Page 61 of Class Clown

Gina and Kristy were stronger than they looked. I had several inches, and dozens of pounds on them, but they were dragging me along like they’d thrown me on a cart and greased the wheels. Their chatter was giving me joy, but I hardly understood a word they were saying.

What I did know is that it was Saturday night. The sky was dark, the stars were out, and the chill air had motivated me to grab a hoodie as I’d been hauled out of my cabin. A blazing fire lit up the center of the flat, pounded dirt area where the camp gathered for flag ceremonies and skit nights. Gina and Kristy were rushing in that direction, with me tripping to keep up.

Flames lit up the faces sitting around on a mish-mash of log benches that had been pulled away from the amphitheater to create a smaller gathering. There was a folding table off to the side with a few people hanging around it, and I was hoping it meant some kind of treat was in my future. Gina read my mind.

“The cook staff brought down the stuff for s’mores, but the good kind,” Gina chirped as she bumped along, her eyes bright with excitement.

“The good kind?” I asked. In my world, all s’mores were the good kind.

Kristy jumped in with a grin, her beanie tugged so low on her head that it met up with her eyebrows. “Yeah. The campers get the traditional graham cracker, chocolate bar, and marshmallows. The staff get a buffet.Graham crackers, or cookies, various candy bars, mini candies to roll the marshmallow in, you know . . . the more elite experience.”

“It’s the best,” Gina added.

Typically, on Saturday nights, there were only a few people around. At least half of the staff left to go on adventures, or go visit their families if they lived close, but this weekend it seemed like everyone was still on site. I hadn’t heard anything about a party, but the health center wasn’t the heart of activity, and since I usually spent my evenings hiding in Cole’s office to steal WiFi, or reading one of my books, I sometimes missed out on information.

A smile tugged at my mouth as I thought about the past two nights that I’d spent playing chess with Nico. I’d never learned the game, having been too impatient in my younger years to listen to the rules, but he’d been teaching me and as we’d sat together at the tiny table in our cabin we’d chatted easily, the comradery between us growing.

We’d covered topics as mundane as the fact that I rarely vacuum, but I mop my floors three times a week, and how I hate paying bills because it’s depressing to watch my money bounce out of my account before it even cools from being deposited.

I gave him the rundown of my favorite cringey reality TV shows where people behave badly but I secretly cheered for them, and I informed him that while I didn’t really have a temper, I was terribly nosey and he’d never be able to keep me from trying to pry all his secrets out.

At that pronouncement, one eyebrow had risen, and I’d taken it as a dare. So far, he’d held out on the really juicy things, but I did discover that he had a penchant for games that were strategic, he didn’t like swimming very much, and he’d always wanted to be in the military on account of growing up as a military brat, following his father around the world.

It was crumbs compared to what I really wanted to know. What made him tick?

Another jerk on my shoulders reminded me that I was being pulled along and I laughed. “You two can stop dragging me. I was never fighting you in the first place. All you needed to say was s’mores and I’d have raced you here.”

They dropped my forearms and I shifted my shoulders around to relocate them in their sockets. With my arms free I took the opportunity to put on my thick hoodie and rub at my chilled arms.

“We couldn’t afford to wait,” Gina insisted. “We don’t want to be back row when the show starts.”

I had no idea what they were talking about, and I didn’t ask, because I was too busy feeling grateful that Gina seemed to have gotten over her crush on Nico. Or, at least the moping part was over. It made her much more pleasant to be around.

As we arrived at the fire I took in the whole scene. I loved observing people, and vibing off their happiness, and this was the place to be tonight. The kids were gone and this campfire was a hot spot of flirting and laughter, with people roasting marshmallows while a guitar or two were being tuned in the background.

I caught sight of Cole at the s’mores table and he waved happily at me. I was happy to see him having a chance to relax too. He was always going from sunrise to at least 11:00 p.m. It was an endless task to keep the camp running smoothly.

“Oh, it’s almost time,” Gina increased her pace even though we’d already entered the circle of makeshift seats. “Hurry.”

When I didn’t immediately follow, my arm was once again grabbed by Kristy who towed me along behind her until I fell onto a log next to Gina, who was patting the seat like she was sure the train would leave the station without us.

“What’s going on?” I asked Kristy as she sat on the other side of me.

“Look,” she pointed across the fire.

I looked over the low flames and saw a group of three guys sitting on logs and holding guitars on their laps, tuning them and chatting. Oh, okay, this was the show. Gina and Kristy were obviously groupies and I half expected posterboard signs to be thrown up any minute. They’d better not ask him to sign their shirts.

I half-listened as they giggled about how good these guys were, but the heat from that forehead kiss Nico had given me still lingered in my mind. It had been a couple days, and the spot had been cleaned, but whatever had flowed from him to me refused to abate. I’d cried myself to sleep in the clean sheets that night, and woken up with some tenderness inside, as though hidden parts of me had been exposed to air and life for the first time in a while. There was a crack on my insides and I didn’t know whether to slap duct tape on it, or let it fall apart and see what happened.

And the quiet evenings talking over chess were only widening that new crack.

“Feelings are temporary and often based on proximity,” I said to myself, a reminder of the conversation I’d had a while back with Hailey. “I should stick with the plan.”

Kristy and Gina both looked at me. “What?”

“Oh, nothing. Just thinking of a medical journal I was readying recently,” I replied, knowing full well that would shut down any further questions.

The three of us watched as the guys lightly strummed their instruments, and I admitted to myself that there was something pretty attractive about a musical man.

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