“No,” both girls protest. Blake grins, eager to have an ally in Savannah.
At the beach, Oliver raises both arms above his head, getting the attention of a few people. He points to Isaac and signs, “No.” Through a chain of waves, Oliver gets Isaac’s attention and repeats his no, making sure it’s clear that the cannonball launch from that height is prohibited. Isaac shrugs half apologetically and returns to helping his campers climb up the iceberg.
I reach over the edge of the canoe to cup a handful of water and splash it up onto my arms. I run my wet fingers through my burning hot hair. “Much better.”
“I can’t reach ——。” Blake climbs onto her seat and stretches her arm to touch the surface of the lake. Savannah does the same.
Oops. I should have realized the campers would copy me. Unfortunately, they both choose to lean over the left side.
“Wait—” I shout, but it’s too late. Mackenzie’s canoe is just catching up to us when we topple into the lake.
Water shoots up my nose—an uncomfortable sensation getting a little too familiar with how much time we spend at the lake. My life jacket bops me back to the surface, as do the girls’。 But our canoe is still floating upside down.
“Whoa, that was fun!” Blake shouts. She adds something else about swimming out here, but I’m too busy trying to flip the canoe back over to respond.
Mackenzie shouts something. “What happened here?” she continues, signing.
Isn’t it obvious?
“Uh, we flipped,” I say.
Mackenzie frowns. “You’re not supposed to do that.”
I do my best not to roll my eyes. “It wasn’t intentional.”
Mackenzie kneels and reaches out to push the hull, helping me flip this thing upright. Oliver is paddling his way out to us on his lifeguard board.
Blake keeps swimming farther away, so Oliver goes after her. I try to climb back in, since it’ll be easiest to get myself in first and then help the girls up. Maybe. I’m not really sure of anything, except that I’m definitely bruising my stomach flopping back into this canoe.
Oliver guides the campers back. I pull Blake in, but Savannah is frantically searching the water. “I don’t see it!” she shouts.
“See what?” Mackenzie asks. Oliver looks around, following Savannah’s gaze.
Savannah starts to panic. “I don’t see it!”
“Your cochlear?” Mackenzie looks at the camper, then directly back at me. “I told you ——。”
“She didn’t want to leave it,” I say nervously. Why did the magnet detach so easily? Isn’t it supposed to be on the surface somewhere near us? “It floats. Campers wear them in the pool all the time.”
“That’s the pool,” Mackenzie says and signs, emphasizing the word. “A clear body of water where we could grab it from the bottom if it sinks.” She groans. “What color was it, Savannah? Here, get back in the canoe. We’ll keep looking. I said, what color is it?”
“Black.” Savannah reaches her arms up to me, and I help her up.
With the dark-green lake water and plenty of leaves on the surface, it’s going to be a difficult search.
“What are ——，” Oliver asks me, but I’m unable to read the end of his question. Mackenzie decides to answer anyway.
“Her cochlear implant receiver. Like a hearing aid, but it’s a magnetic attachment, and she wears it like this.” Mackenzie points along the side of her head.
Oliver paddles off, searching a wide perimeter. He reaches down and fishes out what ends up being a twig, before coming back to us empty-handed.
“It’s not caught in the canoe, right?” Mackenzie asks me.
I take a peek under the seats, but there’s nothing there. “Shit,” I mutter. Mackenzie glares at me, but none of the campers heard me swear or paid any mind. I’m grinding my teeth, hating that Mackenzie is going to see this all as a sign of her superior counselor status.
Eventually, we have to give up and return to the beach. Mackenzie finds Ethan, and the two of them go back out on the lake with the camper to search again until lake time is over.
On the walk to lunch afterward, Ethan falls into step next to me.
“No luck?” I ask.
He shakes his head.
I sigh. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I should have made her take it out.”
“Hey, don’t worry,” he says and signs. “You’ll only have to pay a couple thousand.”
“What?” I do not have that kind of money. My parents are going to be so mad.
“I’m joking. I’m joking.” He swings his backpack around and pulls a blank form out of a folder. “It’s probably all under warranty, but Gary will have to call Savannah’s parents and let them know. You just need to fill out this accident report.”
“That doesn’t sound great.” I stare at the form. There are a lot of questions on it.
“We go through plenty of them. Any lost items, or even something as simple as a Band-Aid for a scratch, we have to fill out a report for.”
“I really should have made sure she took it off first.”
“Campers lose things.” Ethan shrugs. “We try not to have them lose the expensive things, but there’s always a lesson to be learned.”
“Ouch.”
Ethan laughs. “Sorry, that was a bit lecture-y.”
“Yeah, got plenty of that from Mackenzie already.”
“You’re doing fine, I promise. Just get the paperwork done at lunch.”
* * *
It’s pool time this afternoon, and I’ve still got my swimsuit on underneath my clothes because there was no point in changing after the lake.
Honey bounces up and down at the shallow end to keep her head above the water. I take a seat on the stairs nearby, not wanting to get my hair wet again if I can manage that.
“Like,” Honey signs to me. “I know ——。”
I shake my head. “Again, please.”
Honey rolls her eyes and gives me one word at a time. “Like.”
“You like swimming?” I say and sign.
She waves her hands to indicate that I’m on the entirely wrong path here. She tilts her head. “No, pay attention.”
I know that phrase well because Ethan uses it every day during announcements. After this morning’s cochlear incident, I’m a little unsure about myself, but I know Honey would make a fantastic counselor one day.
I glance around, wondering if someone could interpret for me, but the only person I see is Natasha. She seems to grimace at me before looking away, likely assuming exactly what I was going to ask of her. So I turn back to Honey and slide both hands forward alongside my face, giving an agreeable expression and signing, “Okay, I pay attention.”
“I . . . ” Honey signs slowly. “Know . . . someone . . . like . . . you.”
“Someone like me?” I say and sign. “Like, a friend who looks like me?”
“No.” She snaps her fingers. Then she gives a large, silly grin. “A boy. A boy likes you.”
“Uh, no,” I say. “You’re too funny.”
“Not funny! Fine, I won’t tell you who.” She holds a finger to her lips, but points across the pool to where Isaac is floating on brightly colored noodles with his campers. Honey giggles and paddles away from me.