Page 46 of Class Clown

My legs were now faded to an almost pink hue, the itchiness had died off, and no hives had appeared. I’d gone onto the site where I purchased the pants and made sure to leave a review warning women to wash them first, and felt my communal duties were done.

Sure, I’d only gotten about sixty questions from campers and counselors alike when we first arrived at the lake, but I was happily wearing shorts as I waded along the shoreline, watching little swimmers and kayakers. Life was too short to worry about stained skin.

As I strolled along in the shallow water, the waves coming over my toes, however, I couldn’t stop watching Gina. After her injury she’d pulled ahead in the conquest for Nico’s attention. Kristy was now playing a supportive role and seemed to have graciously accepted it. The other female counselors had moved on to flirting with their male counterparts, and Gina had taken the opening with a ferocious glee I admired even as it made my stomach churn.

I wasn’t sure anymore that Gina was the girl for him. She seemed a little too . . . obvious somehow. Love was supposed to be a subtle dance, but she was out there beating it over the head. I favored Kristy and her youthful, kind-hearted way of being. The more I got to know Nico, the more I didn’t think he needed intensity. But Kristy had been bumped out, and I wasn’t sure if I should intercede or not. This was supposed to be my show, yet I was having a hard time finding any desire to keep it going.

I watched as Gina waved at Nico from her camp chair and asked him to help her to the water’s edge so she could make a sandcastle with the kids. She was adorable in a polka dot swim set and a wide-brimmed sun hat. Toned and tiny, and coming off like a fairy, the limp drew immediatesympathy - which I couldn’t begrudge her for. Her sprain would take some time to fully heal. And I couldn’t argue with the adorableness factor of making sandcastles with eight-year-olds. I mean, come on.

What I no longer found amusing was the way she insisted it always be Nico who helped her. There were adults everywhere, and older kids who offered to help, but no, she always had her tiny hands wrapped around his capable arm.

Sickening.

Nico was wearing his standard ball cap and sunglasses, and looked ahead rigidly as she clung to his arm with both of her hands. She was jabbering away, a big smile on her upturned face, but he looked like marble.

And I felt like a volcano.

A sharp sting on the bottom of my foot made me hiss and I looked down, wondering if Quinn had at long last shot me with one of his barbs. At this point I’d honestly welcome it, if only to have something new to think about. But, no quill was sticking out of my foot, and a glance around showed me that Quinn was sunning himself in a grassy spot that bumped up against the beach area.

I lifted my foot and pulled out a small pebble that had embedded itself. I wiggled my toes. No permanent harm, but to be safe I scowled at Quinn once more as a reminder that I was watching.

“What are you grumpy about this morning?” Kristy asked, coming down the beach. Her blue suit matched her eyes, and her ball cap shaded cheeks that had already turned pink in the sun. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you scowl so much.”

I pulled a face. “I stepped on a rock.”

“Is that all? To be honest, you’ve been a little off for a few days. Are you sad about something? Maybe something back in the real world happened?”

I blinked. I couldn’t possibly tell her that I was tied up in knots over my roommate. The one I’d loudly and boldly declared to be “ewww”. Thankfully, she saved me from having to come up with something.

“Are you missing your friends?” she asked gently.

I supposed this was a convenient way to redirect the conversation. While it wasn’t today’s topic, it certainly was true that I missed them terribly.

“Yes, I guess I am. I wish they could come up and visit me. They’d have such a good time here.”

She chewed her lip thoughtfully. “I’ve seen family members come before. Never more than one or two, but Cole might be open to letting them stay in your cabin for a few days on one of the slower weeks.”

Nico and Gina were immediately forgotten as I grabbed Kristy in a hug. “Are you serious? Do you think that would work?”

She laughed and squeezed me tight. “There’s usually at least one week every summer that has lighter enrollment. Ask Cole about it.”

“You’re a genius!” I cried.

A few splashes of water on the back of my legs alerted me to an incoming horde of kids and I released Kristy, spinning around with a laugh as they began bombarding me with water guns and handfuls of icy lake water. It hit my chest and face as an odd sort of relief creeped over me. Here was something I could focus on. Fun.

I kicked water at them and gave a wild war cry, grateful that they’d attacked me and finished pulling me out of my dark thoughts. This was comfortable.

Knowing water warfare would happen, I’d come prepared by wearing my swimsuit under my tank top and shorts. However, the real stroke of brilliance was that I’d tucked two water guns into the waistband of my shorts and kept them hidden. I reached back to snag them and then flung my arms forward, aiming the bright orange and yellow toys directly at the kids and squeezing the triggers. They squealed and laughed as we all bent to reload. Of course, those using their hands to cup water and toss it my way were much faster, and water ran over my head and down my back as they kept coming full force.

“I will huff, and I will puff, and I will blow your houses down!” I cried as my water guns were once again full.

They all screamed and turned to flee while giggling breathlessly. Kristy had ditched, running up the beach to get away from it all, but I charged after them, the water splashing up around my shins as we ran across the shallow areas and eventually up onto the beach. We were all drenched and breathing hard a few minutes later, and one by one we held up the peace sign and flopped to our backs, sand sticking to us everywhere.

The sky was blue above, and I could hear the lake lapping behind the calls and cries of children in various places. I felt good. Free. In fact, I couldn’t remember what I’d been mad about ten minutes ago. This was it. Nature and kids. I didn’t really need to be worrying about anything else.

Footsteps sounded nearby and I saw Kristy out of the corner of my eye before she sat down heavily beside me.

“Gina is making a fool of herself,” she muttered. “Nico looks miserable.”

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