Page 23 of The Perfect Deal
I had to wait until the girls were done in the showers before getting my turn. When we’d walked in, Karrie had been sitting on her bed, reading a book, dressed in a different outfit than the one she’d been wearing all day, looking fresh as a daisy. I hadn’t even seen her leave the basketball court, but then, she wasn’t a coach, so maybe it was okay for her not to be out there.
As the girls headed to the showers, she shouted after them, “You have a schedule right there by the door. Your shower assignments are highlighted in yellow. Please stick to the schedule so we can all get through this quickly and not be late to dinner.”
The girls went over and glanced at the schedule she’d made before conferring together to come up with their own schedule, I figured. They knew one another better than Karrie did and could figure it out for themselves. I didn’t even need any hot water at this point. I just wanted to rinse off so I could put on something that didn’t smell like an old gym sock.
I rummaged through my clothes and found a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, laying them out on the bed, as well as a new pair of underwear and a bra that wasn’t soaked in sweat. As I was doing so, Karrie said, “You know, you might want to come back here before them from now on. You can get your shower in while they’re still out there.”
I turned and looked at her. “I have to take the pictures.”
She shrugged. “Most of the photographers don’t spend the whole day taking pictures. As long as you get a few shots each day, what difference does it make?”
I wanted to tell her it made a huge difference, that Joshua had selected me to do a job, and I wanted to do my best, but I saw no point in arguing with her, so I let it go.
When the girls were all done with their showers, mother hen rounded them all up and took them over to the cafeteria while I finally had my turn in the shower. I was grateful to have a few moments of solitude but didn’t want to take too long. I was famished after all.
By the time I walked into the cafeteria, everyone else was already chowing down on spaghetti. I fixed a plate, heaping a ton of meatballs on top of my spaghetti with red sauce, and grabbed two breadsticks before heading to the table to set that down and then go get my tea and a huge slice of chocolate cake.
The moment I sat down next to Elizabeth, Karrie looked in my direction. I’d purposely put some space between us, but that didn’t prevent her from gawking. “You’re going to eat all of that?”
“You’re right,” I said, looking my food over. “I’m going to go grab another breadstick.” I flashed her a fake smile and then got up again to do just that while the girls sitting around us snickered.
When I came back, Karrie was deep into a conversation with the girls next to her about how it was proper to let a young man ask a girl out instead of her making the first move. I didn’t quite agree with her on that one, but I didn’t care to interject myself into the conversation.
Instead, I focused on eating. I was starving, and I didn’t really care how I looked to anyone else shoveling the spaghetti into my face. I was going to eat it as fast as humanly possible. Joshua was all the way on the other side of the room chatting with another group of girls, so there was no one there I was trying to impress. Besides, he’d seen me eat like a starving dog lots of times before.
I’d just finished my cake when Joshua walked to a stage at the front of the room. He tapped a microphone a few times to get our attention, and the room went quiet. “Thanks for your attention, kids. I wanted to let you all know that, in order to properly celebrate our first day of activities, there will be a bonfire tonight in the village circle. We’ll have s’mores, and we’ll all have an opportunity to get to know each other better. I’ll see you there in an hour.” He waved as everyone cheered.
Excitement bubbled up inside of me. I was probably just as enthralled about this as the kids. A few of the girls sitting near me were talking about how this was a chance to finally talk to a couple of cute boys, and I felt the same way. I’d get a chance to speak to Joshua, and I couldn’t wait.
I heard a loud sigh and turned my head. Karrie was staring at her clipboard, shaking her head. “This wasn’t on the schedule.”
Choking on a laugh, I sipped my tea, wondering if she’d be mad if lights out was a bit later than usual.
We went back to the cabin for a few minutes to get ready, and I helped a few of the girls pick out new clothes to change into. By the time we were all ready to go, the sun was beginning to dip below the trees. It wouldn’t be down for another hour or so, but twilight was settling in, and with the sky alight with pinks, oranges, and golds, I was feeling a bit romantic.
That feeling intensified when I saw Joshua standing near a massive bonfire. I’d seen some large campfires in my day, but never anything like this. Some of the logs were taller than he was. I was certain it had been set up with the utmost care to keep the kids safe, so I was impressed with how much trouble the staff had gone to in order to make sure everyone had a fun time.
Our eyes locked, and a soft smile fell into place across his handsome face. We’d had similar exchanges throughout the day. Never much of an acknowledgment, always just a knowing grin. It made me feel all warm inside, but I didn’t go over to him because he was clearly engaged with a few of the male coaches. Instead, I wandered along with a group of the girls from our cabin who were clearly trying to get away from Karrie.
That sounded like the perfect game plan to me. One of the girls, Tessa, reached over and grabbed my wrist. “Come on, Miss Liberty. Come with us to make s’mores.”
“Sounds yummy to me.” We picked up the pace and headed over to one of the s’more-making stations to grab everything we needed.
Behind us, Karrie called out, “Be careful now, girls. That fire is very hot!”
“As most fires are,” I muttered. Tessa, Elizabeth, and the other girls giggled, and my cheeks turned red. I hadn’t meant to say that aloud. “Sorry.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “We’re used to her after having her as a counselor last year, but it’s funny that you’re so opposite to her.”
“You’re going to make an awesome mom one day, Miss Liberty,” a tall brunette named Rhiannon told me.
I felt my cheeks flush and wondered if Joshua had seen me with the kids and felt the same. I thanked her for her kind words and headed over to the giant bonfire with the girls to make our s’mores.
Listening to the girls giggle and talk about how cute some of the boys were and including me in their conversation made me feel like I was one of them, even though I really was supposed to be there as more of a chaperone than one of the gang, but it was great sitting with them and hearing them talk about guys and their lives outside of camp as if I were just one of them.
Once we made our s’mores, we took a seat on a bench carved from an old tree. The marshmallow on mine was perfect, with a crisp outer shell and ooey-gooey on the inside. The chocolate was perfectly melted as well, and the graham cracker was nice and crunchy.
“What about you, Miss Liberty?” Tessa asked me, drawing my attention back to the group and away from my treat. “Do you have a boyfriend?”