If I furrow my brow and shake my head, he backtracks and figures out what I missed. “——， water m-e-l-o-n, you know, red, green fruit? Watermelon. Jaden and I played baseball with a big, round one. I threw it high, and Jaden hit it.” Isaac turns his shoulders, role shifting to demonstrate Jaden’s actions, holding his hands overhead and mimicking a sword. “Whoosh, sliced right through.” With increasingly animated movements, incorporating more and more ASL grammar, Isaac demonstrates the watermelon exploding, over both him and Jaden, chunks sticking to their hair and juice running down their faces.
“Really?” I laugh. “Are you serious?”
“True business, that really happened.”
I stare across the fire, watching his eyes crinkle as he grins. It almost feels like the beginning of summer again, before I went and made everything awkward between us.
Chapter Fifteen
The campers are excited for tonight’s dance—the first one of the summer—and the counselors are eager for a staff outing that will follow. Gary and the nurse will stay on-site while the rest of the staff gets Saturday night off. It’ll be our first long break after two weeks with the campers. All conversations during the day revolve around plans for the evening.
Before lunch, our cabin tries to decide what song to perform for the talent show, which is happening before the dance. And by “decide,” I mean bicker. Although we’re all wearing matching friendship bracelets, we haven’t achieved group unity yet. The girls are zoning in on one pop hit, but Blake has yet to relent.
“I don’t want to sign anyway,” she complains.
“If you don’t want to, then why does it matter what they pick?” I ask.
“Fine.” She crosses her arms and lies back on the grass while the rest of the girls practice together in a circle. But I notice Blake is singing along to the loud music, just refusing to move her hands.
I nudge her. “Hey, try it with me. I still have to learn a lot of the words, too.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Okay, well, what else are you going to do?”
“What do you mean?” She sits up.
“Well, we’re all going to be signing this song. So, are you going to dance? Sing out loud? Or fall asleep on the stage?”
Blake makes a face. “Why would I do that?”
“You’re falling asleep now, aren’t you?” I smile, trying to coax her into lightening up. “Come on, try signing with me. We can make mistakes together!”
“Fine, only because you’re being so annoying about it.” Blake follows along with the other girls but quickly grows frustrated and stops.
“Maybe she’s not smart,” Honey signs, giggling with another camper.
“Hey!” Mackenzie says and signs, waving toward Honey. “Don’t say mean things.”
“What’d she say?” Blake asks.
I shake my head, nonchalant. “Nothing, really.”
“I want to play my favorite game now,” Honey signs. She turns to the side to mimic a second player. “Honey, if you love me,” she signs back in the direction where she’d been standing, then turns back around to embody herself again. “I love you all.” She blows kisses to the other girls.
“We can do that game if we have time before lunch after finishing this song,” Mackenzie says and signs.
“It’s okay,” I tell Blake, who looks lost. “If you really don’t want to, you don’t have to.”
All of this is really her choice to make, but she has a new resolve, perhaps feeling left out. Honey has been a popular leader in the group, and Blake might be growing tired of going against the grain. “No, I’m going to do this.”
We slow down and start back at the top, and Blake makes a sincere attempt. So this time, when Blake messes up a sign, Honey leans forward and repeats it, slowly. Blake rolls her eyes but follows along, and Honey confirms that Blake has done it correctly. They’re . . . not fighting? Where did this progress come from? I don’t know, but I’ll take it. That’s the most these two have worked together all summer.
* * *
I’m picking off the burnt edges of my grilled cheese, not feeling lunch, when Ethan taps me on the shoulder. “Grab your stuff and pretend to go to the bathroom—but meet me outside.”
What in the world?
Ethan is whispering to Simone now, too. I take a final bite, grab my backpack, and leave my food behind. If I had randomly left the table earlier in the summer, Blake would have immediately noticed my absence. But today, she actually took a seat between two of her fellow campers rather than by my side.
I walk past the single-stall dining hall bathroom and head out the side door. I sneak around to the front, ducking low to avoid the windows. Isaac and Bobby are waiting a short distance from the entrance. Simone and Ethan are close behind me.
No one seems too concerned, so I figure this isn’t an emergency. “What’s up?” I say and sign.
“All right, that’s everyone,” Ethan says and signs. “I’ve come up with a new game: Counselor Search. Basically, a large-scale hide-and-seek.”
“Hide-and-seek?” I ask. That brings back memories of sitting in a closet or hiding behind a curtain at my grandmother’s house.
“Trust me, the kids are gonna love it,” Ethan continues. “You four go anywhere on the campgrounds. After lunch, I’ll send the campers to try to find you. They’ll search together in groups with the remaining counselors. So keep your phones on you, in case the game ends and you’re still hiding.” He looks down at his watch. “You’ve got about ten minutes to get settled, so . . . good luck!” Ethan shoos us away, signaling that we’re supposed to hurry to a hiding place now.
Bobby follows the path and ducks into the nearby dance barn. Simone runs for the pool. Isaac yanks off his baseball cap, holding it to his chest and sprinting in the direction of the cabins. So I guess I’ll go toward the lake?
But where am I going to hide? Maybe behind a canoe? But that’s past the sectioned-off part of the lake, and I don’t see Oliver or Ben anywhere, so the campers wouldn’t be allowed to search down here anyway. There isn’t much else, except for the picnic tables, which don’t offer enough cover.
I head back over the bridge, pausing to catch my breath. These places are too spread out. The campers are probably starting the game any minute now.
At the base of the bridge is a giant, hollow tree trunk, whose opening faces away from the path. What kind of bugs and critters have made this space their home? I’d likely be able to peek out to see if anyone is heading this way and remain hidden enough to evade notice when the campers reach the lake. So I detour a few feet off the path and around to the other side of the tree trunk. But when I stick my head in, someone stares back at me.
“Aaah!” I scream, and Isaac lets out a surprised gasp.
“Shh.” He jumps up and grabs my shoulders.
My heart is still threatening to explode, so I put a hand to my chest and take several slow breaths. “You scared me!”
“You scared me!” he signs, checking his watch and crouching back into the tree trunk.
I have no idea where else to hide. But when I step away, Isaac leans forward, beckoning me to join him.