Keeping Her Secret (6 page)

“Yeah, of course,” Courtney said. “Anything for my camp BFF.” Not that she cared either way. David was a beautiful distraction, but she appreciated his six-pack and dimples the same way she appreciated Monet paintings. She acknowledged they were pretty, but she didn’t experience an emotional response to them. Not like she did with Picasso paintings.

Bridget beamed, tossing her brunette waves over her shoulder. “Besties,” she sang.

They began the long walk to the dining hall.

“Wish you could sit with me at lunch.” Bridget pouted. “Everyone in my cabin this year is so basic.”

“Me, too. My cabin isn’t any better.”

“Oh, I heard you have a new nemesis this year.” Bridget perked up at the prospect of gossip. “Gimme all the deets.”

Courtney groaned a complaint. Why did everyone insist on talking to her about Riya all the time? “Just some girl in my cabin. She helped Delores prank me before she even knew who I was, then I did the same. Now, it seems, we’re enemies.”

Bridget shot some serious side-eye at Courtney’s tone. “I thought you loved prank wars.”

Courtney shrugged, knowing Bridget would accept it and let it go. She didn’t want to explain why this time was different. She didn’t want this time to be different at all.

“Well, if you need any help, let me know. Even if you just need a lookout. It must be tough being in the same cabin with her, knowing she could walk in at any time.”

And that was, quite possibly, the most insightful thing Bridget had ever said to her, and the girl didn’t even know it. “Thanks, Bridge.”

Courtney switched the topic to David’s abs, and Bridget picked up the conversation, running full-speed with it until they walked into the dining hall.

Riya and Trey stood in an aisle halfway between their two tables, talking. Their cheeks were flushed. Riya had pulled her hair into a side braid and loose strands stuck out, caressing her shoulder. Courtney walked right by them without so much as a nod, but neither of them seemed to notice her presence. Riya was laughing, hand fisted over her mouth, her brown eyes wide with amusement.

Ugh, Courtney wished she could grab a plate and sit with her brother. But that was strictly against the rules. She’d gotten away with not sitting at her table at a couple breakfasts, but only because she’d moved from table to table, never lingering too long in one spot. Plus, it had left her starving, and she needed the energy. She planned to dance during the post-lunch quiet time.

Courtney slumped into a spot on the end, as far away as possible from where the other pair of twins and the loud-mouthed Elise sat, knowing Riya would sit with them again. Across the room, her brother met her gaze and raised an eyebrow, smirking. The bastard.

She sat up straight, raising her nose high into the air, and pulled on a practiced mask of self-importance.

Courtney smiled at Jenna and Kanda, her two friends in her cabin this year. Luck of the draw, she’d ended up in a cabin with so many jocks. Jenna and Kanda were both sweet and—even though they played sports at camp—were definitely not jocks.

Riya finally joined their table when Delores delivered the tray of food. Courtney watched her scoop heaps of mac and cheese onto her plate, then top it with veggies and a thin slice of turkey, mixing it all together. Courtney decided to try it the same way. When she looked up from mixing the dish, she caught Riya watching her with a half smile on her face.

Courtney did not look at Riya again.

At the end of what felt like a four-hour lunch, Colt sauntered up to her.

“What are you doing this afternoon?” he said.

She raised one shoulder, then dropped it. “I don’t know. I’m trying to figure out how many times Dewey will let me lie by the pool and call it swimming.”

Colt laughed. “Probably depends on which bikini you’re wearing.”

She made a face. “Gross.”

“Come on, Court. Dewey’s a nice guy.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Colt rolled his eyes. “You’re terrible. Anyway, I was wondering if you’d join me for singing. David apparently has plans to help Bridget with…something? I’m not really sure. So I need someone to keep the beat.”

He did, huh? Wow, Bridget moved fast. Courtney was an awful percussionist if it required more than two drums, but she could bang a bongo with the best of them.

“Sure, why not.” Courtney sounded bored, but she loved playing with her brother, even if she’d never say that out loud.

“You’re a goddess,” he said, making a mockery of a bow.

“I know.”

…

Instead of dancing like she’d planned, Courtney had spent the rest period rehearsing with Colt in the cafeteria. She did dance for a couple minutes, when Colt busted out some classic Tchaikovsky. One of the counselors technically taught the singing session, but Colt had been more-or-less running it going on three summers now.

They’d been discussing which song they should do for the talent competition when campers started filtering in. Campers of any age could join the class. Pairs and trios of each age group joined over the next couple of minutes until about twenty kids filled the room. Colt was telling them all to come closer when a solo figure strolled through the door.

Riya.

Jesus, Courtney couldn’t catch a break.

Colt burst into a smile. “Glad you could make it,” he said to her.

Riya glanced at Courtney before looking at Colt. She twisted the fingers of both hands together. “I figured if I’m going to make a fool out of myself in front of everyone at the talent show, I should practice, like you said.”

Colt had done this on purpose. He’d asked both of them to come without letting them know the other would be there. She glared at the side of his head, but either he didn’t notice or he didn’t care.

Riya took a seat two tables back. When she tried to fold her arms together, she whacked her elbow on the edge of the table. Her face contorted with pain, and she rubbed at her funny bone.

Courtney should’ve known better. Colt had encouraged Riya to sing in the talent show, offering to play for her. Of course he’d convince her to join the class. She considered storming out in protest until she spotted little Olivia sitting in the front row, staring at her. For some misguided reason, the little redhead looked up to her, and Courtney didn’t want to set a bad example.

So she sat there as every person in the class sang one verse of a song of their choosing, so Colt could ascertain their progress. Lastly, he called Riya by name.

“Riya’s joined us a little late,” Colt said. “She’s shy, so let’s give her a warm welcome.”

She stood up, her gaze flicking to Courtney like a nervous tick.

“I thought this was group singing?” Riya’s voice went really high at the end.

“It’s only this once,” Colt promised. “Just so I can see where you’re at.”

Riya leaned over to scratch her knee. “I don’t know what to sing,” she said.

“Anything will do,” Colt said.

Her eyes scanned the room as though she were looking for inspiration. One more peek at Courtney and she took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she drew oxygen into her lungs.

“You are so beautiful, to me,” she began to sing.

At first, her voice came out shaky and unsure, but Colt smiled and nodded, motioning for her to breathe from her belly.

She stood straighter, raising her chest. Her gaze drifted until she stared out a side window. “You are so beautiful, to me.”

Riya’s voice had always been lovely, but now there was something else, a soulful quality that hadn’t been there before. It crackled like an old record in just the right spots. Colt didn’t stop her when he’d heard what he needed to make his assessment, like he had for every other camper.

By the third line, Courtney’d forgotten herself and stared, as transfixed as every other person in the room. Riya’s brown-to-pink ombré lips wrapped around each word like a penitent caress, sending shivers down the skin of Courtney’s back.

She wasn’t sure when Riya had turned her head and met Courtney’s gaze. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t turned away, either. But when Riya’s voice slid over the final line like caramel in a luxe chocolate commercial, Courtney noticed the heat warming her cheeks. Riya’s buttery voice combined with her tender mahogany eyes made Courtney grateful for the sturdy chair supporting her.

Even though they hadn’t applauded for anyone else, the entire class clapped when Riya finished singing. Courtney didn’t applaud. She stared, blinking.

“That was wonderful, Riya.” Colt turned his head to catch his sister’s attention. “What do you think, Courtney?”

She swallowed, nodding. “Incredible.”

Riya’s chest rose slowly as she pressed her lips together, a smile pulling at the corners. “Thank you.” She dropped to her seat.

Before Colt continued with the class, Courtney spied the satisfied smirk on his face, and she had the sneaking suspicion she’d been set up.

Chapter Seven

When Riya had first been told of the scheduled nap time, she thought it was si
lly, but that day she’d laid down on her bunk after lunch and immediately passed out. She’d only woken in time to go to the next activity session thanks to Elise’s shrill voice calling for Stefanie and Tiffany to hurry up. That girl sure did pack a lot of decibels into such a small frame.

That was why she’d walked in to the singing session a little late. With all eyes on her and no crowd to get lost in, it was also the only reason she didn’t immediately turn and walk out as soon as she saw Courtney at the front of the room. Bailing would create a bigger spectacle than staying and toughing out the session. Or so she’d thought. Until Colt had made her sing solo. Her skin still crawled at the thought of singing in front of all those other people.

But the way Courtney’d looked at her as she sang, when she called her “incredible,” had left Riya in a stupor for the rest of the day. Courtney did not like her, she kept reminding herself. But there were moments when she thought, just maybe… And those moments were the worst ones, when she lowered her defenses and pictured a different future than the inescapable one.

Though she’d taken the afternoon class on distinguishing between edible and poisonous plants, Riya hoped nobody’s life depended on that knowledge because she remembered none of it. At least she knew the pasta primavera sitting untouched on the plate before her was safe to eat.

“You okay?” Dee hissed in her ear.

Riya shook her head as if she could shake her thoughts loose. “Just having a rough day.”

“Really?” Elise chimed in. “Because I heard you did so well in singing that everyone in the room instantly fell in love with you.”

Riya breathed a small laugh without smiling. “People exaggerate.” She changed the subject. “So what are we going to do tonight?”

“We could TP the boys’ cabins,” Dee suggested.

Tiffany shook her head. “There will be too many people running around for us to get away with it.”

“We could play cards again,” Elise said. “I have ten pounds of candy in the bottom of my dresser.”

The twins teased her about her candy addiction. Dee kept getting prank ideas shot down by Tiffany, who Riya was beginning to believe never agreed to participate in any of Dee’s pranks.

Before she knew it, the girls had pulled her from her funk, and they spilled out into the setting sunlight drunk on laughter.

Where they ran straight into Courtney’s crew. Courtney clung to the back of some tall ebony hunk Riya hadn’t yet had the pleasure of meeting, her legs wrapped around his hips, piggy-back style. Bridget, the pretty brunette Courtney spent most of her free time with, sat similarly upon the back of the same David Courtney’d been flirting with at breakfast the other day. The girls’ shrieks of laughter rang through the air as the boys chased each other in a circle.

“Let’s race,” David called to his friend.

Trey popped up next to Riya. “Great timing. I need a jockey.” He swept in front of Riya and bent his knees, holding his arms up to catch her. Apparently, this was a thing.

Riya glanced at her friends, who grinned back at her.
What the hey
? She jumped onto Trey’s back.

“We’re ready!” Trey announced.

“We have a challenger!” the boy carrying Courtney said.

Riya wrapped her arms around Trey’s chest, holding tight. He gripped her wrists, laughing.

“Come on, Blondie.” Stefanie grabbed Elise’s hand, tugging her behind her. “Let’s embarrass these boys.”

Yelping, Elise leapt onto Stefanie’s back. The sound echoed clear across the lake.

“Oh-ho-ho,” David shouted. “And we have a girl-on-girl team. Better grab a jockey, Chastain.”

Tiffany took three steps back, attempting to blend in with the shadows. Dee watched with an awkward smile. Colt cast about, searching for someone he knew.

Riya recognized the moment for the excellent opportunity it was. “Colt,” she called, jerking her head in her friend’s direction. “Grab Dee.”

Colt spun to find Dee, freezing for a second.

“Oh, no,” Dee said, waving her hand back and forth. “I couldn’t.”

But Colt bounded to Dee in three steps, taking her hand and twirling her around until she stared at his back. “Let’s go, Delores,” he said. “I’ve seen you on the paddleboard. You’ve got the best balance out here.”

Dee flashed a wide-eyed look at Riya, who gave her a thumbs-up. Dee grasped Colt’s shoulders, and he bent down, catching her easily and hefting her up to rest on his hips.

Grinning, she said, “My friends call me Dee.”

Colt turned his head to smile at her. “All right, Dee. Let’s kick some ass.”

She whooped in agreement.

“Who’s the dude carrying Courtney?” Riya whispered in Trey’s ear.
And where the hell did he come from?
she didn’t add.

She felt his shoulders move under her arms.

“Her new flavor of the week. It’s his first summer here. I think his name’s Derek?”

“You don’t sound sure.”

“Why bother learning their names? She’ll dump him in a couple of days, anyway.” He didn’t sound like he approved. “Poor guy doesn’t know what he’s in for.”

Riya wondered if Trey had ever been one of Courtney’s flavors of the week but decided she didn’t really want to know.

“Last one to the volleyball court is a rotten egg,” David called.

With that, their herd of piggyback riders sprang into action. Riya bounced up and down, holding on to Trey for dear life. Derek and Courtney took an early lead, his long legs giving him an immediate advantage. Other campers cleared the path for them, the guys’ shouts and girls’ screams announcing their arrival like a train horn barreling through a small town. The gravel crunched under their feet, pebbles skittering off the path. True to form, Elise’s shrieks drowned out all the others.

They passed the halfway point, the G4 cabins.

A couple feet ahead of them, Dee turned her head, and Riya caught the look of pure joy etched across her face, transformed to a glowing bronze by the golden setting sun. She looked beautiful, fierce and strong and happy—and incredibly stable. Colt had been telling the truth; she had great balance. The pair surged forward, separating from the pack, gaining on Derek and Courtney.

Seeing his friend pull ahead of him, David grunted and shifted into high gear.

Trey turned to Stefanie running alongside him. “Can’t let ’em win that easily,” he said.

Stefanie nodded. “Hold on, Chels.”

They caught up with David, passing him as Colt caught up with Derek just past Riya’s cabin. Almost there. Colt and Dee ran neck-in-neck with Courtney and her new fling.

“Go, Dee, go!” Riya called.

Twenty feet from the volleyball court, Dee pulled tightly against Colt, and he surged ahead. The two collapsed onto the soft sand seconds before Courtney and Derek crossed the out-of-bounds rope. Riya and Trey stumbled over the line at the exact same time as Stefanie and Elise.

“Third place!” Elise yelled, reaching over to high five Riya.

David came panting behind them, dropping to his knees in the sand. Bridget was the only one not laughing.

Dee lay flat on her back next to Colt, both of them catching their breath.

“We make a great team, Delor— Dee.” He gave her a side-hug.

Dee’s smile stretched so wide, Riya thought she might never be able to frown again. Riya slid down Trey’s back, stretching her toes into the sand.

“No fair!” Derek laughed, looking at Colt. “You have a freaking ninja as a jockey.”

Colt scoffed. “Dude, you have the most graceful ballerina east of the Mississippi.”

Derek turned to Courtney, who pressed up against his side. “You’re a ballerina?”

She smiled demurely, peering at him through her lashes. “I’m lots of things.”

Riya wondered what in the world they had talked about if he didn’t know about the most important thing in Courtney’s life.
Maybe they don’t talk at all
, an evil voice inside her head suggested.

“What did we win?” Dee asked, sitting up and brushing sand from her shoulders.

Courtney’s friends laughed.

“Nothing,” David said. “Bragging rights.”

“What kind of race is that?” Stefanie complained.

“Jocks,” Bridget said with a roll of her eyes.

“Right?” Courtney said.

With their muscles, David and Derek were obviously athletes, and Colt was no stranger to recreational sports. She wondered why guys got to be athletic but not singled out, while the girls earned an extra label for it. Maybe because popular guys were expected to play sports—but what were popular girls expected to do? Stand on the sidelines and look cute? None of it seemed very fair for anyone. She wondered if her new school would be different. They were basically giving her money for being good at a sport, so she had high hopes for a different social order.

Colt jumped to his feet and held a hand out for Dee. “You, my victorious teammate, have won a chocolate chip cookie, my treat.”

After a second’s hesitation, Dee took Colt’s offered hand and let him pull her up. She raised a skeptical eyebrow. “The cookies are free.”

Colt laughed. “First round’s on me, then!”

They walked the rest of the way to the bonfire field, from where the Capture the Flag game would be launched. Trays of cookies, brownies, and little bottles of water covered two six-foot tables. Her friends raided the table as if they hadn’t eaten all day. She picked at a brownie, trying to ignore how Courtney hadn’t even glanced at her since she’d left the singing class. She didn’t want to notice; she didn’t want to care. But if she’d ever been able to tell her brain what to ignore and her heart what not to care for, Courtney wouldn’t hate her in the first place.

Dee and Colt stood slightly apart from the group, lost in conversation. Dee tossed her head back, her dark waves bouncing as she shook with laughter. Colt nudged her with his elbow, grimacing exaggeratedly.

“I swear!” Riya heard him say.

Riya caught Dee’s eye and gave her a smile that said,
See?

She tried to listen to Tiffany, Stefanie, and Elise discuss theoretical Capture the Flag strategies, but Courtney kept touching Derek’s biceps and stomach. It was all she could do not to gag. A buzzing sounded in her ears.

The counselors separated them into groups by cabin numbers, cabins with A’s on one side and B’s on the other. In her group were her friends, Courtney, David, Derek, and a whole bunch of people she didn’t know.

“We’re on the same team,” Courtney squealed to Derek, leaning her shoulder into his chest.

Riya resisted rolling her eyes, but just barely.

Standing next to her, Dee stared at Colt on the other side of the field. Trey waved when he saw them watching.

“I don’t feel so great,” Riya whispered to Dee. “I’m going to head back now.”

“Okay, I’ll go with you.”

“No, I’ll tell Becky I’m sick. You should stay, see if you can catch up with Colt.”

Her friend’s eyes darted across the field to him. “You sure?”

“Yeah.” Riya smirked. “Capture the Colt.”

Dee’s tan face flushed pink. “You’re a dork,” she said, but she was laughing.

…

When Courtney’s alarm shook her awake the next morning, she stretched and smiled. Last
night had been perfect. She and Derek used the excuse of looking for the flag to take a nice moonlit stroll through the forest surrounding the camp. At one point, they’d heard weepy music drifting to them through the trees and ran away, laughing. She decided Derek was the strong, silent type. That was to say, he didn’t talk much. So Courtney carried the conversation, which was fine by her.

When she’d returned, Riya dozed soundly on the top bunk. She hadn’t noticed when she’d left, though she didn’t remember seeing her after the whistle blew. Actively ignoring Riya required her to be constantly aware of Riya and where she stood at all times. It was exhausting and counterintuitive.

Courtney slipped her clothes from her dresser and made her way silently to the bathroom. She’d set her alarm ten minutes earlier this time, hoping to avoid the awkwardness of the last couple of days. She could wait for Riya on the front porch instead of sharing their uncomfortable morning ritual again. Tossing her clothes over the door of the stall, she pulled down her shorts and plopped on the toilet seat.

Tiny popping sounds exploded in the quiet and something cool and viscous hit her legs. “What the–?” She looked down to find thick red goo splashed across her legs, her shorts, the floor, and the lower half of the bathroom partitions. Panicked, Courtney performed a quick inventory of her body, checking for a bleeding injury. Her hand smeared the gunk across her calves. The stall looked like a scene from a cheap slasher film. But, no, she felt fine. Plus, the red was too bright and thick for blood.

A tangy smell filled the air.

Ketchup!

She sprang to her feet and twirled around, then lifted the seat. Ruptured ketchup packets tumbled to the floor and into the bowl of the toilet.

That girl and her condiments.

Courtney groaned. She’d dropped her guard, and now she had to wash everything before escaping to the arts hut. At least she’d been wearing black pajama shorts, and not her trademark white ones. But then she laughed. This was a new one. And brilliant in its simplicity. She’d have to come up with something great as retaliation.

She turned a shower on and rinsed the ketchup from her shorts and legs.

When she was wiping down the stall floor, Riya stumbled into the bathroom. She’d braided her hair before bed, but wide locks had escaped to frame her face in soft black wisps. Her eyes weren’t fully open yet, and her expression reminded Courtney of a newborn kitten.

“You’re up early,” Riya said before spotting Courtney on her hands and knees, wet, pink paper towels in her right hand. She froze, then her eyes went wide, and she slapped a hand to her mouth to stifle her chuckles. “I almost forgot.”

Courtney mustered her best scowl and went back to wiping at the ketchup remnants. “You could have ruined my clothes.”

“Yeah, because the bug juice wouldn’t have stained my clothes.” Riya’s voice crackled with sarcasm.