Lighting the Flames (9 page)

“
It
’
s color war! Let
’
s get crazy,
people
!
”
Jeremy bellowed and
they leaped onto the stage in front of Scott. Gen grabbed the flags
they
’
d hidden and tossed one to Jeremy as she climbed up the
railing. Jeremy stood with his back to her and helped Gen climb
onto his shoulders, both of them yelling so loud their voices
bounced back from every direction. Music and chaos filled the space
where moments before there had been silence and
shivering.

Scott
’
s jaw dropped open. The parents gawked. A few birds
took off from the rafters and bits of snow fell onto the stage.
Then the campers went absolutely wild.

“
It
’
s color war?
”

“
This is
awesome
!
”

“
Yes
!
I hope I
’
m on your
team!
”

The amount of noise a handful of children were
capable of making should never be underestimated, Jeremy thought as
campers started cheering and had to be stopped from taking their
coats off, too. Their parents gradually got into the fun, standing
and cheering until the only person not joining in was Scott.

Jeremy grabbed
Gen
’
s knees to hold her still and held on, even though he was
more than steady with her weight on his shoulders.

“
We
’
re going to announce the teams in just a
second,
”
he announced.
“
Right after Scott
goes over the day
’
s activities from the
new
schedule I have
here in my very own, very cold hand. The sporting events you are
about to hear are now
all-camp
color war
competitions, folks!
Get ready!
”

Jeremy tried to pass Scott the paper in his hand,
but Scott was staring at up Gen, who was shivering in the cold, her
lips painted white.

“
Yo,
Scott, batter up. Time to announce the schedule.
”
Jeremy nudged him
with his paper.

“
Jeremy, we are so going to have a talk,
”
Scott murmured under
his breath.

“
Not
my idea this time. Talk to the lady upstairs.
”
Jeremy pointed up to
Gen, who was laughing and waving at the campers who had rushed the
stage to cheer and yell up to her.

Scott turned to the
group with a huge grin and shouted,
“
Are you ready for
some color war?
”

*

With red noses and as many tissues as there were
flakes on the ground, the winter camp color war teams clomped into
the dining hall with snow-covered bodies and huge smiles.

“
Silent lunch? Oh, yes, silent lunch!
”
Jeremy bellowed from
his perch on top of the salad bar. His boots were wrapped in
garbage bags and his legs dangled over the side like he was sitting
on a swing. Gen had no idea how he
’
d climbed up
there.

“
Jeremy! Get down off the salad bar!
”
Scott yelled from
the doorway where he was helping his daughter with her
coat.

“
I
’
m the king of the
world
! If the world is
made of romaine lettuce and some chickpeas,
anyway.
”
Jeremy paused, hands up to his ears.
“
What
’
s that? No laughing, folks. Any noise is a point
deduction from your team.
”

“
That
’
s right!
”
She
’
d moved behind him to
fill her thermos, and he swung his head around twice before he
found her. His exaggerated confused expression made her laugh,
along with some of the campers as well.
“
Oh, no, Jer. Did I
hear the blue team start giggling?
”

“
I
dunno, Gen, but you are hereby crowned the judge of silent
lunch.
”

“
Hot
kosher dog, I am?
”

“
The
power is in your hands. Use it wisely.
”

“
Oh,
this is excellent. Thank you, Jeremy, king of the sneeze
guard,
”
she said with an exaggerated bow. He nodded at her
formally.

“
Lady Genevieve, a question?
”

“
Yes, Your Highness?
”

“
Do
you take bribes?
”

“
Oh,
yes, indeed, I do!
”
Gen set her thermos on the table, added a tea bag
to the hot water within, and stretched
dramatically.

“
Back hurting, Lady Genevieve?
”

Immediately, four campers, two from each team,
sprinted to stand behind Gen and massage her back. When a boy named
Todd from the blue team reached her first and started rubbing her
shoulders, another boy named Seth and his sister, Kelly, each on
separate teams, grabbed one of her hands and started warming
them.

“
Jeremy, I so owe you for this.
”

A teen camper from the white team went and filled a
plate for Gen at the salad bar, taking hints from Jeremy as to
which items Gen would like best.

“
White team is crafting a big ol
’
salad for you,
Gen,
”
Jer yelled, breaking a silence that held only the sound of
eating and whispers. A very carefully assembled salad appeared
before Gen, with plastic fork and knife wrapped inside a paper
napkin, a white flower made of construction paper holding the
bundle closed.

“
Excellent presentation, white team! Okay, kids, go eat up.
Thank you. Your contributions to my well-being have been
noted.
”

Jeremy added,
“
Eat
lots
—
it
’
s cold out. And don
’
t forget to tell your
parents how silent lunch works!
”

The kids scattered,
and a low hush of whispers filled the air for a handful of minutes
as stunned parents met one another
’
s eyes in shock, then
with huge smiles as they collectively realized that silent lunch
meant an
entirely
silent
lunch. Gen looked up as
Jeremy came over with his own plate piled high with salad,
schnitzel, potatoes, and bread.
“
You going to eat all
that?
”

“
Heck, no,
”
Jeremy said in a low voice.
“
I expect you to
bogart half of it. You have to keep warm, too.
”

“
I
don
’
t think I have much of an appetite, Jer.
”
Gen rubbed her eyes,
which had been stinging all morning.
“
Too tired. Maybe
we
’
re getting too old for the late-night
shenanigans.
”

His eyes widened
dramatically, and he covered his mouth with one hand.
“
Never say
that!
”

Gen yawned in response.

“
Eat, my lady, or pay the penalty.
”

“
Penalty?
”
Gen unwrapped her fork and speared a potato off the
edge of his plate. It was perfect
—
warm and crispy.
Suddenly she was ravenous. She grabbed a schnitzel, two more
potatoes, and one of the hunks of bread off his plate, devouring
them all in less time than it took Jeremy to finish his
salad.
“
Okay, no penalty required. This is good.
”

“
Nadine. I
’
m telling you, goddess of awesome. And you can thank
me for sharing with you.
”

“
Thank you, Jeremy. The food is awesome and so are
you.
”

“
See? People should come here just for the
food,
”
he said, cutting his schnitzel into pieces with a plastic
fork.
“
Has nothing to do with the programming or the staff or
the
ruach
or any of that other stuff Scott yammers
about.
”

“
Oh,
really,
”
Scott said from behind Jeremy, smacking him lightly across
the back of his head with a rolled-up color war
schedule.

Gen grinned at Scott, but kicked Jeremy under the
table with her boot.

“
Ow,
”
Jeremy said, flicking a potato at
Gen.

“
I
have told you a hundred times, you have the
disease,
”
Gen whispered in his ear as Scott headed toward the salad
bar for his own lunch.

“
Do
not. Wait, what disease?
”

“
The
disease where the minute you start talking about someone, they show
up behind you.
”

“
I
do not.
”

“
Do,
too. You got it from me.
”

Jeremy raised an eyebrow at her. She kicked him
again.

“
Hey. No kicking. Points off of your team.
”
Theirs were the only
voices in the room, and Jeremy was already so loud, his every word
echoed in the room.

“
I
’
m on your team, dumbass,
”
Gen muttered.

“
What
’
s that you said, Genevieve? You want
dessert?
”
Two campers, one wearing blue and the other in white,
sprinted for the dessert table to grab cake, pudding, and whipped
cream.

“
I
’
m going to expire from too much sugar and
won
’
t fit into my pants. It
’
ll be all your fault,
Jer.
”
The campers placed each bowl in front of her, again with a
color-coded napkin bundle showing which team had assembled which
dessert.
“
But this looks so good. Thank you.
”

“
You
better be sharing that brownie sundae from the blue
team.
”
Jeremy reached over with his spoon, but Gen easily blocked
his spoon with her own.

“
En
garde! Do not steal the dessert from the lady of silent
lunch!
”

“
I
share my schnitzel and this is how you repay me?
”

“
You
share your schnitzel with all the girls. Don
’
t act like
I
’
m
special.
”
Gen pushed his spoon away from her buffet of desserts and
kept her expression in place, but inwardly, she wanted to smack
herself.

He blinked, jerking
back an inch, then he smirked.
“
You know me better
than that. I
never
share my food.
”

Gen waited for his
next move, her spoon inches from his, but when his hand
didn
’
t move, she looked at his face. He looked a little hurt,
and she felt awful.
“
You
’
re right. I stand corrected, and apologize deeply
to the king of the sneeze guard. But I
’
m still not sharing
my brownie.
”

“
Selfish wench.
”
His smile, warm and intimate, turned
his words into a compliment she wanted to savor.

“
No,
hungry
wench. My dessert.
Mine
.
”

“
Fine, I
’
ll get my own.
”

“
What
’
s that, Jer? You like the blue team
’
s brownie
sundae?
”
Gen yelled into the murmuring silence, and four campers
made another dash to the dessert table, this time taking a serving
platter, filling it with brownies and ice cream, and delivering it
to Jeremy with a giant kitchen spoon that Corey gave them through
the serving window.