Unlikely Allies (4 page)

Not being one to shy away from an uncomfortable
situation, I met his stare head-
on as he swept his eyes over my appearance. I cringed when I
saw him take in my still sandal-
clad feet and long dress peeking out beneath my jacket. He turned away in obvious disgust, but not before I saw him mutter what could only be “beach bunny.”

Grrrr
, that was one thing Amy and I didn’t see eye to eye on. I wasn’t sure if she was just too sweet to see it, but Mason was definitely an ass with a capital A.

As we all settled in at the table, Rick introduced me to the other campers
,
and I tried to mentally ma
tch up the names with the
faces. Travis wa
s easy since he was the one who
had pulled Amy's hair earlier. Liz and Courtney were obviously the counselors of the other girls’ dorm, and both seemed nice. They were quieter than Amy, but most people were. Ryan and John were the other two male counselors
,
and they instantly made me feel at home by including me in their conversation. I liked Louise as much as Amy had promised I would. Although she seemed rough around the edges, I could tell she cared a great deal for everyone here.

Rick sat beside me and asked me questions whenever Amy wasn't dominating my attention. With one exception, everyone was so nice that I was really starting to relax and not feel so out of place.

Mason continued his laser like
stare throughout the meal. I wanted to say something, but instead just ignored him, acting like I didn't care. In reality, his hostility completely threw me for a loop. Being hated was a new experience for me. I had pretty much hung out with the same crowd all through school
,
and for the most part
, my life was drama-
free.

"What crawled up Mason's butt?" I heard Courtney whisper to Liz as we helped Louise clear the table.

"I'm not sure. I've never seen him look so sour," Liz said, smiling at me as I helped her carry the condiments to the kitchen.

My heart sank. I’d heard from enough of the group now to understand Mason’s attitude since I arrived wasn’t normal. Obviously, it had something to do with me.

I stood with the refrigerator door open, stewing on my revelation, even after I had returned the ketchup and the mustard.

"The camp can't afford to restock the food when it all goes bad because you can't figure out where to put the condiments," Mason said behind me.

I groaned silently, ready to strike, but quickly counted to five in my head as I closed the refrigerator and turned to face him.

Trying the more diplomatic approach, I pasted a smile on my face. "Look, we obviously got off on the wrong foot, but maybe once we get to know each other we'll realize the other one isn't all that bad."

"Look beach bunny, I don't need to know you better to know how I feel about you," he said as he turned and walked away.

"What a dick," I muttered through gritted teeth, making sure no one was looking before flipping off his retreating back.

It was going to be a long six weeks.

Once the table was cleared off and the dishes were all washed and put in their proper places, Rick turned on some music while the guys grabbed a stack of board games and cards from a closet on the far side of the room.

"You ready for this?" Amy asked with sparkling eyes.

"For what?"
I asked confused.

"Mad Dash Games," she declared.

"Mad Dash Games?"
I asked, raising my eyebrow questioningly.

"We have three different games going on at the same time and each of us will play all the games at the same time. Rick sets the timer giving you five minutes at each station. Your goal is to progress in the game as far as you can before
the
timer goes off and you have move to the next station. Got it?" she asked.

"I think so," I said a little confused, but not wanting to admit it.

She gave me a quick one-
armed squeeze. "Trust me, you'll love it," she promised.

An hour later, I had to agree with her. My side ached from laughing
so
hard as grumbles erupted throughout the room each time the buzzer went off. By the time it had gone off for the fourth time, I was groaning just as loud as everyone else. Just when you began to build momentum the buzzer would sound and you were forced to take over the spot of someone else. We played Mad Dash
Games for more than
an hour before Rick finally called out the winners of each station. Louse declared me worth keeping around when I dominated in the UNO category.

"Looks like Mason has been dethroned as the UNO king," Amy happily chortled, skipping to my side.

I couldn't help sending a smirk of satisfaction Mason's way.

Once the games were stowed away, we hung around talking, giving me the chance to get to know everyone a little better. With the exception of Mason, I really liked Rick’s staff. Louise proved to be just as colorful as Amy had described. It was cracking me up to watch her policing Amy, just waiting for her to slip and drop a swear word.

I took a pee
k at my watch to see it was eleven o’clock. No wonder I was starting to yawn so much. Today was a long day and I didn’t complain at all when Rick shooed everyone off to their cabins, declaring that we all had a long day ahead of us
tomorrow. I threw a tired
"
good night
"
his wa
y as Amy and I stumbled
toward our cabin.

Chapter 3

I woke up the next morning with chattering teeth. “Mother of pearl, it’s flipping cold in here!” I griped, pulling my blanket up over my head so my breath could warm the space under my makeshift tent.

“LOL, I told you to borrow a pair of my pj’s,” Amy said, heading to the bathroom in a cute pair of polar fleece pajamas I would have traded my soul for at the moment.

“How was I supposed to know it would be BFC in here at night,” I said, leaving my bed only long enough to snatch one of
the blankets off
one of the bunk beds.

“BFC?”
Amy asked, standing in the bathroom doorway.

“Bum Focking Cold!”
I teased, pulling the blanket off my head to grin at her.

She lau
ghed. “I swear we could be long-
lost sisters. You sure you didn’t have a twin that was snatched at the hospital by some freak-o,” she joked, spreading toothpaste across her toothbrush.

“I wish,” I said, laughing at how morbid we sounded.

“Me too
,
chick-a-
roo
, me too,” she said, heading back into the bathroom to finish brushing her teeth.

“That’d be sweet,” I said, smiling as I finally got out of bed. I was relieved that Amy and I had hit it off. Sharing a cabin with someone I couldn’t tolerate would have been major suckage.

Still shivering, I hastily pulled on a pair of my new jeans and one of the l
ong-sleeved flannel shirts
I had been convinced the day before that I would never wear. I sighed with relief as the soft material instantly began to warm my chilled skin. I mentally kicked myself for not getting more shirts, who knew flannel would feel so freaking good.

“You
'
bout ready, chica?”
Amy asked, pulling on a hoodie over her own long-sleeved shirt.

“Just about.
I need to brush my teeth and run a brush through this m
ess,” I said, indicating my bed head
. “I’ll meet you at the mess hall," I added, gathering my hair together on the side before plaiting it into a braid.

“Right-o,” Amy said, blowing me a mock kiss as she strolled out of the cabin. I could already hear her chatting with another counselor before the door even swung closed. She was a crack-up. I was by no means quiet, but Amy even put me to shame. She would have fit in well with my crew back home. It was oddly comforting to be around someone like my friends. I liked the way she let it all hang out there. It was obvious with Amy that what you see is what you get.

Fifteen minutes later, I was on the narrow path leading to the mess hall, on my way to find Amy, when I saw Rick exit the building from a side door.

“How did you sleep?” he asked as a greeting.

“Like a popsicle,” I quipped, feeling a little more comfortable around him after the previous night’s activities.

“Yeah, it was colder than a witch’s
ti
...” he started to say. “I mean, it was a bit frigid last night,” he corrected, looking contrite.

“Rick, you don’t have to curb your language around me. Believe me, I’m no lightweight.”

“It’s all about manners. It’s been a
while since I’ve had any kind of a real conversation with a girl. Usually, Louise deals with the girls
,
while I handle the guys. The language gap between guys and girls is pretty significant,” he said laughing.

“Ha, you must not know Amy as well as I thought,” I said giggling.

"You got me there,
but she’s a different sort al
together," he said smiling at me. “So, your mom called last night at almost midnight,” he said, shifting gears as he pulled the door open for me.

“Oh?” I said, feeling guilty for not calling her. I had every intention to call her, but the crappy cell service didn’t improve anywhere in the camp. Short of climbing one of the tall trees, I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I was in the place where cell phones go to die.

“She was making sure you got here all right. She sounded very sad,” he added.

“Aren’t you mad that she never told you?” I asked, lowering my voice as we sat at the same round table from the night before.

“I was stark raving pissed at first, but now I’m just grateful she finally did tell me. I don’t want the short time we have together to be ruined over anger. I want to get to know the person you are,” he said, rising from the table to head to the kitchen.

I sat back in my chair while I pondered his words.

“This isn’t a restaurant
,
sweetheart,” a condescending voice said behind me.

“What?” I asked, wondering what I had missed.

“We all work together here,” Mason said, looking at me with mild disgust. “It’s called
team
work,” he added, emphasizing the word. “No one’s going to wait on you.”

“Did I ask you to wait on me?” I asked, feeling my blood start to boil. “Do you order training manuals on how to be an asshole
,
or does it just come naturally?” I asked, pushing myself back from the table and stomping off to the kitchen.

I was still fuming when I reached the refrigerator where Amy was pulling out several different beverages.

“Whoa, who got your panties in a bunch?” she asked, taking in my anger.

“Mason,” I said, dragging out his name with disgust. “I don’t know what the
f
rick
his problem is.” I complained
, grabbing the pitcher of milk in one hand and the orange juice with the other.

“I know
, right?
I totally picked up on his AMS last night. What was the deal with that?”

“AMS?”
I asked.

“Arrogant Male Syndrome,” she answered seriously, like it was a legitimate diagnosis.

I couldn’t help laughing. “That’s classic, and fits him to a T.”

“Either he has serious issues sharing daddy with you
,
or he’s holding back some repressed hormones. Because let’s face it, shy of pulling your hair or sticking a frog down your shirt, he seems to be crushing on you or something,” she whispered as we approached the table.

I snorted in the most unladylike fashion. “It’d have to be option number one,” I said out of the corner of my mouth.

“Oh sure, because you’re not attractive or anything,” she mouthed between giggles as she started loading up her plate.

The other occupants at the table looked at us curiously, but I shrugged my shoulders like I didn’t have a clue.

As I sat eating, I observed the dynamics of the group much like I had the night before. Everyone was nice enough to include me in their conversations, but I still couldn't help feeling like the odd man out. The majority of them had been coming to camp Allies for years. They all seemed to have a million stories of previous years and escapades they had witnessed. I was tempted to clear out my ears when they implied that Mason was the biggest prankster the camp had ever seen. It seemed hard
to believe that Mr. Permanent S
cowl,
who seemed to have a problem with my very existence, had a fun side to him.

Once breakfast was over, Louise shooed us out so she could clean the kitchen and we could start our training. I groaned at the thought. I’d always loved swimming and going to the beach, but I’ve never taken any kind of CPR cla
ss. The idea of giving mouth-to-
mouth to a stranger always kind of grossed me out. I knew that sounded selfish, considering it was crucial to saving someone’s life, but I’d always been a fi
rm believer that the only mouth-to-
mouth I wanted to do was in the form of kissing.