“E-n-c-o-u-r-a-g-e,” he quickly spells, and I get the word right away.
“I understand,” I sign and shrug, growing nervous that I brought this up. “It’s just a lot of people, and we need money.”
“True,” Isaac signs, deep in thought. “We should definitely film something, though. And fix the website.”
“The website!” I sign, remembering that horrible nineties setup. “Even older than that video.”
“Sure, I’ll work with Ethan to get that fixed,” Isaac signs.
“But will enough people see our film?” Natasha asks.
“We can try. Have everyone share it, you know?” I sign. “And then if that doesn’t work, we can ask Mackenzie to share with her followers?” I sigh and wiggle my fingers arbitrarily to express this frustration while I formulate my next sentence. “I kinda hate that, but it could work.”
“I still want her to change this first,” Natasha says and signs, pointing to Mackenzie’s About page, where she describes herself as an ASL interpreter. “If she wants to sign in her videos, she needs to be clear that she’s only learning. Not qualified to teach. It’s not fair she gets this many followers when Deaf creators have to work so hard.”
We all nod in agreement.
“We only ask her to share our video if she makes the changes,” Isaac signs. “So, who’s going to ask her?” He throws a finger up for nose goes. Jaden follows suit.
Natasha and I lock eyes. “You are working with her,” Natasha signs.
“Actually,” I say and sign, “Ethan has me helping with the older girls now. But yeah, it was my idea. I guess I could ask her . . . if we find that we really need to.”
Isaac gives a thumbs-up, a hint of both amusement and pity in his eyes. “Game time?” He picks up the Switch again, offering me one of the Joy-Cons.
“Yes, please.”
He slides next to me, and we both put our feet up on the rocks surrounding the firepit. It’s so warm I worry the plastic flip-flops will melt onto my feet, so I kick them off to the side.
Isaac side-eyes me. “Need your glasses? We’re driving.”
“Driving?” I ask, shaking my head, confused, until I see his game selection: Mario Kart.
While operating our controllers, it’s difficult to communicate. But Isaac has fallen so far behind that he raises his right hand to quickly sign, “I think you win.”
I grin, turning back to the screen to cross the finish line . . . but I get hit by a shell, and Isaac whizzes by. “What?”
He raises his eyebrows twice. “Pay attention. Next one is starting.”
I stay glued to the screen, despite Isaac nudging my shoulder as if he’s going to sign something. We jostle back and forth until I cross the finish line victorious.
Isaac bends his fingers and taps them together twice, which looks very similar to another sign I know.
“Kiss?” I ask, playing coy.
“T-i-e.” He grins and leans forward to kiss me.
Chapter Eighteen
The next few days are a happy blur. Before I know it, it’s Saturday and time to move to the older girls’ cabin, which was a breeze this morning, despite Blake’s multiple attempts to hang out with me. Now it’s a cloudy lake time, and instead of feeling like Blake’s babysitter, I’m getting to relax as Phoebe’s new friend. And she’s already totally comfortable calling me out.
“Who are you signing with?” she asks, elbowing my side.
We’re floating in the lake, bobbing up and down in our life jackets, enjoying the reprieve from the harsh summer sun.
“Just another counselor,” I answer while motioning to Isaac, who is atop the inflatable iceberg nearby, that we’ll chat later. He nods and jumps down into the water. There are always so many people around. We haven’t really had a chance to hang out, just the two of us, since our new development.
“Okay, but, like, who?” Phoebe presses. “You usually also speak when I’m around. Plus, you —— weird little giggle ——。”
“What? No, I didn’t . . .” I say, but I can’t be sure. “Fine, it’s Isaac.”
The guy I kissed in the rain a week ago for the first time. The guy I finally got some more alone time with during our on-duty shift last night. The guy who is also swimming over here right now.
“Is that him?” Phoebe asks, hearing the water splashing. “Eh, you do you. Keep flirting. He seems cute.”
“Phoebe!” I say, trying not to let my facial expression reveal my exasperation since Isaac is approaching a few feet away.
“She’s funny,” Isaac signs, clearly picking up on the fact that Phoebe is teasing me.
“Hi,” I say, smiling.
He grins. “I should find my campers. Tell her I say hi.” Isaac looks around to make sure no one is watching before he gives me a quick kiss on the cheek, then dives back into the water to rejoin the boys at the iceberg. Tonight can’t come soon enough.
“Wait,” I say, turning back to Phoebe. “How’d you know he’s cute? Do you know what I look like?”
She holds out a hand, waving it in an oval. “To me, you are a neutral blob of a person.”
“Phoebe, that may be the best compliment I’ve ever received.”
“So what’s up with Isaac?” she asks.
“What about him? I didn’t say anything about him.”
“Uh, yeah, your voice did.”
I can’t get away with anything around her. “Something’s kind of happening there.”
“I knew it.” Phoebe goes quiet for a second. “Yeah, fill me in on all the counselor gossip. I want the after-hours scoop so I’m ready for next summer.”
“You got it.”
* * *
Waiting for afternoon game time, some of the staff starts filming counselor and camper testimonials to put in our fundraising video. Isaac’s in charge of recording, lest anyone make the mistake of filming vertically. Phoebe helps make sure everyone says something a little different, so we don’t end up having to edit clips that all say just “I love Camp Gray Wolf” thirty times. Plus, we keep having to reshoot whenever the wind blows someone’s hair over their face.
Jaden’s wrapping up his blurb, focusing on how camp is a great support system. But he’s interrupted when Mackenzie walks up to us. “Um, Ethan says we can’t film videos at camp.”
Natasha shakes her head. “This is for the Gray Wolf page. He already said it’s fine.”
“Yeah,” I say and sign. However annoyed I get with Mackenzie, she’s still my coworker, so I’m still trying my best to be friendly. “It’s to try and raise money for camp next year.”
Mackenzie just slowly nods as she walks away, but she turns back to add, “By the way, the audio is going to be horrible with all this wind right now. Just so you know.”
“Yeah, that’s why we’re just doing the ASL ones right now,” I say. “We’ll delete the audio track.”
“Mm,” Mackenzie mumbles.
As soon as she turns around out of our sight line, Natasha slaps her hands back and forth to sign “Whatever.”