Camp Payback

by J. K. Rock

  “Come on, Alex. Just answer the question.” Jackie peered out the door, then dodged a Nerf football Trinity chucked her way.

  “Exactly.” Yasmine held up a brush and gestured for Piper to join her.

  Who asked Yasmine anyway? And why was Piper hurrying to her side? My fingernails dug into my palms.

  “Fine. I kissed him because I wanted to make Vijay mad.”

  Siobhan pushed up her slipping glasses and peered at me. “What happened? Last summer you were so into him.”

  “Now, I hate him.” The words burst out of me. “He dumped me after you guys left last summer…right before the last bus took us to the airport. He called me a prude because I wouldn’t, um, you know…” My eyes flew around the room.

  Siobhan’s eyes widened. “Because you didn’t hook-up?”

  “As in go all the way?” breathed Piper.

  “Aren’t you a little young for that?” Yasmine’s hands stilled over Piper’s hair, a nearly finished French braid angling diagonally across her head.

  Saint Yasmine strikes again. Piper grinned ear to ear as she ran her hands over her new style, Trinity looked awestruck, and Jackie and Siobhan nodded at the old-fashioned logic. They already worshiped her, and I felt branded with a scarlet letter “A”—or a pink glitter one at least.

  “Some girls are married at my age,” I pointed out, just to be contrary.

  Yasmine secured Piper’s hair with a clip and frowned at me. “Unfortunately true. In some countries I’ve visited, girls marry as young as twelve. You should be happy that you are free to be a girl as long as you want. Free to do everything a guy can do.”

  “Whatever,” I said, knowing how annoying I sounded but unable to help it. Her little holier-than-thou act was driving me up the cabin wall. She could have been quoting one of my parents’ books. Ugh.

  “So, because you wouldn’t sleep with him, he did what?” Siobhan’s pencil rattled along the spine of a spiral notebook. Outside, bonfire-bound campers flowed by our cabin, their laughter filling the night air. If only I could be out there, part of the fun, instead of reliving these painful moments.

  “Right before camp, my parents did their daily phone check and caught a text from him before I saw it.”

  “What did it say?” Jackie looked away from the door as the rest of the group leaned in.

  “He asked if I still wanted to be a virgin.”

  A collective gasp sounded in the cramped room.

  “As if your choice had anything to do with him.” Yasmine scowled, sliding on wooden bangles in vibrant patterns.

  Finally. Something we agreed on.

  “I know, right? Thank God my parents don’t know the message was from a camper or they would never have let me come. But they are sending me to some horrible reform-type school for girls this fall because of it.”

  Yasmine’s bracelets clanked as she waved a finger at me. “Maybe it won’t be as bad as you think. No boys there to cause problems.”

  I ground my teeth but ignored her for the sake of peace.

  “How did I not predict this would happen?” Trinity studied the stars through our window. Our resident astrologer held herself to a high standard of divination, but I was pretty sure that no arrangements of the planets could have predicted what a loser Vijay would turn out to be.

  “You haven’t heard the rest. While we were waiting in the check-in line, he texted me again, asked if I’d keep my legs closed this summer.”

  “Shut up,” Piper whispered, sounding as shell-shocked as I felt. “So that’s why you two were yelling?”

  “Yes.” I shot a look at the door, then continued. “He’s like this totally different person.”

  Trinity pulled back her dreadlocks and wound a hair tie around them. “And his aura is off. I’ll have to do a reading.”

  “I would have pounded him. What are you going to do, Alex?” Jackie’s face was pale against the dark sky behind her.

  “Stay as far away as possible. He’s a jerk and is definitely not going to ruin my last shot at some fun this summer.”

  Jackie whistled, and the screen door banged open, a breathless Emily filling the frame. “Sorry that took so long, but we’d better get going or we’ll miss out on a good seat. Alex, can you fill us all in later? Hope I didn’t miss anything juicy.”

  “Sure.” I hung back as Emily plunged back out the door.

  “So you kissed that other boy to get even with your ex-boyfriend?” Yasmine made a disapproving noise and moved to follow Emily, the rest of the girls following like ducklings.

  Did we have to be dutiful, good girls all the time and constantly take the high road? Was it so wrong that I had wanted to get back at Vijay for those texts? At my parents for ruining my life?

  “It’s not like I planned it. Give me some credit. But Vijay isn’t part of my summer plan. Javier is.”

  The girls stopped and turned, their eyes on me.

  “What’s your plan?” Yasmine asked.

  I dropped my hoodie back in my suitcase.

  “Fun. Starting now.”

  A few minutes later, we took our seats on a log behind the Wander Inn boys, including the new-to-camp chess champ Siobhan had been eyeballing over dinner, Rafael Someone-or-Other. Julian, one of Vijay’s friends, whipped around and gave me a quick smile.

  My breath rushed out in relief. At least Vijay hadn’t poisoned all the Wander Inn guys against me. Our cabins had been friends for years, winning capture the flag competitions and cheering each other on in volleyball tournaments. That had to mean something.

  I looked away when Vijay glanced over his shoulder, not wanting to see this other boy—this mean version of my old crush. Instead, I poked ticklish Piper who, as if on cue, began to laugh. I joined her, whooping loud enough to convince everyone but myself what an awesome time I was having.

  Then I spotted him. Javier.

  He stalked behind the Warriors’ Warden group, his fierce scowl broadcasting that he’d rather be any place but here. It surprised me he’d come since he technically wasn’t a camper. But Emily had explained on the way that, because of his age, Gollum wanted him to participate in activities as much as his job let him.

  Suddenly, his piercing eyes met mine, their dark depths glittering in the flickering light. My heart seized, and my fake giggle stopped at his scornful look. Was he still mad at me? When his narrowed gaze shifted away like smoke, I half-regretted dragging him into my personal drama. Either I’d been wrong about him as a fellow troublemaker or he just flat-out didn’t like me.

  Maybe I should leave him alone. But another look at his gorgeous profile changed my mind back again.

  “Alex, would you do the honors?” Emily handed me the lanyard bag. Great. Now everyone would have a reason to stare at Miss Wholesome-Home-Girl-Gone-Wild instead of pointing and whispering like they were now.

  I stood. It was the least I could do for Emily. “Sure.”

  Emily raised her hand, one finger pointing skyward until the group quieted. Bam-Bam stood beside her and gave me a nod that got me passing the bracelets out.

  “These are Secret Camp Angel friendship bracelets, in the spirit of paying it forward,” Emily announced.

  “What’s that mean?” called Cameron, one of the Warriors notorious for his unlimited access to camp contraband. “Can we make money?” Bam-Bam cleared his throat. “It means if someone does something nice for you, you’ll do something nice for someone else instead of paying them back. That’s paying it forward.”

  “Right!” Emily nodded, her clip swaying with the overload of springy blonde curls. “So the person whose name is written on the paper inside the band of the bracelet is your secret friend. You are responsible for doing at least three nice things for them without revealing who you are. We’ll be spreading camp kindness all through the summer. Awesome, right?”

  A few kids rolled their eyes or mumbled, but most looked interested. Quirky Emily…she always came up with good ideas.

  Brittany, a girl in th
e Divas’ Den, spoke up. “Can we do more than three nice things?”

  “Definitely. That’s the spirit!”

  I passed Brittany a lanyard, the strip of paper with the name of her secret friend woven into the braiding on the inside. No wonder Lauren had become friends with her last year. In fact, there were a lot of nice girls in the cabin we’d loathed until Lauren brought us together last summer. I even managed a smile for their redheaded ringleader, Hannah, which she didn’t return.

  “Heard about your lame kiss today,” she whispered, snatching a leather strip from me. “Next time, maybe save it for someone who wants it?”

  “How do you know he didn’t want it?” I shot back, my spine straightening.

  I spent ten months a year holding my tongue. I had no intention of letting Hannah walk all over me during my camp time. But then—weirdly—Julian turned around and exchanged some kind of look with Hannah and she got all… moony-eyed. What was up with that? Then she sighed.

  “Hey, I’m just trying to help you out, okay?” She grabbed two more lanyards and shoved them at other girls from her cabin. “But if you want Vijay to keep spreading rumors about you and the cook—”

  “Let’s keep it moving, Alex!” Emily called, cutting off whatever Hannah had been about to say. “I see some campers who still need lanyards over here.”

  Hannah was already peeking inside her wristband to see whose name she’d gotten, so I left the Divas’ Den girls to pass out the last few bracelets. This problem with Vijay was not going away soon. I planned to become a camp legend because of things I really did, not what Vijay said I did—or didn’t—do.

  I thought this would be my summer to get back at my parents. But Vijay seemed determined to make trouble for me—and not the fun kind. Unsure how I was going to handle that, I realized my basket was empty except for one last lanyard.

  Mine.

  Taking a place at the back of the crowd, I reached in the basket to retrieve my bracelet. The workmanship was nice—a brown-and-yellow weave that hid a paper slip inside. I had to bring the wristband closer to my eyes to see the paper better in the dark.

  Javier. Kovalev.

  I laughed out loud as I tucked the strap around my wrist and tied the ends tight. I guess leaving the new kid alone was no longer an option. And lucky for me, I’d be seeing him tomorrow when our punishment began.

  Cleaning up the mess hall had never sounded so appealing.

  Javier

  “Dude.”

  A voice near my head woke me. It was still dark.

  I usually woke up fast from years of foster home B.S. You never knew when you’d get jumped by one of the other kids or have your stuff stolen. But this morning, I was still foggy. It took me a minute to remember where I was. And why the hell had I been dreaming about a girl with green eyes?

  But the pine-scented air reminded me. I wasn’t fighting for a breakfast, and I hadn’t pissed off another foster father. I was at summer camp, and I’d been remembering Alex. And our kiss.

  “It’s not even dawn yet,” I muttered, scrambling to sit up and figure out who was in my face in the middle of the night. My hands groped for my duffle bag, but it was still on my bed, safe between the wall and my body.

  Blinking through the dark, I could see the shadow of my counselor, Rob. He stretched out his calves, already dressed in running shorts and a T-shirt.

  “I like to run before breakfast. A lot of the guys go with me. You want in?” He switched on the overhead light, and the whole cabin groaned.

  “I’m supposed to help with breakfast.” I wasn’t much of a joiner. And this summer wasn’t going to be any different.

  Rob frowned. “Gollum told me you could take off from work sometimes.”

  Around us, the other guys were waking up. The funny one—Eli, I thought—made a snarl of protest as he punched the floor. I figured that must be normal for him because no one paid any attention.

  Until Cameron flung an empty pizza box at him like a Frisbee.

  “You’re dead when I wake up, man,” Eli threatened, never moving. “That one had the Greek olives. Pepperoni I can deal with. Olives? You’re now my mortal enemy.”

  “Shut. Up.” The big shadow in the corner—they called him Buster, but I had no clue what his real name was—didn’t move.

  “Come on, Javier,” Rob urged, his stretches moving to his quads. “Camp is only fun if you’re all in. You’ve got to eat the marshmallows and do the trust course, you know? Have the full experience.”

  “I’m here for the girls.” Cameron pulled a tank over his head. “I’m getting Kayla back this summer. Hey, new guy?” He turned toward me all of the sudden. “You’ve been warned, right? We’re cool, but no one else hits on my girl.”

  “The girl who doesn’t want him.” Eli hurled the pizza box directly into Cameron’s back.

  “I’m not here to hit on anyone.” I lifted my hands in the universal declaration of innocence and pushed back the memory of Alex’s arms around my neck.

  “Your eyes were all over Alex Martineau yesterday.” Eli sprayed enough deodorant on his pits to quarantine the whole cabin.

  I ducked, but a few drops hit me anyway.

  “My eyes are burning!” Cameron screamed, grabbing a blanket off his bed and tossing it over Eli and the deodorant. He wrestled them to the floor while Eli shouted.

  “Idiot! What is your problem?” Eli’s muffled protests ended when Jake, a kid who was kind of a Rob-clone, kicked Eli’s butt through the blanket.

  “Enough, guys. Let’s go.” Jake had a stopwatch and running shorts, his spiky hair and toned arms all suggesting a fitness buff. “I’ve got a personal record to beat.”

  “You sure you don’t want to run?” Rob asked me again.

  I didn’t mind running, but I figured it was probably better to get to the kitchen early and help Helena. Besides, even if these guys turned out to be cool—and the jury was still out on that—I didn’t let myself get too close to people. They didn’t disappoint you that way.

  “I’m good.” I grabbed my bag to hit the shower. “You’ll probably only see me when I’m not working in the kitchen, which won’t be often.”

  The other guys groaned or shot me sympathetic looks, but I was proud of earning my way. Didn’t want their pity. I’d felt lucky when Helena, who travelled a lot looking for kitchen work, landed this job and offered me a chance to come along. If it hadn’t been for her going to bat for me with social services, I would have been sent straight to the group home after getting kicked out of my last foster home. She’d said it was the least she could do since her record for writing bad checks, the same crime my mother committed, meant she couldn’t be my legal guardian.

  So feeling sorry for myself because I couldn’t play in a volleyball tournament? Sing a campfire song? Not going to happen.

  “Cooking?” Cameron released his prisoner and sat up on the blanket on the floor. “Like making food we’ll be eating?”

  “Seriously?” Eli clawed his way out from under the blanket. A deodorant cloud wafted out with him.

  “Yeah.” I shrugged on a clean T-shirt for the trip to the shower. “I like to cook. And it’s going to help me save money for—uh—college.” I didn’t mention my mom. There was only so much these guys needed to know.

  Eli’s nose wrinkled. “Do you even know how to cook?”

  That was his concern?

  “I like to use a lot of olives.” I said it totally straight-faced, so it took a second for Cameron to crack up.

  But he did. I got a high-five out of it, too.

  “Good one, man.”

  Buster, still under his blankets, gave me a shout-out, too.

  “If I find olives in my food, there will be deodorant every day!” Eli shouted while the rest of the guys shoved their way out the door. All but Buster and me. “Every day. Do you hear me?”

  If it weren’t for Alex trying her damnedest to get me kicked out of camp for inappropriate P.D.A., this summer might not totally suck.
I planned to ignore her. Keep my nose clean. Helena had bought me a second chance this summer, a place to be for the next few weeks until my mom could finish her sentence and get me out of the foster system. Reclaim me. But that couldn’t happen if I made trouble at camp.

  Or Alex and her famous parents with their TV show made trouble for me. If she thought she could start anything during our kitchen punishment, she was in for a surprise. I had to stay on my best behavior for two months, and no amount of girl drama was going to distract me.

  But dreaming of her—the way her arms had felt around me—had eased something I couldn’t put a name to until I’d toweled off later from my shower.

  Loneliness.

  ……………….

  Breakfast went by faster than I’d imagined, and before I knew it, I was alone with Alex in the mess hall, Helena washing dishes in the kitchen area.

  I squeezed a rag over the cleaning solution bucket and couldn’t resist another look at her. She was so damn pretty in a lacy top that showed off her tiny waist, her lean legs exposed by shorts that just covered her curvy butt.

  I slapped my wet towel against the table and scrubbed, wishing I could erase her from my mind that easily. If she hadn’t kissed me, would I be so attracted to her? I snuck another look at her soft chin and big eyes. Nah. I’d think she was hot no matter what.

  “Javier, I’m sorry about what happened.”

  Her voice was a low alto that made my insides do something funny. I jerked my chin without looking up and went back to work. I needed to hold on to my anger at her. Otherwise, I might give in to what I was really feeling.

  “I mean about the kiss,” she continued, her voice louder. Closer. “It was totally my fault because I wanted to get even with this guy for calling me a prude.”

  My cloth kept moving in larger circles as I neared the end of the table. I’d taken Mr. Woodrow’s suggestion and reread page twelve in the handbook. Five times. But knowing that I wasn’t allowed to engage in “physical relations” with a camper didn’t make me stop wanting to. Even if I was still mad.

  “Did you hear me?”

  Her question, spoken beside my ear, made me jump and knock over my bucket. Water splashed on me and the floor.