“I’m sorry,” she called after me. “I didn’t mean it like that!”
I just lifted my hand in a wave but didn’t turn around.
After I’d changed and joined my parents, I hooked my arm in my dad’s as we walked to the front door.
“Everything okay with you?” he asked.
Lauren was right—I needed to tell him how the things he said sometimes hurt. I opened my mouth and said, “Yes, I’m fine.”
The campfire group was smaller tonight, so Maricela was easy to spot, sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the flames, talking to a girl next to her. I scanned the rest of the faces and didn’t see D, so I relaxed as I made my way around to them.
“That was the longest thirty minutes ever,” Maricela said when she saw me.
“I know. I got roped into dinner with my parents.”
“This is my roommate, Tia,” Maricela said, pointing to the girl next to her.
She looked familiar. “Hi, I’m Avery.”
“Did you know that tía means ‘aunt’ in Spanish?” Maricela said to her.
Tia laughed.
Maricela looked up at me. “I tell her that like five times a day.”
“And yet it never gets old,” Tia said.
Maricela clucked her tongue. “Sarcasm is the ugly stepsister of humor, Tia.”
“Are we not allowed to use sarcasm around here?” I asked.
“No, it’s my third language,” Maricela said. She leaned her head back. “Sit, already.”
There was an empty chair to her left. I pointed at it and she nodded.
“Your sister does the videos, right?” Tia asked.
That’s why she looked familiar. She was the roll girl in the cafeteria from day two. And the one who’d given Lauren all the info on the band. “Yes, she does.”
The fire crackled and the smoke shifted. I waved it away and moved the chair before I sat.
“I forgot to ask you earlier—how is that home drama going?” Maricela asked.
“Brooks told you,” I said, more disappointed about that than I wanted to be.
“Brooks? No, you told me the other night.” She turned toward Tia. “Avery is knee-deep in some mysterious drama at home.”
“Welcome to the club. Pretty sure that’s why most of us come up here in the first place.”
Someone across the way threw a stick into the fire, causing sparks to fly.
“Hey, watch it, Clay!” Maricela said.
“Sorry, ladies!” he called out, and the guys on either side of him laughed.
“Is that what people think is flirting these days?” Maricela asked us. “Because if that’s it, we have no hope.”
“Or maybe we do,” Tia said.
Brooks and the band rounded the cabin at the end of the row. Brooks with his long hair and confident stride. My stomach did an unexpected flip that surprised me.
“How come there’s no music playing?” Kai asked the group.
I hadn’t realized the music had stopped until he pointed it out. And just like that, the guitar was being strummed again. I thought Brooks would take it over, since he was obviously the best guitar player here, but he didn’t. He let his gaze wander until it landed on me. He smirked and sauntered over.
“Hey,” Maricela said. “How was the dinner music sesh?”
“The audience was mesmerized.”
“I thought it was great,” I said. At least the forty-five minutes I had heard.
“Oh good, we have one fan,” Brooks said with a flash of the smile that made my stomach flip again. I scolded it.
“No food tonight?” he asked, peering at the empty picnic table.
Maricela pointed. “I have some Oreos in the bear box outside my cabin if that sounds like a meal to you.”
“What’s a bear box?” I asked.
“Kai!” Brooks called. “Avery wants to know what a bear box is!”
Kai came lumbering over as if he were an actual bear and Brooks walked away, presumably to get the Oreos. “Bear boxes are those metal boxes you see outside each of our cabins. We put our food in them and lock it up so the bears can’t get it.”
“There are bears here?” I asked, and the entire group of people sitting around the fire roared with laughter. My cheeks heated up.
Maricela patted my leg. “Oh, you poor city girl. The name of the camp didn’t give it away?”
“We mostly do beach camping. I didn’t think about it.”
“Don’t be too embarrassed—Kai here cried like a baby when he first heard that a bear could break into his cabin. That’s why he’s the one who likes to tell others.”
He tapped Maricela’s shoe with his. “Hey, I didn’t actually cry, but there was lots of whining.”
“Lots of whining!” Clay called out.
I was stuck on the previous bit of information. “A bear can break into our cabin?”
Tia smiled. “Not yours. You’re in the new and improved, double-pane windows, dead bolts on doors, well-populated area of camp: the guest cabins. The bears don’t like people much. We’re on the outskirts of camp with the paper-thin windows and flimsy doors.”
Maybe I didn’t look convinced because Maricela added, “And we haven’t had a bear sighting in a long time. They mostly just pass through on their way to the Dumpsters that are clear on the other side of the employee parking lots.”
“That’s comforting,” I said, full of sarcasm.
Brooks came back holding the package of Oreos and sat in an open chair by Levi and Ian, nowhere near us. I tried not to be too disappointed.
“Any other dangerous animals I should know about? Mountain lions or something?” I asked.
“If you think bears are shy,” she said.
“Wait,” Kai said. “There are mountain lions up here?”
This had everyone laughing again and I wasn’t sure if he did that so I didn’t feel as stupid or if he really didn’t know, but either way, I appreciated it. He pulled up a chair and we all started talking about the things we were most scared of. Kai—snakes. Tia—ghosts.
Then it got to Maricela. “I think I’m most afraid of disappointing my parents.”
“Wow, that went dark fast,” Kai said. “Don’t go all deep on us.”
She nudged his elbow. “I’m serious. My parents have
