping into the high-heeled sandals. “There's still five minutes left.”

I did a quick check in the mirror. Hair straightened. Check. Mascara and lip gloss. Check and check. I stared at the white and blue striped top. Chloe had sent a note with this bag.

Dear Jesse,

The strapless bra is in the bag for a reason! This top is worn OFF the shoulders.

I pulled the thin sweater down off my shoulders. My bare neck looked so…well, bare. Without any jewelry, I had nothing to add to Chloe's outfit.

“J.J.!” Spencer knocked again.

“Yeah, yeah, I'm coming.”

Rolling up the jeans to mid-calf, I opened the door and walked out.

“Oh,” Spencer said. “You look nice.”

“You sound surprised,” I said, but I took the compliment anyway.

Duff motioned with his hands.

“That better be the sign for smokin' hot,” I said.

The ride in the van wasn't very long. It only took Kirk twenty minutes to drive us to the midway. As soon as the bracelets for all the rides were bought, the guys disappeared into the crowd.

“Meet us at the hotdog stand in an hour,” Kirk called out.

We walked along, passing couples eating candied apples and girls holding cheap stuffed toys. The evening had a definite date vibe.

“Do you want to ride anything?” he asked.

Usually I'll go on any contraption—the faster the better. Turn me upside down? Sure. Make me so dizzy I want to barf? Great! But tonight I wasn't with Chloe, or Grandma, for that matter, and the off-the-shoulder sweater required some caution.
Yes, Kirk has seen me naked, but the crowd tonight doesn't need a look at my strapless bra.
I glanced around to see where all the other couples were lining up. Then I saw it.

“How about the Ferris wheel?” I suggested.

Kirk frowned a bit, then shrugged like he didn't care. Probably because he was wishing Lacey were here instead of me. We were next in line, and I tried to remember all the movies where the couple gets stuck at the top. Usually, after a few awkward glances and maybe a heartfelt confession of love, they end up kissing.

The operator opened the gate and let us on. Kirk reached over and buckled our shared seat belt as the operator locked the safety bar. When his hand brushed over my thigh my pulse sputtered. I turned to him, but he was staring straight ahead. No skipped beats for him.

The ride started and we rose backwards. We stopped as the next couple got on and the chair rocked slightly. My straightened hair brushed against my bare shoulder and I pretended that it was his fingertips.

“Why are you smiling?” he asked.

“It's nice to be with you,” I said, “without the usual humiliation.”

“But you're cute when you're embarrassed.”

I looked down at my hands. Our chair climbed higher in the evening sky. The ride stopped again as the operator filled the next seat. Kirk was suddenly quiet.

Did I miss a cue? Was I supposed to inch closer when he said I was cute? Was he thinking about Lacey? Did he wish Tyler drove us instead?

“I can't figure you out,” I finally said.

“Sorry?”

“You're like an M. Night Shyamalan movie. I can't pay attention to the dialogue or the flow of the plot because I'm trying to figure out the big twist.”

“You're looking for a big twist?” he grinned.

“See! You're quiet one moment, and then you say something like that the next.” He didn't reply, making me even more frustrated. “It's none of my business,” I said, “but you and Lacey?”

“She's not my type,” he said. “I like tall brunettes.”

I picked at the chipped paint on the handle. He was totally confusing. And totally hot. “What's not to like?” I said. “Dark hair, lean muscles, chocolate brown eyes…”

“Your eyes are green.”

I frowned at him. “What?”

The Ferris wheel had almost reached the top. I scanned the crowd for the boys. They were huddled in line for the Tilt-a-whirl, talking and doing the occasional sign with Duff.

“From this height,” I said, “They seem normal. Well, Scotty's good most of the time.”

“Yeah, he's a good kid.”

I leaned forward a bit more, then sat back with a sigh. We were almost at the top, and a kiss seemed like the farthest thing from Kirk's mind. I had no idea what was on his mind. It sure wasn't me.

“Don't do that,” he said.

“Sigh?”

“Stop leaning forward, you rock the seat.” He sounded strange.

“That's not rocking the seat,” I said. “This is rocking the seat.” I pushed back and forth laughing. “Woo-hoo!”

“Shit!” His white knuckles gripped the bar in front of us.

“Are you okay?”

He groaned. “Um…I'm not a fan of heights.”

The Ferris wheel moved again, and this time we stopped at the very top. Most flirting couples would see this as an opportunity to make out, but Kirk looked ready to barf instead.

“Why are we even on this ride?” I asked.

“It didn't look this high from the ground,” he said, pressing his back into the seat.

“That's the next embarrassing thing,” I said. “I'll leave the ride, covered in whatever you had for supper. You always say you can't wait to see what happens next. Well, there you go…you're going to be sick all over Chloe's sweater.”

“I promise, I won't throw up on you,” he said. “Distract me.”

I madly flipped through those movies again, trying to come up with a way to salvage the moment. Only one memory surfaced. “Look up,” I said. “And find the prettiest star.” I secretly crossed my fingers.