Stealing Third

by Marta Brown

  I miss you so much and I’m sorry it took me so long to write. I bet you’ve wondered why I haven’t responded to any of your letters yet. I told my mom to mail them to me here, but she still hasn’t. Grrr!

  We’ll be here for the rest of the summer, so start sending them to this address. Okay?! How’s Todd-the-bod? And Lucy? (Say hi to her for me, btw) And how’s your little plan going? If you get sprung, come to the Vine and see me!

  Xoxo

  K

  I fall back on my pillow, imagining the fun Kaitlin is having, and realize I’m having the time of my life, too. At camp. With Tyler. Or, at least I was.

  “Oh, Emily, you have one more.” Jenny drops another letter on my bed before plopping down on her own bunk and opening the box she received.

  I flip the envelope over and a knot twists in my stomach. It’s from home.

  Swallowing hard, I try to stamp down my nerves because they never write, but it’s useless. I’m freaked out. They always send a care package before second session begins, and of course on the one phone day we have each session, they are always quick to pick up the call, but they never write. Ever.

  I tear open the envelope and pull out a light yellow card with painted butterflies fluttering above a field of wildflowers. Summery and happy. I brace myself for the opposite to be inside.

  Hi honey,

  I hope you’re having fun at camp. We miss you very much.

  We wanted to let you know we’re going to come up for visitor’s day. We have something important to talk with you about.

  See you soon.

  Love,

  Mom

  They’re coming to visitor’s day? They haven’t done that since I was in middle school.

  A lump forms in my throat as tears pool up and threaten to pour over. I gave up my plan to get kicked out of camp and it happened. Just like I knew it would.

  They’re getting divorced and it’s all my fault.

  …

  “Good morning, campers,” Walter and Gale’s overly cheery voices blare over the camp PA system, jolting me awake.

  My eyes, heavy from tossing and turning all night, squint against the bright morning sun blasting through the windows. I bury my head under my pillow to drown out the sound and the light, but it doesn’t work.

  “Today is camp clean up day!” Walter says excitedly, earning a chorus of huffs, moans, and cusswords—and not just from me. “So, let’s rise and shine and get Camp Champ ready for our guests!”

  Ugh. I dig deeper beneath my covers, and hope I can use my ankle as an excuse to stay in bed all day and wallow like I did yesterday after mail call. Wallow about my parents. About Tyler. About everything.

  “Do we have to?” someone whines from across the room, taking the words right out of my mouth. “Why should I have to spend my free day cleaning up when no one’s coming to visit me?” the girl says, but her voice is too muffled for me to figure out who’s talking.

  I roll over and shove the pillow off my face, and see it’s Sara, with her hands on her hips. She stares at Jenny for an answer.

  I only wish having to clean all day for no one to come visit me was my problem. I’d like to tell her it’s better than spending all day cleaning just to have your parents come to announce they’re splitting up. I bite my tongue and keep my snark to myself because it’s not her fault. It’s mine.

  “I know it sucks, ladies, but let’s get out there and show the rest of the camp how Team White rolls,” Jenny claps, reminding me how little I like morning people, “and try to have some fun while you’re at it.”

  Fun?

  Fun worrying about why Tyler’s acting so weird, or whose house I’ll stay at when I’m home for breaks from college?

  “Hey.” Jenny nudges the edge of my bed with her knee, jostling me, as she snatches up Kaitlin’s postcard from my bedside table. She flips it over and then back again before setting it down, picture side up, and looking far less chippy than just seconds ago. “Tyler asked me at the counselor campfire last night to tell you Doc needs to see you today—a follow up on your ankle or something.”

  “Tyler was there last night?” I blurt out before I can stop myself.

  Jenny furrows her brows. “Yeaaaah,” she says, drawing out the word to make it sound more like a question than an answer.

  Quickly realizing I sound like a nervous girlfriend keeping tabs on her man, I try and play it off. “Was Lucy and Dave there, too? And Todd?” I toss out, trying to cover all my bases.

  “Yeah, Lucy and Dave were there.” Jenny crosses her arms, her eyes narrowing as she looks me over. “But Todd was only there for a little bit, he left early.”

  “Uh…too bad my ankle was killing me. It sounds like I missed everyone,” I say nonchalantly, before tossing off my covers. “Maybe I’ll make it tonight.” I grab my shower caddy and shoes and pad off to the shower where I’m able to take a deep breath away from her uncomfortable stare.

  The last thing I need is Jenny getting the idea Tyler and I are anything more than just friends. That is—if we still are.

  Freshly showered but still unhappily awake, I snatch up the crutches Sara managed to grab from where I left them in the dining hall yesterday morning and make my way to Doc’s office.

  With the swelling down, and the bruise already turning from a scary bluish-purple shade to a gross, but obviously healing, yellowish-green color, I wonder what Doc needs to look at considering he didn’t even need me to come in for a follow up for my concussion.

  I pop my head into Doctor Newton’s office when I get to the nurses’ station, but it’s empty, so I limp down the hall to the open exam room door where I can hear the crinkly sound of fresh paper being pulled down over the exam table.

  “You wanted to see me?” I ask, rounding the corner and then stopping short when it’s Tyler I find.

  My heart starts to race, remembering the last time we were in this tiny room alone, and I’m glad the stethoscope he’s got around his neck isn’t anywhere near my heart—otherwise he’d know exactly what the sight of him does to me.

  I let my eyes fall to the ground, unsure what to say and even more unsure what to do since the last time we saw each other my heart rate spiked as well. But in a completely different way. And not the good kind.

  “Hi,” he says softly, his tone so different from yesterday I let my eyes rise and meet his.

  “Hi.” I shift uncomfortably. “Um…Jenny said Doc wanted to see me?”

  Tyler moves around me and glances into the hall before shutting the door to the small room with a quiet click. I turn to face him and a shiver runs down my spine at our bodies being just inches apart.

  Tyler lifts his hands and pushes them into my hair so gently it’s like a rush of air blowing by. “Doc didn’t want to see you, I did.”

  He keeps his eyes locked on mine—searching for what, I don’t know—before letting out a small breath, leaning in and pressing his lips to mine.

  I take a step backwards and press my back against the door and let Tyler kiss me slow and deep, the complete opposite of the wild and manic kisses we shared against the door in his room the very first night we met.

  “I’m so sorry for yesterday,” he breathes, cupping my head in his palms after he pulls away from our kiss. “I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation—and I just jumped to conclusions without really talking to you about it—which is stupid. So can I please start over?” he asks, brushing his thumbs across my cheek bones, sincerity in every word he utters. “Emily, I’m really sorry, but I accidently—”

  “No,” I cut him off. “I’m the one who’s sorry, Tyler. I should have told you the truth.”

  Tyler’s hands fall away from my face and he looks worried as he takes a small step back. “The truth?”

  I reach out and take a hold of his hands to stop him before he can move any farther away. I have to tell him what I should have yesterday and avoided this whole mess in the first place. “The truth is…this is more than just fun to me, Tyler.
Way more.”

  “Really?” he asks, creasing his forehead, uncertainty written all over his face.

  “Yes, really.” I nod before pressing my smiling lips to his. Way, way more.

  When we finally pull apart, Tyler gives me another long, searching look that I return with a confident smile because it’s the truth—this is way more than just some fun summer fling. I’ve completely fallen for him.

  “But what about using—” he starts as the wails of a crying kid coming from down the hall, followed by Doc’s voice, interrupts him mid thought.

  “I better go and let you get back to work, but we can finish this tonight. At the dugout, okay?” I whisper, before pressing a quick kiss to his cheek and feeling lighter than a wiffle ball, now that we are okay again.

  Rubbing the back of his neck, Tyler’s eyes dart across my face before he answers under his breath, “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

  Chapter 24

  Tyler

  The deep croak of a bullfrog in the distance echoes across the empty baseball diamond and catches me off guard.

  But then again, every single noise for the last fifteen minutes since I’ve been waiting for Emily to get here has. Even the warm night air rustling the trees lining the outfield, and carrying with it the scent of summer has me on edge.

  I sit in the dugout and let her words—reassuring me this is more than just fun for her—tumble around in my mind. Having to remind myself what I read was only one small sentence in what looked like a five or six page letter.

  A letter I had no business reading in the first place. So, unless I want to admit to Emily I read her private letter, and I don’t believe what she told me today about how she feels, then I need to let it go.

  “Hey there, Slugger,” Emily says, swinging around the metal fence pole of the dugout’s entrance, a soft pink blanket draped over her shoulders.

  At the very sight of her, I let my doubt go, her smile making it hard to concentrate on anything else—let alone a stupid letter I probably misunderstood anyway.

  “Hey, yourself.” I stand up and motion to the blanket with my chin. “What’cha got there?”

  Emily walks into the dugout and drags her fingers across the chain link fence—passing me without so much as a touch—until she’s standing at the opening into the field. “Thought we could look at the stars like we did the night we met, remember?”

  How could I forget?

  The way Emily looked that night on my roof in that little black dress is seriously burned into my memory. Actually—every moment I’ve spent with her is.

  As Emily walks backwards towards the outfield, her crutches nowhere in sight, her smile pulls me along, despite my sudden uneasiness at how exposed we are.

  “Hey, maybe we should stay in the dugout so we’re a little more hidden?” I whisper, glancing around the dark empty field.

  “Don’t worry.” Emily pulls the blanket off her shoulders and lays it on the soft grass. “It’s almost two in the morning. There is no way Walter or Gale are up doing sweeps this late. So relax, Slugger, we’re not gonna get caught.” She winks.

  At that, I let out a deep breath and finally drop my shoulders. She’s right. It is pretty late, and considering she’s been coming to Camp Champ for years, no one would know better than her about how sweeps work.

  “I need to relax, huh?” I rest a finger on my chin as if in thought, unable to hide the smirk on my face. “If only we could think of something to do that would help.”

  Emily pokes my side hard, clearly getting my drift. “Very funny.”

  “I thought so,” I say, lying down on the blanket and wrapping my arms around her tiny frame, happy and content just to have her near me.

  Tucking Emily into my side, the night sky unfolds above us. “It’s so beautiful.”

  “Absolutely stunning,” I murmur, never once having looked up at the stars, my eyes fixed only on her.

  As Emily turns to look at me with moonlight shining in her eyes, every worry I’ve been shouldering falls off and sinks away, leaving only us. No misinterpreted letters—or life altering career choices. I reach out and brush my fingers across her lips before taking them in mine. No rules, no problems, nothing. Only us.

  Emily lets out a soft moan when I shift our bodies so I’m above her, and like an exploding supernova in the sky, we both come undone.

  Stripping off each other’s shirts, our hands explore every exposed inch of each other as the light summer breeze cools our hot skin. “You feel so good,” Emily breathes, arching her body into mine as I move from her lips, to her neck, and back up again, savoring the way her body responds with goose bumps.

  “I want you so bad right now,” I admit as she drags her nails across my back, sending my already hyper-senses into overdrive.

  “I…do…too…” Emily manages between pants, our hips rocking together in a slow and steady movement that’s quickly driving me to the edge.

  Shifting my weight so I don’t crush her, I brush my hand from her cheek, down her chest and across her flat stomach to the waistband of her white cut-off jean shorts.

  “Look who’s trying to steal third now,” she says, causing my hand to freeze just above the button on her shorts, but managing to send my heart pounding even faster than it already was.

  “I’m sorry. I thought…we can slow down.”

  Emily’s hand flies over her mouth to stifle a laugh, her eyes dancing with mischief. “I was kidding.”

  I run my hand through my hair, before flopping over onto my back and trying to catch my breath. “Who’s the funny one, now?”

  Emily sits up on her knees and straddles my body, her soft pink cheeks and her black lacy bra competing for my full attention.

  “You know, Slugger,” she says, lowering her body to mine until her lips are at my ear, her voice as carefree as summer itself. “There’s no need to steal third when I’m waving you home.”

  I brush my hands into her hair, roll us over so I’m hovering above her again, and start to nibble at her neck. “If that’s the case—I plan on hitting this one out of the park.”

  “Well, you didn’t get called to the majors for nothing,” Emily teases, her giggles drifting across the open field before a sudden burst of light drowns out the blackness, and her laughter along with it.

  Oh, shit.

  Scrambling to my feet, I grab Emily’s shirt from off the ground and toss it to her before snatching mine and yanking it on. I squint against the flood lights and see Walter with his hands on his hips and his nostrils flaring.

  Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit.

  “Mr. Ford. Miss Evers,” Walter growls between clenched teeth as a large vein in his forehead throbs. “Seeing how this is not the first time I’ve caught the two of you out past curfew I’m not even going to bother asking for an excuse, because I don’t particularly feel like being lied to. Again”

  “Sir—it’s not what it looks like,” I manage to get out, while Emily, whose back is to him, slips her shirt on.

  He crosses his arms and stares me down, challenging me to explain how this is not exactly what it looks like. I scramble for an answer, an excuse, anything, but I come up blank. The only thing my brain can manage at the moment is two simple words. Oh. Shit.

  “Well, tell me then, Tyler—are you a counselor?”

  “Um, yes, sir.”

  “And is she a camper?”

  “Technically a junior counselor,” Emily corrects, turning around, but it doesn’t matter. I know the rules and I know I’ve broken them.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And are you two out here past curfew? Fraternizing?”

  I drop my head, unable to say anything to defend my actions. “Yes, sir.”

  “Well then, Mr. Ford. It is exactly as it looks—and what is also clear—despite both of you passing the written camp rules test, you have managed to break not one, but two rules this evening.” Walter takes a deep breath and lets his hands fall to his side. “And seeing as I have already written
you both up once this session for the food fight you started, this would make strikes two and three.

  “But—” Emily starts to protests before Walter cuts her off.

  “No buts, Miss Evers. You have been a camper here for over twelve years and should know the rules better than anyone.” Walter shakes his head, disappointment tucked into every tired wrinkle. “I’m sorry, Emily, but I have no choice. I have to kick you out.” He scrapes his hand across his face and sighs dejectedly. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to get in trouble on purpose by how you’ve been acting this summer.”

  I whip my head around and stare at the girl standing next to me and realize it is exactly how it looks.

  Emily used me to get kicked out of camp—just like she said she would.

  “And as for you, Tyler, while I understand your job shadow with Doctor Newton makes your circumstances here at camp somewhat different; I have no choice but to fire you. There is no way I can keep you on after you’ve broken our fraternization policy. It’s really too bad, too.” Walter shakes his head back and forth, “Doc and I were just speaking about what a help you’ve been, and how we hoped to find you a permanent role in the nurse’s office next year if you wanted to come back.”

  Fired. Fraternization policy. A permanent role working under Doctor Newton.

  Walter’s words swirl around in my mind as the weight of this lost opportunity makes my limbs go heavy, while sending my anger rising as hot and high as a campfire doused with gasoline.

  She used me to get kicked out of camp. And I’m going to lose everything.

  “Sir—” I begin, but stop short when Walter raises his hand, silencing me.

  “There’s nothing left to say. Tomorrow is visitor’s day, and I need all staff on hand, but once our guests have left, I will arrange for a new counselor to take over for you and that will be that. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir.” I nod, keeping my fists clenched tightly at my sides.

  “And as for you, Emily, I’ll contact your parents in the morning to let them know what has happened and request they come and get you immediately.”