Kota coughed. “Yeah, for now, she’s staying at our camp,” he said in a final tone.
“Are you hungry?” North asked, motioning to the picnic area. “We probably have enough hot dogs for everyone.”
Grateful when North changed the subject, I eased closer to Victor, but he didn’t grab my hand. I sensed it might not have been appropriate to do so.
Nathan joined me on my other side. I shared long looks with both him and Victor: Don’t leave me.
Maybe they were Academy, but I didn’t want to be separated from either of them. I was suddenly realizing there were going to be other people around, and they’d ask so many questions about me. I wasn’t sure what to tell them—I wasn’t prepared.
I suddenly had a million questions to ask the guys about what I should say. The only thing I’d prepared for was the end when I’d declare that I wanted to stay with the guys.
Nathan and Victor seemed to understand and when we returned to the table, they sat down on the bench, leaving just enough room for me between them.
Ian, Kota, and Silas talked about dragging over another table from a nearby camp and then left to go find the closest one, taking a guy from the other team. The third guy talked to North at the grill, watching as North turned them over with tongs.
The girls sat down on the picnic table bench across from us.
“Do you all want anything to drink?” Luke asked, standing at the far end of the table. He slapped his hand to his face, rolling his eyes. “Why do I feel like I want to say ‘Welcome to Bob’s’ suddenly?”
“I dream about waiting tables at Bob’s sometimes,” Gabriel said. He stood next to Luke and then turned toward one of the coolers that were parked in a sand dune nearby. “We’ve got sodas and water.”
“I could use a coffee,” one of the girls said. She had an oval face and while she had brown hair like the other girls, hers was up in a sloppy bun in the back of her head. She sat to the left of the girl who wore brown, who was in the middle. “But I guess it’s wishful thinking at this point. I only brought instant, but even that won’t taste right without some hot water. I brought an electric stove, but I didn’t see a place to plug it in except for the bathrooms.”
“There’s a picnic area,” Nathan said. “It’s on the map. It’s got a couple of shelter areas, but I didn’t see any outlets. There might be some, though. I think I remember seeing bare lights inside.”
Gabriel opened another cooler and fished out two flavors of Frappuccinos: mocha and vanilla. “I don’t suppose you like these.”
The girl’s eyebrows lifted and she started to smile, reaching out for the vanilla bottle. “It’s coffee and it’s in front of me. I’ll take one. Thanks.”
“You really need to work on your addiction,” the girl in brown said. She tilted her sharp face as she peered over the table to the open ice chest. “I’ll take a Sprite if you have one.”
Gabriel passed me the mocha coffee in his hand and then fished out other drinks for the others.
Coffee girl’s face was neatly made up, her skin looking smooth and contrasted with dark red lipstick. She pulled off the plastic safety wrapper and then snapped open the lid with a pop. “Ah,” she said and then grinned at me. “Isn’t that the best sound in the world?”
I wasn’t so sure, but I shook mine and opened it, giving her a small smile when mine popped the same way hers had.
Luke chugged half of a bottle of Coke and then wiped at his lips. “I’m starving.”
“The smell is making me hungry,” the girl in brown said. “What’s your name again? Sorry.”
“Luke,” he said. “Wait, what’s your name?”
“April,” she said. She pointed to coffee girl. “And this is Taylor and...”
“Ha!” Luke said, cutting her off. He pointed to North and then back at himself. “Our last name is Taylor.”
April laughed, smoothing the sleeve of her brown shirt. “They let brothers on the same team?”
“Stepbrothers,” North said. “But we’re still family.”
“That’s rare,” Ian said. “And you’ve got such a big team.”
“There’s actually two more,” Kota said. “They’ll be here tomorrow.”
“I barely recognize some of you,” he said. “But then we couldn’t make it to the camp last year. You all must have grown some.”
“I remember you,” Taylor said, nodding toward Gabriel. “You had the same hair and earrings last year, but you were shorter.”
“There’s always so many people to meet at once, you easily forget faces,” April said, absently twisting her coffee lid.
“I think that’s why it’s so many of us in one place at one time,” Kota said. “It’s not always good to remember all of our faces. There’s some security in that.”
The others introduced themselves. I was half paying attention, more aware of the girls across from me. I was studying them, imagining they knew so much about the Academy. They were a team. What did they do?
April took a long sip and then wiped her lips on the sleeve of her gray sweater. “This is good. I was about to get the headache.”
The third girl, Emma, who had already downed half a bottle of water finally spoke. “We’ve been walking forever,” she said. She was chubbier than the other girls, with round cheeks that made her square face appear softer when she turned her head. She had bright blue eyes, a striking contrast to her brown hair. “This camp is huge and the map isn’t great. It’s outdated and wrong about some things.”
Nathan perked up. “Maybe that’s what we should do this afternoon. We could make a new map.”
That started a discussion about how one starts a map and how we could scour the campgrounds, and then who would track everything.
I leaned into Victor. I was interested in making a map, but my voice was gone right now.
Victor was quiet, too, not joining in the conversation. He leaned into me but did nothing else. His eyes flickered to life with a low flame of curiosity.
When Kota returned with Silas and the other guys, towing another table, Nathan jumped up to give them a hand. They settled the table at the end of the first, making one long table together.
“Good,” North said, piling hot dogs on a plate. “These almost burned.”
There were black grill marks on the hot dogs but they looked fine. There was a flurry of movement as Luke got out more drinks for everyone. Each one of us got a hot dog and bun, and bags of chips got passed around. There were basic ketchup and mustard passed around.
I sat quietly through the bustle. Victor made my hot dog. Nathan made sure I had enough corn chips on my plate. It was easier to be out of the way rather than bumping into everyone trying to reach for anything. I told them thank you.
“Aw,” April said. She’d finished her coffee and had gotten a second one. She looked over at Nathan with a smile. “You guys are so sweet to her. That’s so nice to see.”
Nathan, Victor, and I shared glances, and then I happened to look to Kota.
Kota’s attention had shifted to us. He stood at the head of the table, a plate in his hand. He smiled weakly. “I hope it’s not inappropriate,” he said.
Taylor put up her hand to stop him and put down her Sprite to speak. “No, guys, you don’t understand. So many girls these days complain about guys doing nice things, that some have stopped doing them because they don’t know what to do. Opening doors, or fetching a soda. Those are things you can ask your friends or family to do, but if a guy offers to do it for his girlfriend, suddenly it’s an issue.”
“Oh my god, I hate that,” said Emma. Her bright blue eyes opened wider as she spoke. “There was a girl—not Academy—but she got a compliment about her hair that she just had done. Some guy complimented it... and she yelled at him about how sexist he was.” She sighed and shook her head. “I feel like the level of girls trying to fight for equality goes a little overboard in some areas. Compliments and niceties should be extended on either side. We shouldn’t be complaini
ng. We should be offering niceties back.”
April picked up her hot dog. “I’ll admit, I like the change of thinking in some areas, but attacking nice deeds is getting out of hand. I’ve opened doors for other people, including guys. And I rather like the door being opened for me. The way some girls talk, I’m supposed to yell at you about being sexist.”
Gabriel spoke up. “What the hell?” he said. He looked right at me. “So you’re supposed to snap at me when I open a door for you now?”
“No!” All three of the girls said together. They looked at each other and laughed.
April continued, pointing at me but looking at Gabriel. “Listen, don’t start this. Open her door. It’s a nice thing. She might open your door, too. But some girls, if a girl opens a door for another girl, they’re okay with it, they say it’s nice. If it’s a guy, though, they say it’s sexist, like they assume she can’t open her own door.”
“It’s just wrong, though,” April said. “I mean, okay, sometimes you have to be a little careful, but you should always be respectful and realize if someone is doing a nice thing for you.”
“Doesn’t look like you guys have that issue,” Emma said to me. “Sometimes you work out in the field and you have to pretend to get friendly with people.” She looked right at me. “You’ll see. You have to be aware of social trends, be prepared to talk to anyone.”
Me? Talk to anyone? I looked at the others. Did I need to learn social trends, like yelling at guys who opened doors for me?
“Hey,” Nathan said, looking at Kota to get his attention. “We’re talking about making a new map of the camp since this one is outdated.”
Kota liked the idea and the dynamic changed as it turned into a plan. It was Ian, April, and Kota who started organizing who should do what.
I thought of things to say, but the others talked so fast and freely, that I never got a chance to say anything at all. I finished my hot dog and chips before anyone else because they were talking so much, seeming to forget about food.
The only other one who was quiet was Victor. He finished his plate, too, and then I felt his hand on my leg. He squeezed encouragingly.
I held onto his leg, too. I craved that stability the support of having him close.
I was about to face a week of activity with other Academy people. The two groups were friendly and helpful, what I’d witnessed in the guys, especially when I was first getting to know them. They were so eager to help and to jump in and get things done. These new faces seemed to ignite energy into them, and the plan to map the campground sent a wave of excitement through them all.
I shared glimpses with Victor, though, and while I was curious about the other teams, nothing changed in my heart. I wanted to stay with them. In a small way, I didn’t want to know other teams at all. Being around them meant I couldn’t hold hands or do other things with the guys. It meant watching what I said. I didn’t know if they’d ask me personal questions and what I should say if they asked simple things like about my parents or school.
When Kota talked about mixing up the groups to help scout, my hand tightened on Victor’s leg. The new teams seemed okay, but I wasn’t really ready to get mixed together with other teams yet. What would I talk about with them?
His grip on my thigh held firm, his thumb slowly rubbing back and forth.
I leaned into him. “Stay with me?” I asked, hoping that no one could hear it but him. I didn’t want to appear rude, but I felt a little awkward at the notion of teaming up with the others when I didn’t know them that well.
He leaned in and whispered, his lips against my ear. “I will. Don’t worry. You won’t be out of our sight while we’re at camp. Ever.”
I knew he’d never break his promise. I swallowed back a little wave of emotion and tried to calm my nerves.
Luke spoke up loudly, drawing our attention. “Sang should be on my team since I’ll be doing the drawing,” he said. “She’s got the best sense of direction.”
“I can help,” Ian said. He took off his baseball cap, scratched at his short brown hair and then put his cap back on. “I can draw a decent map.”
“She can come with the girls if she wants to,” April said.
Victor almost spoke up Taylor beat him to it. “I don’t think we should split up like that,” she said. “I know it’s fun, but we should really focus on our skills. You’d be better with...” She looked at Luke and then Kota. “Well, let’s figure out a plan.”
Emma had brought her tablet and turned it on, and someone pulled up a Google map of the island, showing a bird’s eye view. We compare it to someone else’s phone showing a Google Earth overview, but it was hard to see any roads through the trees. We looked at the map given to us by the camp, and then another paper road map someone had picked up at a nearby gas station. It showed the roads and the entrance to the camp, but none of the details of the campground itself.
Kota pointed to the campground map. “This is our site, on the north side of the island. There’s a few trails on the south side of camp, but I don’t know how far they go before you hit wild section of woods. Somewhere beyond that set of woods is the other camp, the hunting camp, but it’s a good few miles.”
“We could go south along the beach,” Ian said. “And mark on a map where there are paths going in and where they lead.”
“And then follow the last path in again and make sure they connect with the camp properly,” Kota said. “Start in the corner and work our way in. We could go,” He pointed to Ian, himself and Nathan in turn, and then looked at the girls. “Are any of you wearing boots?”
Emma raised her hand. “And thick jeans—the brush is pretty thick.”
Kota nodded. “You can join us if you’d like. We’ll be in deep woods, though. We might need to go get some bug spray and water. I’ve got radios we can use back at camp, but I’ve only got nine.”
“We should only carry maybe two per team, making sure to leave one for Luke and whoever stays with him to draw the map,” Ian said.
“I’ll stay with him,” one of the guys said. I couldn’t see who it was from where I was sitting, but Luke waved and gave a thumbs-up.
Kota pointed back to the map. “And then the rest of you can split up, following the main roads. There should be cabins and an RV section as well. Let’s make sure we know where everything.”
“Do we need put echo trackers for the campground managers or the rangers?” one of the guys of the other team asked. “Do we need to worry about that?”
Kota touched at the corner of his glasses, looking at the map but clearly thinking. He looked up at me and then at the camp’s map. “I don’t think we really need to. Unless they start getting too nosey about us. Do we have supplies just in case?”
“I’ve got trackers,” the guy said.
“I’ve got some, too,” Victor said. “They’re in my car.”
“We could put them on their cars now without much harm,” the guys said. “So when they drive out, we’ll know.”
“Better to put them on their shoes,” Victor said. “They might not take a car with them everywhere.”
Mouths fell open across the table.
“You put them in shoes?” several people asked together.
The question surprised me. I hadn’t been surprised to hear their suggestion to track the rangers, as I’d heard them track with phones. But why were the other teams’ members shocked? What kind of things did other Academy groups do?
“They don’t last very long,” Victor said. “Because when you walk, it puts pressure on the devices and they can break.”
“And no big battery support,” Luke said.
Victor continued. “But they’ll go for a while with a fresh battery on them, and by mid-week, we should know their patterns well enough. I’d say tap their cell phones, but it’s a little extreme and there’s hardly any signal out here.”
“They probably have radios, too, though,” April said. She leaned on the table with her hands pressed to the wood.
“We could keep the signal going with the battery attached to it.”
Victor shook his head and made gestures with his hands like holding a radio. “Radios are trickier because they pick up on signals and will create feedback noises. It might be more noticeable, probably not worth it.” He smirked. “Speculation of course. We don’t need to do all this but always good to think it out just in case.”
Ian blew a breath out from between his lips. “What kind of jobs do they have you all on that you’re doing this type of stuff?”
“PE classes,” Nathan said with a small smirk.
“And lunch,” Luke said and chuckled.
“This is nothing,” Gabriel said.
“It’s a long story,” Kota said. “But let’s focus on this map making.”
Everyone split up as evenly as we could. Gabriel would come with my group to fix the faded signs along the way using paint one of the girls had on hand.
Luke and Victor decided it was better if they teamed up to introduce themselves to the rangers, and also scope out their place and determine if we needed to worry about them.
Gabriel, Silas and I were joined by Taylor and April. Before we left, April grabbed one more coffee for the road.
“I’m going to have to grab some more for you for the rest of the week,” Gabriel whispered to me as we fell behind the two girls. “She does have a coffee addiction.”
Taylor—who seemed to be her team’s leader—led the way, giving us directions. April stayed up front with her while I walked with Gabriel and Silas trailed behind us.
After a stop for the girls to get the paint, we tracked back to the road that came in from the main gate. Starting there, we took every right until we hit the end of the paved road areas. April wrote on the map where things were. Gabriel painted signs along the way.
I walked beside Silas, saying nothing and following along.
It took up a good portion of the rest of the afternoon to get through even half of the campground, and there were roads that continued beyond where we were focusing on, turning from paved to gravel. It was suspected the gravel roads led to campsite areas, although one sign marked a path as a hiking trail.