Authors: Jennifer Comeaux
He smiled, and my voice got lost somewhere in my throat. Was he seriously suggesting I move to California? Even if I didn’t have my heart set on BC, UCLA’s non-resident tuition plus living in California would probably cost a bazillion dollars. But I beamed on the inside that he wanted me there.
“That would be a blast, but I don’t think my college fund would agree, unfortunately.”
The flight attendant announced the door was closing, so I checked my phone to make sure I’d turned it off. I sat back and put my arm on the seat divider, not realizing Josh had done the same. The soft hair on his forearm tickled my skin, setting off goose bumps from my wrist to my shoulder.
I quickly pulled away. “Sorry.”
“You can have it,” he offered.
“No, I’m good.”
Liar.
There were way too many intensely incredible things overwhelming my senses right now, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to focus on writing my essay. Josh’s sweet cologne lightly teased my nose, and his leg was less than an inch away from touching mine. Even his soft voice was giving me heart palpitations because it was so close to my ear.
I took my iPod from my bag and set it on my lap. I was going to have to immerse myself in music while writing to block out all the distractions.
“Wanna switch?” Josh asked as he pulled his own iPod from the pocket of his cargo shorts. “Could be fun to discover new music.”
I hesitated but then handed mine over. “There may be some um… some Disney songs on there.”
He grinned. “I won’t mock your Disney songs if you don’t mock my gangsta rap.”
“Dude, I love me some gangsta rap. You’ll find a bunch of it on my workout playlist.”
The video screens dropped from the ceiling for the safety announcement, and Josh and I stopped talking to listen. As the plane approached the runway, I lifted the window shade and watched the raindrops stream across the glass. It would be nice to have a change of scenery for a few days and to see my skater friends. I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Kyle, though. The sting of what he’d done was a dull memory now, but I hoped being around him wouldn’t bring up the hurt again. I still couldn’t stop kicking myself for almost sleeping with him. Whenever I got into another relationship, I was going to make damn sure the guy was “the one” before I’d take that step.
The plane zoomed up into the air, and as soon as the chime rang, I set up my laptop on the tray table. Josh stretched one long leg into the aisle and plugged his ear buds into my iPod.
“If you want to switch back just poke me,” he said.
I bit my lip as my mind went to all the places I’d like to poke him.
Get to work! This essay needs to rock.
I took a deep breath and popped in my ear buds. The words started to flow from my fingers as I jammed along to the music. Josh’s playlists included a lot of alternative bands I hadn’t heard before, and I noted the songs I liked in a separate document so I could download them later.
I felt Josh’s shoulders shake, and I looked over to find him laughing to himself. I bumped his arm, and he showed my iPod currently playing The Muppets’ “The Rainbow Connection.” He pulled out one ear bud while I did the same.
“Do you have a thing for all rainbow songs?” he asked.
I laughed. “Hey, rainbows are awesome.”
“What about puppies and unicorns? How do you feel about them?”
“I’m a big fan of them, too.”
“And gangsta rap.”
“What can I say… I’m a complex and unpredictable girl.”
His smile deepened and shone in his eyes. He opened his mouth, and I thought he was going to say something, but he slipped the bud back into his ear.
Over the next few hours I managed to crank out a strong first draft and even had time left to compare notes with Josh on which songs we enjoyed discovering. When we boarded our connecting flight, I was disappointed he and I weren’t seated together, but we were barely in the air before we landed anyway.
Our large group filled the shuttle from the airport to the Olympic Training Center, and after we checked in with the federation staff, we headed to the dorms to find our rooms.
Liza stopped when she saw her name on one of the doors. “I’m rooming with Marley!”
Marley and her ice dance partner Zach had trained on the Cape for years before they’d moved to Seattle, so I was glad Liza had been paired with someone familiar for her first camp. I continued down the hall but came to a halt at the sight of my name.
Next to Stephanie’s.
“Oh, fun,” she said over my shoulder.
I marched back down the hall to Em and Sergei’s room and swept through the open door. “Did you put me and Stephanie together?”
“You might find some common ground if you spend a little time together,” Em said.
“There’s nothing we could possibly have in common besides skating. She’s evil, and I don’t trust her around my stuff. She’s liable to tamper with my skates or my costumes…”
“She’s not going to do that. Maybe if you reach out to her, she’ll surprise you.”
I folded my arms. “Yeah, I’m sure she’s secretly dying to be my BFF.”
I went back to my room, where Stephanie was unpacking her Louis Vuitton luggage. I hauled my rolling bag onto the empty twin bed and hung my garment bag in the closet.
“Don’t even think about touching my stuff,” I said.
She stepped back from her suitcase and put her hands on her hips. “Why would I touch your stuff? All you have is cheap jewelry and knock-off clothes.”
Heat blazed from my face up to my scalp. Stephanie knew my mom had made almost all my jewelry because I’d peddled Mom’s creations at the rink. It was one thing for her to insult me, but insulting my mom’s hard work went beyond cruel.
“I’m proud to wear this jewelry. My mom puts her heart into every piece.” I tried to keep my voice steady. “They mean a lot more than anything you buy with your daddy’s credit card.”
Her face darkened, and she tossed a pair of sneakers onto the concrete floor. “Like you wouldn’t love to have that credit card. If anyone needs to worry about protecting their things, it’s me.”
“I know this might shock you, but not everyone is obsessed with money and having expensive crap. If you spent less time focusing on material things and more time learning how to treat people decently, you’d have a lot more friends.”
“I have plenty of friends at home.”
“I can only imagine what that group is like.” I shuddered.
Mark pushed our half-open door and stuck his head inside. “We need to go down to the welcome session.”
I shut my suitcase, grabbed my purse, and brushed past Stephanie, not waiting for her to join us.
****
A couple of hours later I returned to the dorm, fired up from the keynote speech given by one of the country’s most decorated skaters. I was also feeling good because I’d avoided saying more than hello to Kyle, and I’d enjoyed a fun dinner catching up with friends I didn’t get to see often.
After my shower, I retreated to my room with the plan to ignore Stephanie. It was the only way to maintain my positive mood. I could only hope she’d deem me unworthy of her attention, and she’d likewise pretend I wasn’t in the room.
“Please tell me you don’t snore,” she said as I picked up my hand lotion and sat cross-legged on the bed.
I sighed. So much for that hope.
“No, but oh how I wish I did,” I said.
She flipped off the overhead light, sending us into total darkness, and the lotion I squirted missed my hand and landed who knew where.
“Hey! I was still doing something here.”
“We have to get up early, and I don’t want to feel jet-lagged while skating tomorrow.” Her bed squeaked as she climbed onto it.
“I just needed a few more minutes,” I said through gritted teeth.
I patted the blanket and felt the dollop of misfired lotion. My eyes adjusted to the darkness as I slowly massaged the soothing liquid into my hands.
Burying myself under the covers, I took my phone from the nightstand and turned to face the wall. The message light blinked, and when I saw the text was from Josh I smiled against the pillow.
Josh:
Just checking that you and Steph haven’t killed each other.
I pulled the blanket higher over me and the phone. Stephanie would most definitely murder me if she knew I was texting with her brother.
Me:
I’m gonna sleep with one eye open.
Josh:
She sleeps like the dead so you should be safe for the night.
Me:
Can I ask you something?
Josh:
Sure
Me:
Why is she so mean?
A long minute passed with no response, and my neck tensed. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so blunt.
Josh:
If you met my mom,
you’d have a good idea.
Me:
They’re a lot alike?
Josh:
Exactly alike
Yikes. The idea of a Stephanie clone gave me an ice-cold chill. Good thing Josh and I weren’t going to date because Mommy Dearest would surely hate me.
Me:
What’s your dad like?
Josh:
He’s very smart, very outgoing.
I could picture that. I vaguely remembered his parents from competitions — they didn’t exactly hang with my parents’ crowd — but I’d seen photos of them when I’d checked out Stephanie’s Facebook since Josh didn’t have one. I could totally see his dad as a smooth-talking Beverly Hills attorney. His mom had looked like the stereotypical socialite with too many visits to a plastic surgeon in her past.
Me:
Are your parents going to come for a visit on the Cape anytime?
Josh:
Probably not. They’re always pretty busy.
What was his mom busy doing? Going to yoga and getting a mani-pedi?
Josh:
I won’t keep you up. Big day tomorrow.
I wasn’t ready to say goodnight, but we did have a big day ahead with our short program evaluations and a slew of meetings.
Me:
Yeah, I get to show off my tango moves. Thank you again for helping me. It made a world of difference.
Josh:
You’re welcome.
I’m glad you trusted me not to sabotage you ;)
Me:
Like the time you tried to kill me by inviting me to hot yoga? ;)
Josh:
LOL well played
I closed my eyes for a moment and imagined him lying in bed typing on his phone, one arm resting above his head, his wrinkled T-shirt riding up just enough for a glimpse of his tight abs. Knowing he was just down the hall made the vision even more real.
I opened my eyes and saw the red light flashing.
Josh:
See you in the morning
Another vision flashed through my mind — Josh waking up, his brown hair messy, his long eyelashes fluttering as his blue eyes opened to the world…
I gulped and put my fingers to the keys.
Me:
Goodnight
****
“What do you think they’re going to make us do this year?” Mark asked as we left the dorms and headed for the swimming pool. “Water polo? Synchronized swimming?”
I took a hair band from the pocket of my denim shorts and secured my hair into a ponytail. The federation staff had told us to put on our swimsuits for the evening’s team-building activity. Every year they split us into groups and made us do some goofy exercise. I had no idea what we could be doing in the pool. I was just ecstatic Mark and I had gotten through our program evaluations with mostly positive feedback. Now we could relax and enjoy our last night of camp.
“I’m glad I just bought a new suit.” Liza looked down at the purple polka-dotted bikini top she wore with her shorts.
“It’s super cute,” I said.
I wore the green bikini I’d had for two summers, but I liked the way it fit me. I didn’t have much in the chest area to show off, and this suit somehow made it look like I had more going on there.
We arrived at the pool, and I shaded my eyes from the late afternoon sunshine. There was no mistaking this was a gathering of skaters from the number of pasty bodies present. I gave Josh a quick smile as we walked past him, and his eyes swept over me and followed me all the way to my chair.
Green bikini, you done good.
Two of the federation’s team leaders called for everyone’s attention and explained we would be split into groups of five to build boats with nothing but cardboard and duct tape. We all snickered and then laughed even louder when we found out we had to float the boat across the pool with all five members of our team in it. Points would be awarded for design and execution, and the winners would get the usual camp prize of bragging rights.
We listened as the teams were read, and my stomach turned when I heard my name after Kyle’s. Then it did a happy flip when Josh’s name came next. Liza and Zach rounded out our group.
“Your old love and your new love,” Liza said quietly. “This could get interesting.”
I picked up a roll of duct tape. “This makes a good gag, you know.”
“See, that’s how I know you do like Josh because you always get so testy when I bring it up.”
“I’m testy because this isn’t something that should be joked about around certain people—”
“Hey, Court.” Kyle walked up behind me. “Guess we’re working together.”
I slowly turned to face him. “Yahoo.”
Zach and Josh joined us, both carrying large flattened boxes. They dropped them next to the pool, and the five of us sat in a circle.
“We need a strategy,” Zach said. “I was thinking of something like a canoe.”
He started sketching his idea on a scrap of paper, and Josh and Liza huddled beside him. Kyle scooted closer to me, and his spicy cologne reminded me of when we’d been a happy couple at camp the previous summer. I’d thought he was such a good guy. Thinking back to how much I’d stupidly trusted him, I recoiled as he invaded more of my space.
“How have you been?” Kyle asked.
“Wonderful,” I said curtly.
“Are you seeing anyone?”
Josh glanced up at us, and I looked directly at Kyle. “Nope.”