Eternal Spring A Young Adult Short Story Collection (4 page)

Ian stood, and held out a hand to me. He gave me the most
adorable look of regret as I stood up too.

Scott clapped Ian on the back and pulled him along. “What a
nightmare! I didn't know what was going to happen. I did
good
though, right? I didn't even scream when I saw him.”

Ian's popularity among the campers was through the roof, and
I hadn't spent two minutes with him yesterday or today. The longer I went
without seeing him, the more I started to look for him. After our dinner of hot
dogs, I told Sophie to go ahead with the other girls while I waited for Britney
to return from the restroom. When Ian and Scott gathered their group to walk to
the campfire, I found myself following along behind. If Britney hadn't called
out to me as I stepped out the door, I would have left her alone. I would have
forgotten her!

I covered really well by telling her I was going to wait on
the porch. At least I hadn't hurt her feelings. Still, I had almost made a huge
mistake, and all because of a guy. I had to get my head straight. As Britney
and I skipped down to the lake… What? I let her talk me into it. Anyway, I
promised myself that I would stop obsessing. I wasn't going to get any time
alone with Ian, and I was going to focus on my job.

At the campfire, I managed to avoid looking at Ian. Okay, I
looked once. Or twice. Both Owen and Maggie stayed by his side at all times.

Sophie and I had decided to have card night at our cabin
before bed. I let Sophie go ahead on her one-hour cell phone break while I
supervised a Go Fish tournament.

When Sophie returned, she decided to start a second
tournament. I didn't want to leave, but I'd promised my parents I would check
in tonight.

I walked up to the great room. I didn't see any of the other
counselors on my way. When I pulled open the front door to the building, I
expected to find one or two other teens there. Instead, the room was empty.

After grabbing my phone from the desk drawer, I snagged the
remote to the giant television. Then I pounced on the couch. I set my cell
phone alarm for fifty-six minutes later and dialed my parents. After promising
I was healthy,
well-fed
, and behaving, I said good
night to each of them.

With fifty-three minutes left to enjoy the luxury of the
empty great room, I kicked off my Keds and stretched my legs out on the sofa. I
needed a blanket and a giant soda, and I'd be in heaven.

I clicked the remote to bring up the channel guide. Sophie
had probably spent her whole hour texting or talking, but I couldn't imagine
anything better than an hour of peace.

Until the front door opened and Ian walked in.

Suddenly, I knew the best way to spend my hour. I tried to
play it cool. He probably had calls to make, and he wouldn't have any time for
me. I selected the first decent show I saw and turned it on.

“Well, don't you look comfortable,” he said with a big
smile.

I smiled back, fighting the urge to sit up. “If only I had a
blanket,” I managed to say.

He walked past and I pretended to watch the show. He'd get
his phone and make his calls, and I'd see him for a few more seconds before I
had to leave.

I was wrong.

“Your wish is my command,” he said, handing me a patchwork
quilt.

“Where did you-?”

“I know all the secrets,” he said.

“Can you find a Coke?”

“I wish,” he said as he came around to the front of the sofa
and sat down at the other end.

My feet were practically touching him. Thank God I'd worn
socks today.

He took the quilt and spread it over both of us. “You don't
mind sharing, do you?”

“Of course not! Thanks.” After that, I couldn't think of
anything to say. Finally, he started messing with his cell phone.

I'd been waiting for days to talk to him. What was wrong
with me?

Not looking away from his phone, Ian said, “Thanks for
helping with Max.”

I pounced on the opportunity for a conversation. “How is
he?”

My heart pitter-pattered as Ian tucked his phone into his
pocket. He was choosing me over his phone!

“Not great. He'll be in the Council's Atlanta Hospital for
at least a month.”

“Poor kid. I never even asked what he did wrong.”

“I don't think you want to know.”

“Why not?”

“He used a charm to help him see through walls. I think he
was trying to snoop on the girls in the shower.”

“Really. The girls?”

“Okay. The counselors.”

“Yikes.”

“I guess some kids don't need to hit puberty before they
turn lecherous.”

I shuddered at the thought of being spied on. “When did he
do this charm?”

“I don't think you want to know.”

When he glanced down, his wavy brown hair fell into his
eyes. “Super.” I almost wished I hadn't helped the kid.

“If it's any consolation, it will give him something to
think about for the next couple of months.” He barely finished saying it before
he started laughing.

“Eww. Not helping.” Had the twerp really watched me in the
shower? Better Sophie than me.

“His neck is about six feet long. Even if he did misbehave,
I feel sorry for him. I'm not sure how he's going to eat. The food has a long
way to go.”

“He'll probably get to live on milkshakes.”

“Probably.”

My stomach reminded me that I'd only eaten one hot dog at
dinner.

Ian sighed. “I could go for a milkshake.”

“I wish.”

“Hang on.” He moved the quilt and stood up.

Sitting up, I crossed my legs to make more room on the sofa.
“Are we breaking in to the kitchen?”

He laughed. “No.”

I watched him walk over to the bookcase by the desk. He
moved a few books and pulled out two vanilla pudding cups.

“No way!”

He reached again and came up with two spoons.

“You are my hero!” I said.

“I stashed them in here the other day.” He handed me a spoon
and a pudding and sat back down.

I peeled the foil off the top. “This is so much better than
the granola bar hidden under my mattress.”

I started to dip my spoon in, but Ian held up his pudding
cup as if to make a toast.

“To us,” he said, and then he bumped his cup against mine.
“We make a good team.”

We were a team? I so wanted us to be a team.

I couldn't think of anything to say, so I just sat there,
holding my pudding and smiling at him.

Did he actually like me? Boys had liked me before, but never
the ones that I liked. Their declarations of love always resulted in awkward
and messy attempts to avoid hurting their feelings.

Ian was not the kind of guy I'd push away. I'd never seen
eyes like his, like flecks of honey in warm chocolate sauce. I wanted to move
closer, to really see them, but I couldn't without making it obvious that I had
a thing for him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the front door open. I
wanted to scream, “Go away!”

The cuter Greg came in. He gave us an inquisitive look.

“Hey, Greg,” I said and scooped some pudding into my mouth.

“Hey, man,” Ian said.

“Do I really get to talk to two people my own age? The
non-stop babysitting is overwhelming.”

“I hear you,” Ian agreed.

Walking over to us, Greg said, “Are you kidding me? Where
did you get pudding?”

With a sigh, Ian stood up. “I guess we'll have to buy your
silence.” Then he went to give Greg one his puddings.

I took another bite and pretended Greg wasn't interrupting.
Before long, my alarm beeped. “Gotta go,” I said, hoping Ian would decide to
walk with me.

“G'night, Emma,” Ian said.

“See you at breakfast,” Greg said.

Friday, our cabin was in the middle of our morning chaos
when a frantic child from the other boy's cabin knocked on the door. “Mrs. L
says for Emma to come to cabin four right away.”

He ran off before I could ask any questions.

I slipped into my sneakers, yelled to Sophie, and ran after
him.

When I got to cabin four, I saw a boy lying on the bed,
struggling to breathe. He was turning a little blue, but that clearly wasn't
his punishment. His punishment was the giant pair of kangaroo feet that poked
out from under the quilt. Mrs. L and the two Gregs were busy examining every
inch of him.

“What's wrong?” I asked when I found Ian.

“We don't know.”

The boy's face was all rashy, and I looked at his hands.
They were too.

Ian said, “All we know is that he made candy out of some
leaves.”

“Emma, see what the children know. Ian, check the bathroom
for any traces of the potion he used.”

I rushed outside to see what the boys had seen. Trying not
to scare them, I said, “Do you know what he ate?”

“Candy.”

“What kind?”

They shrugged.

“Did he give some to anybody else?”

“No,” a kid with glasses said.

“He tried to give me a piece,” one boy answered. “I didn't
eat it.”

I nodded. “Because it is against the rules?”

He shook his head. “No, because it looked like poison ivy.”

The rash on his hands and face! “You saw the leaves?”

“No, but the candy had three leaves, and I was afraid he
used poison ivy.”

I turned and ran back into the cabin. “Poison ivy! He made
the candy from poison ivy.”

“Of course,” the director said, relief evident in her voice.
“Ian, get my medical kit.”

Ian mumbled a charm and the kit appeared in his hand.

Mrs. L pulled out a syringe and stuck the kid in the arm.
“Scott, carry him to the van. The rest of you get the other campers under
control.”

The campers were quiet and the mood had turned gloomy as we
all watched the van pull away.

“I guess we need to feed them,” Ian said.

When we got to the kitchen, we discovered that Mrs. L had
been interrupted in the middle of cooking breakfast. Ian grabbed a spatula and
tossed the charcoal-like remains of pancakes from the grill into the sink. He
turned off the grill.

“What do we do?” I asked Ian as I ran water over the charred
mess.

“I know where the emergency cereal is,” he said. “We're
covered.”

I went to the cabinet and pulled out the Styrofoam bowls. “Are
there any fruit loops in there?”

Ian set three giant boxes of cereal on the cabinet. None of
them were fruit loops. Then with a gleam in his eye, he pulled out another box
and said, “We're saving these for ourselves.”

Shouts from the other room sent terror through my heart.

“Ian, help!” Sophie yelled.

“Something's wrong,” I said, and the two of us ran to help.

Scott and one of the Gregs were standing with Owen. Only it
wasn't Owen. It was another camper with an elephant trunk.

“Owen!” Ian yelled. “Where are you?”

Sophie motioned from across the room. We ran over to see the
real Owen lying on the floor. My heart sank when I saw that he was lashing
about desperately.

“What happened?” Ian asked Sophie as he crouched beside the
boy.

“He must have used a charm on Tyler,” she said.

Owen whimpered, and Ian started feeling Owen's torso, then
his arms and legs. Finding nothing, he gently touched Owen's trunk. “Talk to me
Owen.”

Owen made muffled sounds, and finally Ian lifted the trunk
to reveal his mouth.

The boy had fish lips. A tiny little mouth and fish lips
where his mouth had been. The opening was smaller than a dime. Smaller than an
app icon on my iPhone.

“Oh crap!” Sophie said.

“He was breathing through his mouth,” Ian said, frantic now.
“He can't breathe through the trunk, and this tiny hole is practically
useless.”

Owen thrashed on the floor.

“Get everybody out of here,” Ian said. “Take them to the
great room, Sophie. Emma, when I'm finished, you need to calm him down. Scott,
take Tyler down the lake, he likes to be outside.”

Oh my God! We were going to have to give Owen a tracheotomy
with a ballpoint pen like they had on that TV show.

As the kids rushed to follow Sophie, Ian started chanting.

Owen calmed, and I could see his chest rising and falling as
he breathed.

“How did you-?” I looked at Ian and saw that he no longer
had a mouth. Instead, he had a tiny fish mouth with itty-bitty fish lips.

 
I gasped, and
Ian's face turned a deep red. I could see the misery in his eyes.

Owen started crying, and I turned back to him.

“It's going to be fine, Owen. You can breathe now. You don't
have to worry anymore.” I glanced around for Ian but he was gone.

The boy sat up and threw his arms around me, holding me
tight.

“You're okay now,” I said, rubbing his back as his tears
soaked my shoulder. “You're okay.” How had Ian done that? He'd assumed Owen's
punishment somehow. I didn't even know it was possible. "Poor baby,"
I said to the weeping boy. Poor Ian. How long was he going to be stuck with
that fish mouth? How would he eat? How would he talk?

All day long, I tried to find Ian. He wasn't anywhere to be
found.

When I finally got my cell phone time that night, I stopped
by the boy's cabin, but he wasn't there either.

I couldn't think of anything but Ian. I'd comforted Owen
until he'd calmed down. Then he'd spent the day with the director. Who had
taken care of Ian?

He was a hero. I don't know if I would have done that even
if I had known how.

Tomorrow morning, the campers would climb back onto the
school bus and go home. Mom was coming to pick up
me and
Sophie
soon after.

I had to find a way to see Ian.

My plan to stay up and sneak out after the campers and
Sophie fell asleep didn't work out. Every time I thought it was clear, I'd hear
a whisper or a muffled giggle. I cocooned myself in my covers and waited, but
the next thing I knew, it was daylight. I woke up scratching my leg.