Give Me a Sign(15)

“It’s actually for my partner.” He looks toward the side door as a second lifeguard walks in, stuffing a notebook into his back pocket and eyeing the food. “Ben! Hey, mate, took you forever. I already grabbed the best-looking pieces.”

My face flushes red. I’m embarrassed that I assumed the chair was for me. “Right, there’s two of you!” I say, picking up my backpack and taking a step back.

“Sorry, I can grab a seat for you if you want,” the lifeguard says to me, glancing back at Ben.

“No, really, that’s okay,” I say, heading out. “I’ll see you around.”

And I will—at the lake, or the pool, or maybe even after-hours. I don’t even know his name, but I can definitely tell this would be Kelsey’s choice for a summer romance.

He calls after me, so I turn around. “Did you say something to me?”

“Yeah.” He gives a patient smile. “I wanted to say I’m ——。”

“What was that?” I lean forward, then smirk. “Pardon me?”

He chuckles and—oh gosh, was that a wink? “No worries,” he says louder. “I’ll turn up the volume. Just saying that I’m Oliver.”

“Thank you.” I blush again, grabbing my backpack straps with both hands. “I’m Lilah.”

“Glad to meet you, Lilah.”

There are communication barriers for me with both ASL and English. At least I’m more familiar with navigating the spoken ones. “And hey,” I say. “If you’re looking for something to do, we’re all gonna be at the lake later.” I nod to Ben as he takes a seat. “Both of you, of course.”

“You are?” Oliver, looking a little alarmed, glances over to Ben to see if he knew about the plan. Oh, I guess lifeguards have to be at the lake whenever anyone is there. Ben just shrugs, and Oliver turns back to me. “All right. We’ll see you there, Lilah.”

“Right, bye!” I wave and dash out of the dining hall, amused at how easily disconcerted a British accent could make me. Seriously, a hot British lifeguard? Kelsey and Riley will be so jealous. I can’t wait to text them later. There’s so much about returning to Gray Wolf that I wasn’t expecting.

Chapter Six

Back at the cabin, Bobby, Simone, and Mackenzie are lounging around, checking their phones after a long day. I’d assumed Isaac and his friends would be here, but I guess I never asked to clarify where they’d be hanging out before lake time. So I flop onto my bed and do some scrolling through social media.

Sure enough, as soon as it gets dark, Simone and Bobby get up. She walks over to my bunk and asks, “Want a ride? We’re gonna commandeer the golf cart.”

“Definitely.” There’s only one cart, and Gary’s usually the one who drives it. I climb down from my bunk, staring at Isaac’s things. Because Isaac’s going to be sleeping a few feet away from me tonight. How’d I almost forget about that?

“I’ll give you a hint about this camp tradition,” Simone tells Mackenzie and me. “Put on your swimsuits.”

I was already planning on changing, since Isaac had given me a heads-up about the lake, but Mackenzie looks shocked.

“What is it?” she asks.

“Hurry up and get ready. Don’t worry, I won’t look,” Bobby jokes, unfolding his cane and navigating out the door.

Mackenzie and I change quickly and meet them outside the cabin a few minutes later.

“Night swimming?” Mackenzie asks. “Is it safe?”

“It’s fine, we do it every year,” Bobby says. “Worry more about me driving us there.”

Simone and I laugh but share an incredulous glance as Mackenzie hurries to the wheel. Bobby and Simone jump on the back, so I take the passenger seat.

Our cart whizzes full speed, bumping along the gravel path and dodging holes that appear in the small headlight radius, all the way to the lake on the outskirts of the campgrounds.

“Don’t go down to the beach,” Simone instructs, leaning forward over the back to point ahead. “Pull over on there.”

“About time!” Ethan shouts. He’s waiting in the middle of the tall bridge that connects the other half of the campgrounds from across the lake with Isaac, Natasha, and Jaden.

It’s growing dark, but there’s no need to be quiet. These are our campgrounds, and we can be as loud as we want. There’s a misconception that a gathering of deaf people is silent, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. At camp, we crank the volume on everything to the max.

“Are you ready?” Ethan asks, still shouting. “We’re jumping off this bridge!”

“That’s the surprise?” I climb out of the golf cart, letting out a nervous laugh as I step forward to look over the rail. It’s not as high as I imagined, but it’s still a long way down.

Mackenzie remains in the driver’s seat. “Nope. I’m not doing this.”

“That’s all right. You can guard the electronics.” Ethan secures his hearing aids in his backpack.

“You jumping with us, Lilah?” Simone asks.

“Um.” Everyone else, besides Mackenzie, is already waiting in their swimsuits. Simone reaches out and squeezes my hand. Isaac nods and smiles. “Okay-okay,” I say and sign.