“But it’s only a watch, so if something major comes up, you get ahold of Ethan or me.”
“Sounds good.” I nod, pleased to already be given extra responsibility.
“Thanks, kid. I’ve got you on Fridays. And you’ll be partnered with . . .” He searches through his schedule again right as Isaac walks through the swinging doors of the cafeteria. “Ah, sure, Isaac. Yeah, that’ll work. You’ll be partnered with him. Could you let him know?”
“Oh, sure!” I jump up from the chair, already dreading the fact that I’m going to need to fingerspell for this conversation. “Hey, Isaac,” I say and sign. “I have to tell you—” Crap, I can’t think of the next sign. I know this one already, I’m sure of it. Ugh. “Something,” I say.
He nods, taking off his baseball cap and stuffing it in his backpack as he sits at the table, pulling out the chair beside him for me. As in, I’ll probably sit next to him for all of dinner now? Whew, deep breath. I hide my face as I kick my bag underneath the table, then smooth my ponytail and turn to face him. My leg accidentally grazes his knee, but he doesn’t move away.
“Gary,” I start, pointing back to the director, “told me to tell you,” I say and sign. “Friday nights. On d-u-t-y work . . .” I catch my wrists before bending them too far like “make-out” again. “With me.”
He’s got his elbow on the table, finger pressed against his cheek as he leans back, watching me with amusement.
“You understand what I said?” I mouth the words, my lips fighting back laughter at the way Isaac is watching me right now, but I’m signing with more confidence.
“What you signed,” he corrects, still smiling. “Yes. Friday nights we’ll work on duty.”
“Duty,” I repeat the sign, committing it to memory. “Okay, cool.”
So every Friday night it’ll be Isaac and me, alone at the small campfire in the cabin circle, huddling together by the warmth of the flames and the light of the moon? I mean, how often do campers really leave in the middle of the night? I certainly never did. I just need to brush up on some conversational topics here so we’re not just sitting there awkwardly, like we somehow already are right now . . .
“So, um,” I say, hands out in front of me, helplessly.
“Our first dinner with the ——，” Isaac offers, signing slowly.
“The cook?” I say and sign, repeating his motions, and he nods. “I hope it’s good!” Come on, Lilah. Think. You have to be capable of talking about something more interesting than this. “So are you ready for campers tomorrow?”
He bobs his head yes. “Will be fun.”
And just like that, his friends arrive. Natasha and Jaden sit across the table, and Isaac converses at true speed. I excuse myself to refill my water, then return to find that Mackenzie has taken the seat on the other side of mine.
“Perfect, Lilah,” she says and signs. “We can practice our one-handed signing together while we eat!”
“Yeah, awesome,” I sign back, unenthused, still holding my bottle in my left hand.
I spend the whole dinner sitting next to Isaac but feeling so far away.
* * *
In the clatter of everyone washing dishes and stacking chairs along the wall, I don’t realize someone is calling my name until a hand gently taps my shoulder.
“Hey, Lilah.” Oliver’s standing there, dressed casually in fitted sweatpants and a plain white T-shirt, with a knapsack hanging over one shoulder. “I hate to be a bother, but do you have a car here?”
“Oh, yeah. I do, actually. What’s up?”
The counselors are all leaving the dining hall to head back to the cabins for the rest of our final night off before campers arrive. I was kind of hoping there’d be another Gray Wolf staff tradition like the lake, but it doesn’t seem like it.
As Simone walks up from behind Oliver, she mouths to me, “Ooh, get it!”
Oliver glances over his shoulder, then back at me for an explanation, but I just laugh it off. “Anyway, you were saying?”
“Right.” He clasps his hands together. “Ben and I are running low on our travel-size toiletries and other things that made more sense to purchase here. Any chance you could give us a lift to a shop tonight?”
“Sure . . . How about now? Before it gets dark.” My first off-site trip!
“Yes, thank you so much.” Oliver turns and calls out to Ben, who is at the dishwashing station, dumping his meat loaf into the nearby trash. “Ready now?”
“Wonderful! Let’s go,” Ben says. As soon as the three of us are outside the dining hall, he adds, “And can we please find something else to eat? That was horrendous.”
They walk with me back to the cabins so I can get my car keys and glasses from my suitcase. Isaac is sitting in his bunk checking his phone, which is plugged into the wall.
“Where are you going?” he asks when he notices the car keys.
“Store. Want to come?”
“Sure,” he signs, following me outside the cabin where his friends are sitting around the campfire with no flame burning yet. “I can ask Natasha and Jaden, too?”
“Ah, I can only fit five in my car,” I say, holding up my hand to indicate the count.
Isaac isn’t looking at me when I say this, but he sees Oliver and Ben waiting outside the cabin for me. He slowly shakes his head. “That’s fine. Another night.”
“Oh,” I say, watching him walk away. “Okay.”
Oliver leans forward and waves for my attention. “Shall we go?”
“Yes, let me check directions before I lose this sliver of service. I think there’s a Super Mart kinda far away, but there’s a pharmacy and a Mackie’s a few minutes closer.”
“Perfect,” Oliver says, taking a quick peek over my shoulder at the map on my phone. “We’ll follow your lead.”
I’m suddenly relieved that my parents made me clean this old car before driving it to camp. It’s not super reliable anymore. I usually only use it to get to and from school, so I can’t be the one doing all the trips this summer, but I’m sure a few outings won’t hurt.
I put on my glasses, since I’ve been going most of my time here at camp without my usual contact lenses. I let Ben plug in his phone to the stereo so he can play his music, mainly to avoid being judged on my random music choices. They chatter most of the way to the store, and I do my best to read their lips out of the corner of my eye or through the rearview mirror, but for the most part I sit quietly and let them chat.
It doesn’t take too long for Oliver and Ben to find what they need in the pharmacy, but when I drive us across the street to the Mackie’s parking lot, neither of them wants to get out of the car.
“Let’s just go through there,” Oliver says from the passenger seat, pointing to the drive-through.
“Well . . .” I say, clasping my hands together, noticing a sudden urge to sign. “I can’t really hear with those.”
“That’s all right, I’ve got you,” he insists.
I carefully drive around the U-bend to the drive-through speakers. As I park, the jumble of noise to my left starts, which Oliver understands perfectly. He leans over the middle compartment to respond, but he’s too far from the microphone for the employee to hear him.