by Marta Brown
When she finally lets go, I have no chance to ask what in the hell she meant because I’m standing face to face with Coach, and a woman who I assume is Emily’s mom by their resemblance to one another.
Coach wrinkles his forehead, the same way he does when he’s figuring out the batting order before a game. “Tyler? What in the hell are you doing here?” He smiles,clamps his hand on my arm, and pulls me into the standard half-body guy hug. “This is the kid I was telling you about,” he says to Emily and her mom when we separate. “The one the minors are all buzzing about.”
“Mr. Evers, sir.” I nod, nervously straightening my shirt, which earns me a puzzled look from both Emily and her dad. Her mother looks between Emily and I and smiles. “Uh, I mean…Coach.”
“That’s better. What is this, a first date?” Coach chuckles loudly at his own joke, drowning out the sound of me swallowing. “Now, really, what’cha doing here?”
“Tyler is job shadowing Doctor Newton, Dad.”
Coach slaps his leg. “That’s right. Doc told me he was going to have one of my guys working with him for the summer. Well, I sure hope for the team’s sake you’ve been able to take advantage of the world-class features this camp has to offer athletes.”
“I’m pretty sure he’s been taking full advantage of everything camp has to offer, Mr. E,” Kaitlin chimes in before tossing Emily a smile and causing me to choke. “I mean, how could he not?” She gestures to the lake. “This place is amazing.”
I let out a choppy breath, relieved Coach didn’t seem to catch onto Kaitlin’s not so subtle innuendo as he takes in the lake. Unfortunately, it won’t be long until he figures out Kaitlin isn’t all that far off.
“Mom, Dad—can you excuse us for a second? Tyler and I have to speak with Mr. Robbins real quick.” She shoots me a look I can’t quite read, but it looks like a plea to go along with whatever she says. “It’s uh…about second session.”
Emily’s parents look surprised, but not as surprised as Emily looks when her father wraps his arms around her mother’s waist. “Sure thing, sweetie, we’ll head into the chow hall for lunch.”
Emily stares in shock, her jaw hanging open at her parent’s retreating backs as they make their way into the cafeteria with Kaitlin in tow.
I nudge her arm to get her attention.
“Oh. Um, yeah.” She blinks a few times before returning her focus to me. “We need to talk to Walter, like, right now. Come on.”
She grabs my hand and drags me through the crowd towards Walter’s office, and now I’m the one whose jaw is hanging open. “Are you trying to get us in even more trouble?” I say, lifting our joined hands and widening my eyes at her outright display of affection.
“If my plan works,” she lifts up on her toes and plants a kiss on my cheek, “less.”
“Emily, what the—” my eyes scan the crowd to see if anyone has noticed when I see my tall, lanky best friend wandering from the parking lot towards the cafeteria. “Hell?”
…
“Miss Evers, Mr. Ford, this is not a good time,” Walter says, looking up from the pile of paperwork covering his desk, dark circles ringing his eyes. “As I said last night I’ll speak with your parents after the luncheon. And as for you, Tyler, I’ll need until the end of the day to work out a counselor that can take over your cabin before I can let you go.”
“This won’t take long, I promise,” Emily says, ignoring Walter’s suggestion this isn’t the time. “I want to start off by apologizing for last night. I know what we did was against the rules, and I understand there has to be consequences for our actions.”
Walter sits back in his chair, slides his reading glasses off, and rubs the bridge of his nose. “Thank you, Emily, for your apology.” He crosses his arms and lets out a deep breath. “But I just wish you would have thought about that before breaking the rules in the first place. I’ve practically watched you grow up here—watched you grow as an athlete, and a young lady. And, needless to say, I’m disappointed. In both of you,” Walter says, leveling me with a look. I have a feeling this won’t be the last one I’ll receive before the day is out. I just hope Coach doesn’t level me with a bat.
“Again,” Emily says. “I’m sorry for both the food fight and for sneaking out last night.”
Walter’s brows lift as he waits for her to continue, but she doesn’t.
I glance at her, waiting too, as the silence in the room draws out uncomfortably until I can’t take the quiet any longer. “I…uh...I’m sorry, too, sir, for last night. For all of it really.”
“Thank you, Tyler.” Walter nods, still eyeing me. “However, as an employ of this camp I hold you most responsible for what has happened. The fraternization rules are clearly and repeatedly stated in your training manual in order to protect our campers.” Walter places the tip of his eyeglass frames in his mouth and looks at me retrospectively. “I would have thought keeping campers safe would be one of your top priorities considering your future career path.”
The sting of his truth hits me right in the gut, leaving me speechless. He’s right.
I drop my eyes to the ground, embarrassed I’ve let him down.
“It’s not Tyler’s fault, sir. It’s mine,” Emily says, taking a step closer to his desk.
Walter leans forward and sighs. “While I appreciate your candor, and your willingness to take the blame, Emily, it was quite clear last night you are both equally to blame.”
I swallow hard, remembering just exactly how clear Walter’s view of us must have been. I peer at Emily, expecting to see her looking as embarrassed as I feel, but instead she is standing firm, with nothing but pure determination on her face.
“You’re right, sir, we are both equally to blame for the food fight and for sneaking out, and again I’m sorry. But—”
“Miss Evers,” Walter says, raising his hand to stop her, probably having heard every excuse in the book. “There are no buts. You broke the fraternization rule and that makes strike three. I’m sorry.”
“That’s the thing,” Emily says, a faint smile ghosting her lips. “We didn’t technically break the fraternization rule because we’ve been together since before camp, sir.”
My eyebrows shoot up. This is her plan to get us out of trouble? To tell Walter we’ve hooked up before? Um. No.
“Miss Evers, that’s quite convenient, wouldn’t you say?” Walter drops his glasses to his desk before leaning back in his chair once again, looking completely unconvinced. “And let’s just pretend I was to believe this suddenly handy story of yours—what then, Emily? It doesn’t change the rules against campers and counselors dating.”
Emily straightens her shoulders. “But what about Lucy and Dave?” she says with conviction, like she’s been waiting for this exact question.
Walter’s face falters, and so does mine. What do Lucy and Dave have to do with this?
Expecting Walter to stop this charade, call Coach up here and let him deal with us, my heart starts to pound as she reaches back and wraps her hand around mine.
“Emily, Miss Emmerson and Mr. Miller were a special circumstance last year.” Walter stands and moves to the front of his desk, crossing his arms. “They alerted me of their relationship prior to Dave becoming a counselor and Lucy becoming a junior counselor and because of that, I was able to get the proper documentation needed to exclude them from the rule.” Walter clears his throat. “Unfortunately, this is not the same situation, and frankly, I can’t just take your word for it.”
I tug on Emily’s hand. He’s right. It’s not the same thing, and just because Emily tells him we were together before camp doesn’t make it true—unless of course you count the night of the party.
My eyes widen. The night of the party. With Kaitlin and Pete.
Chapter 27
Emily
When Tyler tugs at my hand I’m not sure if it’s to stop me from continuing, or to encourage me to keep going. Either way—I’m not giving up now.
It’s time to play ball.
&nb
sp; I try to keep my voice steady, fully aware that claiming we didn’t break the fraternization rule, since technically we were “together” before we got to camp, is a truth I’m bending almost to the breaking point. But if it can keep Tyler from getting into trouble, I’d do anything.
“Mr. Robbins, again, this is my fault,” I say lightly, despite my heart beating so hard I’d be surprised if he can’t see it thudding in my neck. “I should have remembered that Lucy and Dave had to fill out a bunch of paperwork last year, but since the rule about prior relationships isn’t clearly stated in the rule book, I guess it just slipped my mind.” I give him my most genuine smile, silently hoping this is going to work. “Had it been, you know, clearer, we would have of course followed the rules and alerted you.”
Holding my breath, he scratches the back of his neck, looking like I just might have got him on that one.
“I see,” Walter says, moving back around to his chair and sitting down. He slides open a drawer, pulls out a file folder, and plops it down on his desk. “That is a hindsight that will need to be amended for the future, Miss Evers. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. However, that does not prove you and Tyler were a couple before camp and I certainly can’t just take your word for it.” Walter clasps his hands on top of the manila folder and sighs. “You must understand this rule is to protect our campers, and if I simply took your word for it—as you’re asking me to do—before the end of the week I’d have a line out the door of my seventeen and eighteen year old campers and counselors claiming they’d been together since before camp.”
“But we can prove it,” Tyler blurts out before I can say anything. “Our friends who are visiting can vouch for us.”
Walter clears his throat. “Mr. Ford, while I’m sure that might be the case, a couple of your friends vouching for you wouldn’t do it either. I’m very sorry. But unless you can produce hard evidence of a prior relationship, there is no possible way I can allow you two to remain at camp.”
Tyler’s face falls, and it pinches my heart to see the small amount of hope he just held disappear at Walter’s hard stance—but luckily for him—having our friends vouch for us was never my plan.
Offering him a reassuring smile, I drop his hand, reach behind me, and slip a small white phone out of the back pocket of my jean skirt.
“Miss Evers, if you’re attempting to convince me you and Mr. Ford fraternizing is not grounds for your third strike, pulling out a cell phone, which is clearly stated in the camp’s manual to be against the rules, is not helping your case.”
I know it’s no laughing matter, but I can’t stop the small giggle that bubbles up. He has a point. One I hadn’t considered. I just hope the means justify the ends and I don’t end up with a third strike anyway.
“It’s not mine, I swear.” I hold up the phone and show him the lock screen photo of Kaitlin holding a sign that reads, ‘If found, please return to the saddest, phoneliest girl in the world,’ along with her email address.
You’d think it wouldn’t work, but her phone has been returned no less than three times already.
“I borrowed it from my best friend who came to visit today,” I say, sliding the phone open and launching her photo gallery. I quickly scroll through nearly two dozen selfies of her and Pete on the beach, or in her car, or making out on the beach or in her car, before I find what I’m looking for. “See.” I hand the phone to Walter so he can get a better look. “I think she has a few more of us if you scroll to the right, and if you tap the picture a date stamp will pop up,” I say, glancing at Tyler, whose smile is almost as big and bright as the one he wore that night. The night of the party.
Walter swipes his finger on the small screen a few times before suddenly handing the phone back to me, the last picture still on display. Oh. The kissing one. Oops. Although, after last night, it’s not like it’s the first time he’s seen Tyler and I do that.
Taking a deep breath, and looking somewhat relieved, Walter picks up his pen. “Well, Miss Evers, it appears you and Mr. Ford were, in fact, a couple prior to arriving at camp.” A ghost of a smile plays on his face. “And since you are correct, the rule book does not state the proper procedure in these types of…instances…I will remove your third strike. Tyler’s, too.”
I wrap my hand back in Tyler’s—despite wanting to throw myself in his arms instead—when Walter’s voice cuts through my excitement. “Now, don’t get too excited just yet, Emily. You still have two strikes on your record and we’re only half way through the first session. It’s going to be a very long summer.”
Is he crazy? How can I not be excited? I get to spend the summer with Tyler. The longer, the better.
I attempt to temper down my smile from ecstatic to grateful while pulling Tyler towards the door, not wanting to linger and risk Walter changing his mind. “Thank you, sir, and don’t worry. No more strikes. I promise.”
…
The second Tyler and I are outside he pulls me into his arms and twirls me around until I’m giggling and dizzy.
“I have no idea how you just managed all of that,” he says, keeping his arms tight around my waist after setting me back down on the ground. “But I have a feeling I don’t want to know.” He laughs.
I loop my arms around his neck and squint against the sun, smiling. “Unless you want to be an accomplice to the things I did last night that could get me kicked out of camp faster than Walter catching us making out on the baseball field at two in the morning again, then you’re probably right. But seriously, I’d do it all again to make sure you didn’t get in trouble.”
Tyler leans his head down and presses his forehead to mine. “Thank you, Emily. I don’t know what I did to deserve you risking getting into even more trouble for me, especially after the things I said last night, but thank you.”
What he did to deserve it? How about everything? And because I’m falling in love with him.
“Considering you’ve saved me about a thousand times, how about we forget about last night and call it even?” I lift up on my toes, happy to let it all go, but stop short when Tyler squeezes his eyes closed like he’s in pain. “What is it?”
“I can’t just forget the things I said to you. I was angry, and confused, and I shouldn’t have accused you of trying to hurt me on purpose. I know you wouldn’t do that, and I’m so, so sorry, Emily.”
I pull my arms back and cup his face, coaxing his eyes open by brushing my thumbs against his cheeks. And just like the night we met, his piercing green eyes take my breath away.
“No, Tyler, this is my fault. What else could you think?” I lean back so our foreheads are no longer pressed together. I want him to see how serious I am. “What you read in the letter was a joke. I mean…the part about using you to get kicked out of camp was a joke, I swear. I can go get the letter right now if you want.”
I shift in his arms to leave, but his grip tightens around my waist. “Emily, you don’t have to show me proof. I believe you.”
I take a deep breath, knowing I need to tell him the rest though. “But the truth is…I did want to get kicked out of camp—at first.”
Tucking a stray hair behind my ear, he furrows his brows as his eyes roam my face. “But why? You seem to love it here.”
“I do love it here…but my parent’s marriage is kind of on the rocks and so I thought if I could somehow get kicked out of camp and go home, maybe I could help salvage it.” I drop my eyes to the ground. “It was a stupid idea.”
Tyler pulls me into a tight hug, and I don’t know if it’s the adrenaline of the day fading, or the lack of sleep catching up with me—or just the way Tyler makes me feel—but I melt in his arms, and let my worries melt away, too.
“I get it, I do. When my parents split I was willing to do anything to keep them together. Even if it meant trying to be everything to everyone. But—” Tyler lifts my chin with his finger, a soft smile on his lips, “a very beautiful, and very wise woman once told me if I made sure I was happy, then the people wh
o love me will be happy, too. And I know that’s what you really want in the end, right? Your parents happy?”
I nod. It’s all I’ve ever really wanted. And hearing Tyler give me my own advice makes me realize what I’ve been doing to keep them together for the last year isn’t making anyone happy.
“Wow, she really is wise.” I laugh, wrapping my arms back around Tyler’s shoulders, knowing I have a lot to do to fix the mess I’ve made. “But really, thank you for reminding me what’s truly important,” I say, lifting up on my toes. “And just so you know…I am happy.”
“Me, too,” Tyler says, leaning down without so much as a glance around, no longer worried about who might see us as he presses his lips to mine. “Wait—” he pulls away suddenly, “you said ‘at first.’”
“Huh?” I ask, not following his train of thought, too caught up in the feel of his lips against mine.
“You said you wanted to get kicked out of camp… at first. But, not now?”
I shake my head.“Definitely, not now.”
“Why the sudden change?” Tyler lifts his brows, but the smile on his face tells me he knows exactly why.
“Because someone,” I say, exaggerating each word, “managed to steal my heart faster than I can steal third.”
Tyler gives me a quick kiss before unwrapping his arms from around me and taking my hand. “Todd sure does have a way with the ladies—damn that guy.”
I burst out laughing, and give Tyler a playful shove. “I know, right?”
“There you two are,” my dad says, his voice booming over the chatter of the crowd he, Mom, Kat and now Pete, are weaving through. “Look who I found wandering around aimlessly.” He looks at Tyler. “Please tell me he belongs to you.”
“Yo,” Pete says, giving Tyler a high five. “Man, I’ve missed you, dude.”
“You, too,” Tyler says as their greeting morphs into a typical bro hug. “Thanks for coming all this way to, uh…” Tyler shifts uncomfortably, looking unsure what to say before glancing between me, Pete, my dad, and Kat. “Visit?”
