Part 21 (2/2)

She stepped back. ”Me? Why?”

”Because you never showed up tonight.” Cam lowered his voice. He no longer sounded angry. It was worse than that. He sounded heartbroken.

”What are you talking about?” Claire's voice sounded higher than usual. ”I gave Alicia a note to give to you. It said I'd be late.”

No one said a word. It was suddenly very clear what had happened.

”Ooops.” Alicia covered her mouth with the palm of her hand. ”I must have forgotten to deliver it. My bad.” She skipped toward the bushes and met up with Olivia, who had been crouched down and hiding behind a pine tree. The girls burst out laughing and speed walked toward the cabin, because Alicia refused to run.

”Claire, I'm sorry.” Cam took another step toward her. ”Nothing happened. It was a big misunderstanding.”

But Claire didn't want to hear his excuses. She knew what she'd seen and couldn't bear to look at him anymore.

”Where are you going?” Cam called after her.

The rhythm of her footsteps on the ground along with the jagged breaths she took in between sobs formed a melodic beat that gave Claire something to focus on besides the desperation in Cam's voice.

Claire hid along the side of her cabin and waited for her tears to stop. She thought about splas.h.i.+ng water on her face in the shower house but knew it would probably be full of girls getting ready for the evening program, and she didn't feel like explaining the reason for her tears. In fact, she wished someone would explain it to her. The more Claire thought about it, the more the situation reminded her of what she'd done with Josh. She'd given in to his advances because she'd been hurt by Cam and had wanted to feel loved. And technically, that was what Cam had been doing with Alicia. He'd thought Claire had blown him off. He'd been hurt and vulnerable and...

A piece of white satin buried under a pile of dirt suddenly caught Claire's attention. She kicked the leaves aside and found her underwear, once again. Only this time, the discovery made her burst out laughing. At this point, what else could she do?

Claire cautiously opened the door to her cabin and peeked inside. Was Alicia in there waiting for her? Was she updating the girls on what had happened? Were they going to laugh at her?

But no one even noticed Claire when she finally stepped inside. Everyone was crammed together on Ma.s.sie's bed, applying a green mud mask to Doose's face and recounting the details of her horizontal lip kiss for the unfortunate girls who'd missed it.

Claire made it to the back of the cabin unnoticed and changed into her plaid flannel pajamas. She breathed a sigh of relief once she realized Alicia and Olivia were not there.

Claire and Layne sat in the very back of the group during the evening bonfire. From there Claire could catch glimpses of Cam, who looked down the whole night and played with the zipper on his leather jacket. Alicia and Olivia sat as far away from him as possible, pretending to listen to Mr. Myner read from Hatchet, Hatchet, but they were really more focused on braiding each other's hair. Ma.s.sie sat beside Derrington and giggled while the MUCK girls studied her every move. Claire couldn't wait to crawl under her covers and disappear for the next ten hours. but they were really more focused on braiding each other's hair. Ma.s.sie sat beside Derrington and giggled while the MUCK girls studied her every move. Claire couldn't wait to crawl under her covers and disappear for the next ten hours.

When bedtime finally came, everyone fell fast asleep. The cool fresh air and the long, active day had made it almost impossible to stay awake. Claire's body felt heavy and sore from crying all night, and the minute she hit the goose-down pillow, she melted into its fluffy embrace.

A few moments later, she opened her eyes and looked around. It was still dark outside, and in the fog of sleep she wondered what she was doing awake.

”Claire,” whispered a girl. She was sitting on the edge of Claire's bed wearing s.h.i.+ny lip gloss that smelled like doughnuts, black eyeliner, and tons of red blush. Her wavy hair was pinned off her face with rhinestone barrettes and a short, cream-colored cashmere tie-front cardigan hung around her broad shoulders, leaving the rest of her naked torso exposed. Claire sat up and looked around to see if anyone else saw what she did.

”Shhh, it's me,” said the girl. That was when Claire noticed her eyes. One was green and the other was blue.

”Cam?” Claire whispered.

”Call me Camille,” he said in falsetto.

Claire giggled. He looked like a transvest.i.te version of Ma.s.sie. The thought of this ah-dorably handsome soccer star applying lip gloss in front of the mirror made staying mad impossible. He'd obviously gone to Ma.s.sie and poured his heart out or she never would have lent him her precious tie-front cardigan. And here he was, dressed as a girl, risking his pride and his position on the soccer team just for her.

”Here.” Cam pulled a clear bag filled with gummy feet and sours out of his demin miniskirt pocket.

”Where did you get these?” Claire wanted to throw her arms around him. It had been weeks since he'd brought her candy. She untied the knot on the plastic bag and dug into it.

”I brought them from home and hid them under my mattress,” Cam said shyly. ”You know, just in case we made up.”

”So you wanted to make up too?”

Cam nodded and smiled brightly, unable to play it cool.

”Then why were you ignoring me?” Claire smacked him playfully on the arm.

”Because I wasn't sure if you liked Josh,” Cam said. ”You know, until some dude showed up in my cabin and set me straight.”

Once again, Ma.s.sie Block had been right.

Claire pulled out a red sour and popped it in her mouth. Then she took out an orange foot and fed it to him. They watched each other chew with huge grins on their faces. Once they swallowed, Cam wiped his glossy lips on the back of his hand, then tilted his head to the right. Claire did the same. And without hesitation they leaned in toward each other.

Cam's lips were soft and full and sweet. His kiss didn't feel cold and foreign like Josh's had. It felt more like trying on a pair of jeans and realizing they were made just for her.

The longer their lips touched the hotter Claire's cheeks became, until she found herself wondering how much longer she could kiss before her head exploded.

Finally Cam came up for air. ”I better go before I get kicked off the soccer team.”

”Okay,” Claire tried to say but no sound came out of her mouth. All she could do was watch him walk away in Ma.s.sie's moccasin boots and giggle.

Her first kiss with Cam was nothing like she'd imagined it would be.

It was much better. And well worth the wait.

LAKE PLACID, NEW YORK FOREVER WILD CAMPSITE THE DINING PAVILION.

Wednesday, February 25th 7:29 A.M. A.M.

”Can someone please pa.s.s the b.u.t.ter?” Claire refused to ask Alicia, even though the silver tray was right next to her plate.

Alicia ignored her and continued dumping ketchup on her egg whites.

”The b.u.t.ter, please,” Claire insisted.

Alicia poured herself a gla.s.s of fresh-squeezed orange juice. ”Want some?” she asked Olivia, who was seated beside her.

”Sure.” Olivia smiled and held out her gla.s.s.

Claire stood up and stomped to the other side of the table. She leaned over Alicia's shoulder and grabbed the b.u.t.ter tray. The bell sleeve of her gray J.Crew cowl-neck sweater brushed against Alicia's cheek. She didn't apologize.

Claire moved with a confidence Ma.s.sie had never seen before. Her chin was lifted, her shoulders back, and she had a fearless look in her eyes, like she was being protected by some invisible force field that let her act however she wanted.

”Kuh-laire, what's going on?” Ma.s.sie whispered in Claire's ear once she was seated. ”You're acting so un-Claire-ish.”

Claire beamed. ”We did it last night.”

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