Page 73 of Our Little Moments

Stella

Our walk back to camp is peaceful. Adrian’s smiling next to me, and I can’t help stealing peeks at his grin when I know he isn’t looking. He’s so handsome when he smiles.

Of course, that peace shatters when we return to camp.

“. . . Come on, you can’t be serious.” Isabella laughs.

“What, are you scared?” Jay teases.

Adrian tries to hide his chuckle next to me.

I walk over to Hazel, asking in a low voice, “What’s happening?”

Hazel is fighting so hard not to laugh. “Jay is convinced he knows Isa well enough to guess where she would hide in a game of hide-and-seek. The two have been going back and forth for like ten minutes.”

“Of course.” I laugh quietly.

“. . . Are you arrogant enough to think you could findeveryone’s hiding place, huh?” Isa taunts.

Jay laughs. “Not everyone’s. Yours.”

“Then I guess we’ll have to see.”

Adrian’s eyes meet mine, and a smile forms.

One minute, we’re all at camp watching these two bicker, the next we’re all walking with our team to the forest to play along with their games. It’s stupid, but it’s also fun. It’s a competition that’s lighthearted and silly. It makes me feel alive, not because of the adrenaline, but because ofjoy.

Once we’re all settled in, Isabella turns to face us. “We start counting.”

“You’re sure you want to start?” Jay asks. “We could go first to show you how it’s done—”

“One . . . Two . . .” Isa cuts in loudly.

All of us are laughing as we count. Once we reach ninety, we all open our eyes again and go look for the others.

We established that we could use our magic so . . .

Sam’s magic isn’t very useful to hide. Layla’s ability to control water would be useful if we played near the lake, but the area is all trees. Adrian’s . . . Well, even if a storm was passing by, I know he wouldn’t use his magic to win. He cares too much about his sisters for that. Jay is the only one whose magic is tricky. For all we know, they could all be up in the sky. Then again, the game is hide-and-seek, not tag. If he were to use his magic, he’d probably use it to hide up in the—

I halt to a stop when two arms wrap around me. Hazel’s blonde hair drapes over my shoulder.

“Stella, stop. This is a game of whether or not we inflate Isabella and Jay’s egos. Don’t think about it so logically.”

I laugh. “You have a point.”

Just as we start walking again, Layla exclaims, “I was found!”

Nate walks over to us with a small smile. Hazel high-fives him and we all keep looking.

“Where was she hiding?” I ask Nate as I push one of the branches away from my face.

“Next to a tree overlooking the lake.”

Of course.

Hazel looks at me with a small smile. “Nate isn’t the only one of us who doesn’t like competitions.”

“Why does Layla not like them?”

---