I think about my parents and how devastated I would be if they broke up. Charlie was a baby when his parents split, so he doesn’t know anything different. I hang my head for a moment. I can’t help but feel sad about my parents. A tear falls on my dress.
“Are you okay?” he asks. Oh no! I’m crying!
“It’s nothing,” I say. I don’t want to bring him the drama.
“Want to go back inside?” Charlie asks, worried. I pull myself together and straighten up.
“I’m fine, but thanks,” I say. “My parents are going through something, and I just want things to work out.”
“They will.” He’s so confident. “You’ll see.” I can’t believe I’m here with the boy who’s been on my mind since I got here and I’m crying over what’s possibly going on at home, but I can’t help it. I miss my mom and dad, together, like a family, like the way things should be. I mean, how can Charlie be so sure that everything is going to be okay? I can’t see how. I can’t be okay with whatever happens. I don’t want to grow up without a dad. And my little brother shouldn’t have to either. Charlie seems like he did fine without his real mom. Maybe he sees something in being a part of two families that I don’t see. Or maybe Charlie’s as magical as he seems. I realize I’ve never met a boy like him before, and I am so happy I did. He makes me feel so secure. So sure. I feel his hands on my face, wiping my tears.
“I meant to tell you,” Charlie says as he lifts my chin. “You…your hair, you look beautiful.” I smile, trying to contain my heart, which beats faster and faster. I look down again, and again he lifts my chin like he is going to…Oh my gosh! Is he leaning toward me…? Is he going to kiss me? Time stops. Oh my…Wow! Oh wow! What feels like an eternity of complete shock, like joy on Christmas morning, like trying to calm the wild butterflies in my stomach, is the moment I have my first kiss. Boom! Boom! Boom! We both jump back. Are those fireworks? I can’t tell if it is my mind flipping out over the kiss or if I really am seeing fireworks. It’s both! Besides my heart throbbing out of control, the camp is putting on a fireworks show.
Charlie and I look back at each other and lean in to continue the kiss—until we hear laughter. A moment later, Sally, Tina, and Melissa fall from behind a tree. Melissa and Tina laugh hysterically, while Sally isn’t too happy as she dusts off her dress. Charlie just shakes his head. I think my face is still frozen. I am still floating on cloud nine…another concept I never understood until now. It’s really nice up here. He grabs my hand and pulls me all the way back into the gym and we dance, and dance, and dance!
I wake up the next morning in a haze. I try to get up but fall back and stare out the window at the pretty blue Carolina sky, daydreaming about Charlie. I’m not sure, but I think Cameron might have come into the room to talk to me. If he did, I don’t remember a word he said. He could’ve grown six inches taller and sprouted a mustache for all I know. I wonder if I ate. I don’t think we had anything to eat at the dance. We were busy having too much fun. Then it hits me.
I’ll be going home soon, and I wonder if we’ll be in the double Dutch competition in New York. We’re eligible, but does that mean there’s another competition we have to win? I don’t know. But then I think of the kiss again, and that we all danced until the dance was over. Charlie is much sillier than the serious boy I first met. He gave me his phone number even though my parents won’t let me have a phone yet. That’s just not cool. As I stare at the old house phone on the wall, I want to call him right now.Then I remember my mom saying that when a boy really likes a girl, she doesn’t have to be so eager. That he’ll find a way to her. Ugh! But being patient is so hard, and I’m going to miss Charlie so much! I wonder if I’ll see him again before I leave Charlotte. I sure hope so.
I can vaguely hear my uncle and aunt outside talking loudly about patio furniture. The pool is almost done, and now they’re decorating and fussing over colors, pillows, umbrellas, and other stuff. Their arguing sounds nothing like my mom and dad’s arguments, so there’s nothing to cry about. The chattering begins to take a backseat to more daydreaming of Charlie until…Sally busts open the bedroom door.
“We gotta go!” urges Sally. “Get up, Kayla! Let’s go!”
“What?” I’m so groggy. “Where are we going?” I’m trying to shake off this country sleep coma. I don’t even know if I’m awake or dreaming.
“Come on! Get up! The competition people are at the camp!” Sally yells from her room.
“What competition people?” I still haven’t shaken off the sleep. She pops into the doorway with her hands on her hips.
“The double Dutch competition!” Sally says. “Did you lose your mind last night?” Maybe. “Well, you better get Charlie off your brain ’cause we have business down at the camp now!” What’s gotten into her? Did I create a monster?
“Charlie who?” Aunt Jeanie says from down the hall. Well, this
