Sunkissed

by Kasie West

  ALSO BY KASIE WEST

  The Distance Between Us

  Pivot Point

  Split Second

  On the Fence

  The Fill-In Boyfriend

  P.S. I Like You

  By Your Side

  Love, Life, and the List

  Lucky in Love

  Listen to Your Heart

  Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss

  Maybe This Time

  Moment of Truth

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2021 by Kasie West

  Cover art copyright © 2021 by Ana Hard

  Cover lettering copyright © 2021 by Jill De Haan

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

  Delacorte Press is a registered trademark and the colophon is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.

  GetUnderlined.com

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: West, Kasie, author.

  Title: Sunkissed / Kasie West.

  Description: First edition. | New York : Delacorte Press, [2021] | Audience: Ages 12 and up. | Summary: Betrayed by her best friend and dragged off to a remote family camp, seventeen-year-old Avery’s dreams of a perfect summer seem over until a whirlwind romance leads to an unexpected journey of self-discovery.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2020031481 (print) | LCCN 2020031482 (ebook) | ISBN 978-0-593-17626-9 (hardcover) | ISBN 978-0-593-17627-6 (library binding) | ISBN 978-0-593-17628-3 (ebook)

  Subjects: CYAC: Family life—Fiction. | Camps—Fiction. | Love—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.W51837 Sun 2021 (print) | LCC PZ7.W51837 (ebook) | DDC [Fic] —dc23

  Ebook ISBN 9780593176283

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  Penguin Random House LLC supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin Random House to publish books for every reader.

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  Contents

  Cover

  Also by Kasie West

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  To my big sister, Heather Garza. I’ve always looked up to you (even though you’re the shortest in the family). Love you!

  I took a breath and closed my eyes, letting the sun-drenched glass warm me as I leaned my head against the car window. This was going to be a perfect summer. If I said it enough times, it would come true. After everything that had happened this week, I needed a good summer. The one before my senior year was mine to claim, Dad had said months ago. I was ready to claim it.

  Up front, my parents had turned the radio to barely audible but I could just make out a Taylor Swift song. My AirPods had lost their charge ten minutes ago, rendering the remainder of my perfectly curated road trip playlist—Stuck in the Backseat with You—useless. As I felt myself drifting toward sleep, my sister’s voice rang out louder than necessary from beside me.

  “Hey, viewers. Happy summer! We’re on hour four of our car ride and so ready to be done. Say hi to my older sister, Avery!”

  Lauren had her elbows propped on the pillows between us and was holding up her phone, the camera facing me. Behind her phone, she gave a silent plea that said, Give me something, anything, aside from your normal boring face. Since boring was the face I was born with, I held up a peace sign, which apparently was good enough, because she flipped the recording back to her. “This year, the parents are taking us to the middle of the forest. Are you ready to join us?” She pointed the camera out the car window, the tall pine trees zooming by in a hazy blur.

  The middle of the forest wasn’t exactly how I’d describe the four-star family camp we’d be spending the summer at, but exaggeration is the key to any good social media video. I shook my AirPod case as if that would make them charge faster. I needed some noise-canceling, head-clearing music.

  “Did you girls pack your swimsuits?” Mom asked, even though there was nothing we could do about it now, four hours from home, if we hadn’t.

  Lauren dropped her hand. “Mom, I was recording.”

  “Oh, sorry,” Mom whispered.

  “Well, I’m not anymore.”

  “I hear there’s a huge Slip ’N Slide at this camp,” Dad said, as if this was the most exciting thing a seventeen- and a fifteen-year-old could hear. “Supersized for super kids.” He laughed at his own joke, and I couldn’t help but laugh too.

  Lauren gave me the Really? look, then said, “There’s real water, too, though, right?”

  “Real water?” Mom asked.

  “A lake or something?”

  “Yes, there’s a lake and a pool,” Dad responded as he took a curve too fast, pushing me against the door.

  “I don’t know why we couldn’t just go to the camp we went to a couple years ago,” Lauren complained. “It was closer and the roads weren’t so windy.”

  “Because this year is our epic adventure,” Dad said. “Next summer Avery will be so busy prepping for college she’ll boycott a family vacation.”

  “So true,” I said, and smiled when my mom turned around to make sure she shouldn’t be offended. When she saw my face, she gave my leg a little slap.

  Both my parents had summers off. Mom was a professor at UCLA and Dad taught sixth grade and coached middle-school basketball. So most summers for as long as I could remember, we went on an “adventure.” Sometimes it was a cabin on the lake or a KOA near the beach. And most of the time, it really was an adventure. Sometimes even a good one.

  My phone vibrated ag
ainst my thigh on the seat next to me, and I immediately tensed. I didn’t want to look. I didn’t want to read more excuses. I was trying to start my perfect summer. It buzzed again. I sucked in a breath and looked at the screen. As I expected, it was from my best friend, Shay.

  I’m sorry. I can’t go the whole summer knowing you’re mad at me. It was an accident.

  I wasn’t sure how one accidentally kissed their best friend’s ex-boyfriend. Trent and I had only been broken up for a couple weeks! I had even thought we might get back together. Now I wondered if Shay was the real reason we’d broken up in the first place. They obviously liked each other. I felt stupid for thinking Trent and I had just hit a rough spot and would work it out.

  Another message popped up.

  It was a big mistake. We were both just talking about how you were leaving for the whole summer and how much we were going to miss you! Please forgive me.

  I put the phone, screen down, on the seat, as if the messages would go away if I couldn’t see them.

  “Hello, everyone!” Lauren said again into her camera. “Time for our summer trek into a wooded forest. Trees and lakes and excitement. Hope you’re all ready to join me. Say hi, Avery.”

  The recording was on me again. I could feel my eyes stinging from the texts. I clenched my teeth and willed myself to control the tears. Finally, I faced Lauren and puffed my cheeks out like a blowfish, a creature with a defense mechanism I could appreciate.

  She lowered her phone and raised her eyebrows. “Can I post that?”

  I honestly didn’t care what her fifty followers thought of me. Well, actually I did…and I hated myself for that. But she was giving me that pleading look again.

  I sighed. “Post away.”

  “Thank you!” Her eyes were back on her phone, watching the clip.

  I turned my attention to the very-much-still-there texts on my phone.

  Shay had been my best friend since the summer before third grade, when she declared me such through a fence. She’d moved into the house behind us, and we’d met one day when her ball flew over the fence and directly into my head. I’d given her ball back, and after that we talked every day through a crack for weeks before we convinced our parents to let us actually hang out. And that’s how it had felt when she told me what happened with Trent: like a ball to the head all over again—unexpected and embarrassing—except without the happy ending.

  My dad took another curve too fast.

  “Ugggh,” Lauren said, grabbing her stomach. “I’m going to be sick.”

  I scooted closer to my window. The last thing I needed was a lapful of vomit.

  Mom smacked Dad’s arm. “Slow down.” Then she turned in her seat. “Do you need a plastic bag?”

  “Didn’t you take Dramamine?” I asked.

  “Yes, Avery, I took Dramamine. But obviously it’s not helping.”

  “I was just asking,” I said.

  “You weren’t just asking. You were trying to say I had done something wrong.”

  My sister and I weren’t exactly best friends, which was why she had no idea about my crappy week or the unanswered texts waiting on my phone. Nobody knew. “I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant.”

  I caught my dad’s eye in the rearview mirror and he mouthed, “Fire and Ice.”

  For the past couple years, Dad had taken to calling my sister and me Fire and Ice. We were opposites in nearly every way. Lauren was dramatic and over the top; I was chill and go with the flow. Lauren’s looks begged to be noticed. She was tall and strong and had bright blond hair and big blue eyes. She always seemed happy, even when she was being a total grump. I, on the other hand, was one of those people who blended in. I had plain brown hair and a normal build. My smile was nice but nothing that drew stares. I did like my eyes. They were hazel, and I could say a lot with my eyes. Even though we were opposites, I didn’t love the nickname (who wanted to be compared to ice?) but I loved my dad and I knew he thought it was cute and funny, so I did what any chill person would do—ignored it.

  “Pull over! Pull over!” Lauren screeched, unbuckling her seat belt.

  Mom riffled around by her feet and Dad jerked the car to the right and stopped on the dirt shoulder. Mom held a plastic bag in the air just as my sister flung open the door, jumped out, and threw up all over the side of the road with loud, heaving retches. She was dramatic with everything she did, even barfing. She moaned, bracing her hands against her knees, waiting for another round.

  Mom turned to Dad. “Not sure why you’re in such a hurry.”

  “I’m just driving.”

  “You know she gets sick when you take the curves like that.”

  I looked down at my phone, still trying to decide how to respond.

  It’s great! I typed. Now we can compare notes and buy him extra ChapStick. I immediately erased the text. Now was not the time for a dumb joke. It’s fine, I typed this time. We’ll be fine.

  My finger hovered over the send button. Fine wasn’t how I felt. I felt betrayed and angry and confused and alone. I felt like I’d lost my best friend and my boyfriend in the same week. I wanted to give her the silent treatment for a while. But I hated feeling like this. I didn’t want to lose her. The sooner I forgave her, the sooner we could get past this.

  The muffled sound of my sister’s voice drew my attention. With her back pressed against the window, she recorded another video. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but it was probably something about throwing up. I didn’t understand her videos at all.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and pushed send.

  “Everything okay?” Mom asked. “You’re not feeling sick, too, are you? You look a little pale.”

  “What?”

  Mom studied my face.

  “No, I’m fine.” Was that my favorite word today?

  The side door flew open and Lauren’s phone appeared first. “There’s no service,” she said, sliding in.

  “Huh,” Mom responded, handing Lauren a water bottle. “Well, we are in the wooded mountains.”

  “There’s going to be service at the camp, though, right?” she asked, pulling the door shut and buckling her seat belt.

  “A summer without cell service wouldn’t be the end of the world,” Dad said.

  “What?” Lauren gasped. “What do you mean? What does that mean?” Each question got increasingly louder.

  “It said right on the website I sent both of you months ago,” Mom said. “No Wi-Fi. A chance to disengage from the world.”

  “You think we actually read that?” Lauren responded.

  Mom shrugged. “Maybe you will next time.”

  As my sister’s words finally sank in, my chest tightened and my eyes slid to my phone. Sure enough, there was a red triangle next to my text. It hadn’t sent. Maybe I should’ve been happy that the lack of cell service was fulfilling my fleeting wish of giving Shay the silent treatment, but instead I felt worse.

  “I have a channel to maintain!” Lauren whined. “My viewers are counting on me! I promised a summer of updates! This is completely and totally unfair. You have to warn us about stuff like this.”

  “Maybe this is the best thing for both of you,” Mom said, exchanging a look with Dad.

  I slid my half-charged AirPods into my ears and turned on my only downloaded playlist—Emos Need Love Too. Most of my song catalogue was stored online. So much for my perfect summer.

  Despite the fact that Bear Meadow Camp apparently resided in the last century, it was quite beautiful. Nestled in the pine trees sat a huge multistory lodge, a warm beacon of yellow light in the darkness. And behind it, the sky was a confetti of white stars. I could get used to a summer of this view.

  Dad pulled into a parking space in front of the lodge. “Here we are. Everyone grab your things and let’s get checked in.”

  My sister, for once, wa
s speechless as she stared out the window at the building in front of us. It didn’t last long. “A place like that has to have Wi-Fi…right?” she asked me under her breath.

  “Or at least a suggestion box,” I said.

  “What?”

  I pretended to write on a little note. “Please add Wi-Fi. Thank you.”

  She blew air between her lips and climbed out of the car.

  I pushed my door open and stepped out as well, joining my parents. The air had the sharp, tangy scent of pine needles and a crisp chill had me wondering if I should dig through my suitcase for a hoodie.

  “It’s cold here,” Lauren said from the other side of the car. “Is it going to be this cold the whole summer?”

  “Just after the sun goes down,” Dad said. “Isn’t this so exciting, girls?” He gave me a side hug.

  “Think of the potential!” Lauren said in a deep voice, quoting what Dad always said at the beginning of every summer trip. Sometimes I wondered if my dad was more excited about what a trip could be than what it actually ended up being.

  “Exactly,” he responded. “Our last summer together before everything changes.”

  “Are you getting a new family?” I asked, pulling out a joke before he made this too serious. I still had a whole year left of high school before college. Plus, if everything went as planned, I’d be going to UCLA and would probably live at home. Exactly how much did he think would change? I had a feeling nothing would and I wasn’t sure if I should be relieved or disappointed about that thought.

  “Maybe I can trade you all in here for younger models.” He popped open the trunk.