Page 25 of Class Clown

He tucked his hands into his pockets. “I think I’m a size smaller than Cole. If you want to put on your shorts and wear my second shirt until we can figure this out, that might work.”

I huffed. “Are you serious?”

He frowned, his eyes finding mine again, confused. “Yes.”

“With those shoulders?” I scoffed, gesturing at his physique. “Please. There’s no way you’re wearing a smaller size than Cole.”

An unreadable expression chased over his face before he shrugged. “I . . .” He blinked and moved on to the less confusing topic. “Cole is a big guy.”

I paused in thought, raking my gaze over him. “Well, I’m pretty curvy, so maybe it will even out.” I put a palm on each of my hips and then held my arms straight out in front of me. Closing one eye I measured my hip width against Nico’s shoulders from a distance. Hmm. “Fine. Bring me your shirt.”

He moved away from me as though he couldn’t do it quickly enough, and I followed, moving into my side of the bunk area. We both pulled open drawers and retrieved clothing, and then met very awkwardly at the foot of his bunk where he handed me a shirt, obviously careful to avoid touching me as the exchange happened.

“You’d better be crossing your everything, Crawford,” I muttered as I brushed past him and in to the small bathroom, “because this has to work.”

I changed into my original shorts, which were still snug but were for sure the better option. Then I pulled Nico’s shirt over my head and adjusted a bit until it was in place. How did it already smell like laundry detergent?Did people actually wash their clothes before wearing them the first time? When would he possibly have had the time? It was still at least a size bigger than I would wear, but it definitely worked better than Cole’s.

I stepped out of the bathroom and found him waiting. It struck me that he wasn’t being the worst. I was a little stumped by the fact that he was sticking around and hadn’t darted out of here when I’d gone into the bathroom to change. It was nice of him.

I dropped a playful curtsy and smiled his way, shoving my wayward hair behind my ears. I hadn’t braided it up today, choosing instead to comb it out until it shown and hung in silky locks down my back.

“Thank you. This is better.” I spun around. “Don’t you think?”

He simply nodded. “We should probably get moving.”

I snagged my day pack off the table as he tugged open the back door of our cabin and shifted aside to let me through first. It was a nice gesture and I offered him a small smile of appreciation as I moved past him.

We made our way down the steps and onto the gravel path, falling into step together. I smoothed my palm over the borrowed shirt, and looked at him. While it was roomy on me, the same size was a much closer fit on him. I thought about Gina and Kristy and how big their eyes were going to be, and about how I really needed to get a picture of him for my besties back home. These thoughts made me giggle and when he glanced my way I said something I knew would get under his skin.

“The women of camp want to know how often you work out.”

“They . . .what?” he asked, immediately looking straight ahead again as his lips formed a tight line.

“Yeah. They’ve noticed your muscles and are curious.”

“That can’t be true.”

“Why?”

“No one is paying attention to me.”

“First off, of course people are paying attention to you. You’re the silent assistant to Cole’s happy sunshine director. You’re mysterious. Second, don’t you notice things about people the first time you meet them?” I asked. He, once again, didn’t bother to reply. “Look, some people notice smiles, or hair color, or eyes. You happen to have forearms for days, and the ladies have noticed.” I laughed. He increased his pace. I matched it. “Don’t worry about it. If it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll drop it.”

“Please do.”

“I really should be thanking you, actually.” I grinned when he looked my way again. “I was worried I’d be lonely this summer, but living with you is making me a popular girl around camp. I’m going to have a lot of new best friends ASAP.”

He stopped walking, and I did too, watching as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, his chin dipping toward his chest like he just could not at that moment and had to recenter himself. He opened his eyes again, so dark I could hardly make out the pupil, and his lips parted, but still no sound. I let it go, offering up a tiny wave and thanking him for the shirt as I left him standing there on the gravel path.

That had been kind of fun.

Chapter 7

Ruby’s Truth: It really is all fun and games, even if someone gets hurt.

It’s official. Sleepaway camp drop-off afternoon looked a whole lot like elementary school drop-off mornings. Line of cars, exhausted looking parents who had to get up too early, some kids happily popping out of the car without looking back, other kids clinging to their parents’ legs like it was their last goodbye. While I’d known pretty much what to expect from the younger set, the teens were a curiosity to me.

How were they pretty? No one was awkward, no one had attempted a hairstyle and failed, not one of them was wearing clothing that wouldn’t look good posted online. There was zero embarrassment factor here. Where was the character-building acne? Where was the greasy hair that flopped lifelessly down their foreheads? Where were the braces? Good heavens, people, had the species changed so much since I’d graduated high school in the early 2000s?

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