I said nothing. What did it matter? I couldn’t argue with her, because I knew she was right. Plus, I don’t think Jake even knew Presley existed. Did that give me the tiniest glimmer of satisfaction?
Yes, not that I’d ever admit it out loud.
“And doesn’t he like Lacey?” Bobbee asked.
“No,” I muttered, feeling stupid for sounding—for feeling—so defensive, especially when I saw the smirk on her face.
How did the old saying go? With friends like these, who needed enemies? I was starting to think those words applied to the girls in my cabin, minus Kelsey, as each day passed.
And it sucked.
Chapter Thirteen
ANNIE
We waited on the south end of the lake, all the camper kids aged twelve and up, ready to make the annual night hike. The air was buzzing with excitement, so many people talking and laughing at the same time I could hardly make out what they were saying.
The girls in my cabin were practically bouncing up and down like hyped-up rabbits, they were so ready to start this hike. I’d heard endless stories all through dinner and as we got ready, all about the past night hikes and what happened.
“Remember when that one counselor tripped over a rock and broke his leg?” Presley had said.
“What about the time they caught those counselors making out behind a tree? Fozzie yelled at them the entire hike back to camp,” Bobbee had said.
“‘What about the children? Why weren’t you watching the children?’” Kaycee had mimicked in her best Fozzie Bear impression before they all collapsed into fits of laughter.
Kelsey and I just looked at each other like they were crazy.
I stood with Kelsey now, trying my best to act casual but really, I was looking for Jake. Where was he? I knew he’d be here. No one could get out of the night hike, and besides, he’d told me he had to go. Fozzie Bear called out all the reinforcements to ensure he had enough staff on hand to keep the hikers in line. It was kind of insane, making the hike up the mountain with a bunch of overexcited kids in the dark.
“The best thing about the hike is jumping off the waterfall at the end,” Presley said, clapping her hands. “I hope you wore your swimsuits, girls.”
I did, even though there was no way I would jump off a cliff into unknown waters in the dark. I wasn’t that daring or crazy. I just wore the suit to act like I would. “I’m wearing mine,” I said with a faint smile.
“Me, too,” Kelsey added. The moment Presley turned away, Kelsey met my gaze. “No way am I jumping into that water.”
I giggled. “Me neither.”
“All right, all right,” Hannah yelled, waving her hands for us to gather closer to her. “We’re pairing up with Brian’s cabin tonight.” A bunch of “ooohs” sounded, and Hannah rolled her eyes. “Pipe down, ladies. It’s no big deal. As most of you know, we like to pair up a group of girls and guys, like we do every year during the night hike.”
Brian’s group included Kyle, and I watched nervously as they all approached, Brian sending Hannah such a scorching look it was any wonder he didn’t just grab her and kiss her senseless. “Ladies,” he said, his amused gaze scanning each one of us before it settled on Hannah. “Looking good this evening. Ready to conquer the mountain?”
We all let out a roar, accompanied by the much deeper roar of his cabin group. Kyle was raising his arms above his head and shouting like a gorilla along with the rest of them. He even curled his hands into fists and beat his chest.
“Fitting, since he acts like a monkey most of the time,” Gwen said drolly, making me laugh.
The familiar whine of the megaphone flipping on sounded, and the loud talking settled into a dull roar.
“Okay campers, are we ready to rock this?” Fozzie Bear yelled.
A resounding yeah! filled the air, making Kelsey, Gwen, and me wince.
“All right then, get into your cabin pairings! We’re going to then divide into two large groups and be on our way!” Fozzie said.
“Hey, new girl,” a familiar voice said behind me. I turned to find Kyle standing there, a big smile on his cute face.
But I didn’t get those warm fuzzies like I used to when I heard him call me new girl. And there were no butterflies fluttering in my stomach when he smiled at me, either. “Hi, Kyle,” I said.
He flicked his chin at me, in that universal boy gesture-speak way they all did. “Ready for the hike?”
“Definitely.”
“Going to jump off the waterfall?”
“Maybe,” I hedged.
“You should. It’s such a rush, especially in the dark.”
“But is it safe?” Kelsey asked with a wince.
“Oh yeah,” Brian said as he approached our group. “Fozzie has us go check it out and make sure it’s deep enough, that the brush and debris have been cleared and that everyone can only jump from one preselected spot.”
“They’ve been doing this for years,” Hannah added. “And no one has ever hurt themselves during the jump.”
“Only everywhere else,” Brian said with a grin.
Their words really didn’t reassure me. Not that I needed reassuring. The jump was voluntary, and most everyone who jumped did it so they wouldn’t have to hike back down the mountain. Jumping from the waterfall was the shortcut.
I’d rather hike the mountain, thanks.
“I’ve been assigned to your group,” another familiar voice said from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to find Jake standing there, looking beyond adorable in black swim trunks and a dark gray hoodie. “Hey, Annie.”
“Hi,” I said breathlessly, unable to look away from him. Okay, here came the butterflies. And that nervous, slightly scary feeling I always experienced with a crush.
As in, I was crushing on Jake. Hard.
“This looks familiar,” he said, his voice low as he took a step closer to me. He reached out and tugged on the string of his hoodie that I happened to be wearing.
That I never gave back to him after that one night. I’d never washed it, either, which could be considered gross, but I rarely wore it. Besides, the soft cotton still smelled like him.
And he smelled like heaven.
“You want it back?” I asked softly.
“Nah.” He shook his head, a little smile teasing the corners of his lips. “It looks better on you, anyway.”
My skin went warm at his compliment.
“Hey, Fazio, why you hogging the new girl?” Kyle asked, coming to stand right beside me. “Want to partner up?” he asked, his gaze meeting mine.
“Um, sure.” This was what I thought I wanted. Even better, now I seemed to have two boys fighting for my attention. My every summer camp dream come true.
But it was like the wrong boy was giving me attention, and I didn’t know what to do about it. I watched helplessly as Jake gave me a grim smile before he stalked off, going over to Brian and Hannah so he could chat with them.
I watched him go, my attention on him and no one else, and Kyle tapped me on the shoulder. “You’re not hot for Fazio, are you, new girl?” he asked.
“Her name is Annie,” Kelsey said, clearly irritated.
“I know that,” Kyle returned, equally irritated. He turned to me. “Annie.”
No butterflies. No nerves. No weak knees and hopeful thoughts. No…nothing, when I looked at Kyle.
I sneaked a glance in Jake’s direction to find him watching me, too. He looked away quickly, focusing all of his attention on whatever Brian was saying, and I tore my gaze from him, smiling at Kyle and Kelsey and Gwen, who all stood in front of me with expectant expressions on their faces.
“When are we leaving?” I said, bouncing on the balls of my feet. “I’m anxious to get this going.”
“Me, too,” Kelsey said, glancing around like she was looking for someone, too. Hmm, interesting. “They’re taking forever to do…what?”
“Who knows?” Gwen said, sounding bored. Her eyes lit up when Dane walked past. “Ah, my dream
date. Think he’d jump off the waterfall with me?”
“You wish,” Kyle muttered.
Gwen shot him a dirty look. “I wasn’t asking you, Kyle. Besides, I’m just playing around.”
That’s what she always said, but we knew the truth.
I guess it was safer than pining over some boy who would hardly give you the time of day.
Or wouldn’t make a move for fear of breaking the rules.
Forty-five minutes later, we were on the crest of the mountain, the view below absolutely amazing. We all stood in clusters staring at the camp spread out before us.
“Our cabin’s right there,” Hailey pointed out.
“Forget camp, check out the sky,” Bobbee said, her head tilted back as she stared up at the stars.
“Pretty nice, huh, Annie?” Kyle asked.
“Uh-huh.” He’d stuck by my side for the entire hike, helping me when my steps faltered, telling me a few crude jokes and yelling so many obscenities at his friends Brian had to threaten him twice. Jake led the group with Brian while Hannah walked behind us. Jake had never looked back at me.
Not even once.
All the girls from my cabin had shot me knowing looks throughout the hike, with the exception of Kelsey and Gwen. They both looked at me with sympathy in their eyes. Those two were too smart for their own good. They had me all figured out.
The megaphone clicked on, the whiny feedback sharp in the otherwise still night. “Who’s ready to make the jump?”
Lots of squeals filled the air as dozens of campers ran toward Fozzie. He had them form two lines, and I watched as pretty much every single person from our group started heading for the line.
Kyle paused and turned to face me. “You coming, Annie?”
I shook my head and smiled weakly. “I don’t think so.”
“Why not?” He frowned.
“I don’t like the idea of jumping into water when I can’t really see it,” I said.
“Me, either,” Kelsey chimed in.
Kyle’s frown deepened. “Seriously? It’s not that big of a deal.”
“It is to us,” Kelsey mumbled.
“What are you guys? A couple of chickens?” Kyle practically sneered.
“Leave them alone.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see Jake fast approaching us, a determined—and angry—look on his face. Relief flooded me. My knight in shining armor had run to my rescue yet again.
“I wasn’t doing anything wrong—” Kyle started to say, but Jake cut him off with a shake of his head.
“Go get in line if you want to jump,” he suggested, and Kyle took off to do exactly that.
“You two okay?” Jake asked once Kyle left. “Sorry if he was pushing you too hard.”
“Don’t apologize for him,” Kelsey said. “It’s not your fault he’s such a jerk.”
Jake smiled. “I like you.”
Kelsey laughed, her cheeks turning pink. “Glad I earned your approval.”
“Are you going to jump?” I asked Jake.
He shrugged, and my gaze dropped to his broad shoulders. He had really great ones. “Brian and Hannah said they’d hike back down if I wanted to, but I don’t know.”
I watched the line start to move, heard the first set of screams as someone jumped into the water.
“They let two people go at a time,” Jake said. “Usually friends or couples or whatever.”
“Maybe we should go watch for a little bit? Before we start to hike back down?” Kelsey suggested.
I nodded and started nibbling on my thumbnail, trying to calm my nerves. “Okay.”
“I’ll take you two over there,” Jake suggested, his smile warm as his gaze met mine. “Stand guard and make sure no one tries to give you crap for not jumping.”
I returned his smile, the butterflies warring big-time in my stomach at the way he was watching me. “Thanks, Jake.”
“Anytime,” he murmured.
…
JAKE
I led the girls over so we stood close to the edge, but not too close. The roar of the water falling into the pond far below was loud, drowning out most everyone’s conversations, but I didn’t care what anyone else was saying.
I only cared about Annie.
“It’s so far down,” she said, her friend making a distressed sound of agreement.
“The pond is super deep so it’s never dangerous,” I reassured her, smiling when another group of two jumped off the edge, their screams loud as they went plunging down.
“There is just no possible way I could ever want to do this,” Kelsey said, wrinkling her nose as she shook her head.
“Have you done it before?” Annie asked, turning those big blue eyes on me. She didn’t look that scared, more curious than anything. I sort of wished she would jump, though really, she didn’t know how to swim, and I wouldn’t want her to totally freak out…
I nodded slowly. “I’ve done it a few times. My first time was when I was a camper here.”
Her eyes went even wider. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. It was fun. Did it again earlier today when we were cleaning up the place.” It had been a total rush. Like every other time I’d jumped off that cliff, I’d screamed all the way down like a little girl, making Brian laugh hysterically. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever really experienced before.”
“Were you ever scared?”
I decided to be completely honest with her. “Pretty much every time. It’s like you step out into nothing and I can’t lie, that’s terrifying. But then gravity sucks you down and you’re hurtling through the air. All the breath leaving you, yet you’ve never felt so…alive.”
“And when you hit the water?”
“Cold.” I smiled. “But totally worth it.”
Her gaze never leaving mine, her expression awfully solemn, she murmured, “I think I want to do it.”
Kelsey gasped. “You’re kidding.”
Annie shook her head. “I’m not.”
“Annie. You don’t have to do this,” I said, stepping closer to her. The screams were coming at us constantly, the kids jumping one after the other. Dane had remained at the base of the waterfall, helping guide everyone out along with a few of the other junior counselors.
She nodded, looking determined. “I want to.”
“You’re nuts!” Kelsey yelled, and Annie flashed her a dirty look.
“I am not.”
“You kinda are,” I said, low enough so only she could hear.
“I’ll only do it if you jump with me,” she said.
My eyes widened and I popped my mouth open, not sure what I should say.
“I trust you,” she added, her gaze never flinching from mine. “The only way I can do it is if you’re holding my hand. I know you won’t let go.”
“I won’t,” I said. “I promise.”
She smiled serenely. “Then let’s do it.”
After shedding our clothes and shoes, stuffing them into Kelsey’s backpack, we went to go stand in line together. Kelsey went over to the group who were getting ready to leave so she’d have our stuff waiting for us after we jumped.
I couldn’t believe Annie wanted to do this. Sweet, scared-of-the-water Annie.
The shorter the line got, the more nervous she became. I snatched up her hand when we were only a few spots away from being the next jumpers. Luckily enough, Uncle Bob wasn’t manning the count anymore, too distracted with rounding up those who weren’t jumping and preparing to lead them back down the mountain.
“Are you sure you can do this?” I asked her.
She nodded, watching as yet another pair jumped into the darkness. “I think so,” she finally said. “I want to prove to myself that I can. That I’m not scared of the water, and that we’ve made progress together.”
“You can do it,” I said confidently. I was the one who started to get nervous. My heart was thumping wildly, like it wanted to burst out of my chest. And my palms were sweating.
“Annie.” Hannah
looked surprised when she noticed we were third in line. “You’re going to jump?”
She nodded and squeezed my hand. “Yep. With Jake.”
Hannah sent me a look. One I couldn’t quite figure out. “Feeling brave, huh?”
Annie looked right at me. “Definitely.”
When it was our turn, I could feel her hand tremble in mine. It took everything I had not to reach out and offer her a kiss for reassurance. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. Annie’s lips were strictly off-limits.
“You two are last in line, so take your time,” Hannah said gently, which I appreciated. She was totally in tune with Annie’s nerves. “You’ve got this.”
“You do,” I told Annie, giving her hand a firm shake. “Whenever you’re ready, I’m ready.”
Annie nodded, taking a deep breath. She took a step forward, and I followed her. We were so close to the edge, one wrong move and we’d fall over, straight into the water. She turned to look at me, her eyes huge and filled with fear. “I can do this, right?”
“You can do anything you set your mind to,” I whispered.
“Okay.” She tugged on my hand. “Let’s jump.”
“On the count of three.”
One…
Two…
Three!
We leaped off the edge together, Annie screaming bloody murder, our hands still linked. The wind whistled in my ears, her fingers curled tight around mine, and it was over in a flash, our bodies slicing through the water and going down, down, down…
It was dark. Pitch-black. A totally different experience compared to this afternoon’s jump. I pulled on Annie’s hand, tugging her toward the surface, until both of our heads popped up out of the water and she was in my arms, a trembling, giddy, and full-of-laughter mess of a girl.
A beautiful mess of a girl.
“I did it, I did it, I did it,” she chanted over and over, her teeth chattering, her words slurring together. She wrapped her arms around my neck, her legs around my waist, and I held her close, my mouth pressed to her forehead, savoring the feel of her in my arms.
“You did. I can’t freaking believe it,” I said as I started to laugh with her.
She pulled away slightly to look up at me. “That was freaking crazy. Am I right?”