29. Jack
TWENTY-NINE
Jack
I stood side stage and witnessed the energy and laughter emanating from the crowd as Hazel did her magic show.
Our weekly talent show tradition had always been a hit.
It was a final chance for campers to goof off and spend time with each other and their counselors.
Tomorrow, this cohort would be heading back to their regular lives, and we’d have our time off before the cycle started again, and we’d be welcoming the next group of campers.
Over my six years of working at Camp Starlight, I’d tried many different talent show acts to impress our wide-eyed, fun-loving guests, but nothing felt right or perfect just yet, so I kept trying new hobbies.
Experimenting with different pastimes had always been fun.
For our first year, I’d tried out ventriloquism, which went about as well as you’d expect.
When I gave it up, Sawyer took it on, and even though they weren’t nearly as hopeless as I was, they went back to interpretative dance, which they were phenomenal at.
At one point, Lamar told us he could do better and gave the puppeteer lifestyle a try until he realized his heart was and would always be with his dad jokes.
I’d taken up yo-yo tricks last year. I was pretty good at it, but I liked to change up my talent to keep things from going stale.
This summer was no different. I needed to get a leg up on my competitors, so I wasn’t about to phone it in.
Which meant my current juggling act wasn’t going to be enough.
I decided to go back to an old hobby that was muscle memory for me: skateboarding.
I’d been grateful for the escape into the boathouse, where my deck and grinding rail I’d made were stashed.
It was a bitch to move, but Sawyer, Lamar, and I managed.
The crowd screamed for Hazel. Leo was entertaining as hell, parading around in that damn pink wig as Hazel’s trusty assistant.
Campers always adored their camp mom and dad yuking it up.
After tonight’s hilarious performance, they relinquished the stage to a group of campers who did a Top Gun reenactment before Leo was back on to perform his one-man-band routine.
Watching him use the foot tambourine Autumn and I had found last summer at Wildwood’s thrift shop, the Treasure Trove, had been truly priceless.
Hazel watched him in awe, even though she’d seen the act a million times.
This morning’s conversation between Hazel and Nat still plagued me. Hazel had reminded Nat that she wasn’t planning on staying the whole summer, and Nat had just agreed.
Why hadn’t she told me?
Even if Nat wanted to go, I somehow expected Hazel to tell her that we needed her to finish out the summer for… morale. Something. Instead, there was already a possible replacement. That fact sat like bile in my uneasy stomach. I didn’t know what I’d been expecting.
I shook my head, chiding myself. Nat was always going to leave.
The world was a big place, and she loved exploring it.
I guessed, subconsciously, I’d always thought we’d have more time together before that happened.
But this was for the best anyway. At least now I didn’t have to analyze the feelings I was having.
I didn’t have to interpret the half-assed lie I’d told myself about not wanting to spend every waking moment doing stupid shit together.
Even sitting in silence with her was preferable to her not being here at all.
I sighed. She was leaving. It should feel like a problem solved. So why did that idea hurt so much?
I put those thoughts aside as I performed my skateboarding set, which resulted in resounding cheers from the crowd. I pulled off every trick I attempted, surprising even myself, and the crowd loved it.
A smiling Leo caught me as I wiped sweat from my brow. “Hey, good job up there.”
I turned to him, smiling. “The knees might argue later, but it did feel good.”
“It’s gonna be close between you two.”
I nodded. “I mean, Emerson’s slam poetry act was incredible, and there are a couple more to go.”
The rest of the counselors hadn’t had as much applause as we had, so I was ruling them out. Only a couple of acts were left: another camper, Chase, and then Nat.
“I really love talent show night.” Leo gave me a boyish grin, and it looked the same way it had years ago, during our first camp talent show.
Leo had gone in front of the campfire with his guitar, and I’d been up next with mine.
Later, I’d jokingly complained that I was supposed to be the camp guitar guy.
He’d conceded and said he’d be the one-man-band guy instead.
At the time, I’d thought he was joking. I never expected him to best me with an instrument, but as I’d watched him up on stage in his full ensemble, he officially had.
His act was always a hit, and if I were being honest, it was always my favorite to watch.
Leo gave me a knowing look before cleaning his glasses on his T-shirt. “Zel and I aren’t competing, and Emerson, while amazing, didn’t perform well enough to beat you. There’s no way any of the counselors are taking the whole competition. Looks like it’s between you and Nat. It always was.”
“So, who has your vote?”
“I may be biased, but I’ve seen Nat’s act, and it will be tough to beat.” He elbowed me with a cocky grin. “She’s singing, and yours truly is playing guitar.” Leo beamed at me until his phone rang, interrupting before he could explain himself. “Just a sec.”
He turned away, walking a couple of paces. Then he ran his hands through his hair, one of his frustrated tells. I turned away to give him some privacy, but a moment later, Leo was beside me, his voice was strained.
“I need your help, Jack.” The worried look that overtook his usually happy-go-lucky face was all wrong.
“What is it?”
My mind rushed to Nat leaving unexpectedly, but that was insane. She was performing last according to our set schedule, and she’d at least say goodbye.
Leo’s voice was tight as he answered. “Hazel has a family thing.”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “Shit, sorry to hear that. What can I do?”
A determined look crossed his face as he entered his fix something for Hazel mode. I’d seen it before when Hazel needed a spider “evicted” from her cabin. Hazel had gone right to Leo, who dropped what he was doing to take care of it for her.
“It’ll be all right,” he said, more to himself than to me, and then his guitar was thrust into my chest. “I’m going to go be with her. Can you play for Nat? The song is ‘Unwritten’ by Natasha Bedingfield.”
Uh, what? “Yeah, you go. I’ll help her.”
On the stage, Chase was apologizing to a camper, despite the loud applause and laughter.
Apparently, he’d lassoed the guy a little too hard, and they’d fallen over.
There were several other hoots and offerings to be lassoed next.
Were they mostly women? His expression of regret and graceful stage exit only made him more enduring. The crowd really loved him.
I quickly looked away from the commotion and jumped into problem-solver mode.
I didn’t know the song Leo had mentioned.
“Unwritten”? Nope, never heard of it. I was surprisingly good at picking up songs, so I yanked my phone out to look it up, but it was already too late.
She was setting up her microphone and looking around for Leo.
I stepped up onto the stage and smiled at her. “Leo had something come up,” I whispered.
Her shoulders dropped. “Well, I guess you’ve won this event,” Nat said solemnly as if she had accepted her fate.
I didn’t like that one bit. “If I’m going to beat you, princess, it’s going to be at your full strength,” I teased. I’d give up the competitive edge if it meant Nat having fun and enjoying herself up on this stage.
She looked shocked, then relieved as I pulled the guitar strap around my shoulder.
“We’re playing a different song,” I told her. Her eyes widened in surprise. I lowered the strap around my neck and began to play.
She perked up, and her lips curved into a smile as I whistled while strumming the bars to “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
She’d been playing it nonstop in our cabin for the past two weeks, whether she was doing her evening skincare routine, editing videos, or cleaning.
I had the damn thing memorized through sheer proximity.
Still, I surprised even myself when I knew every line of the duet as we faced each other, singing with our whole hearts for all of camp.
Even with my help, it was clear who the star was.
I lost myself in Nat’s voice. There was a raw, honey-smooth quality to it that had me transfixed as we pulled off the unpracticed tune.
In the quick moment I pulled myself away from her and looked at the crowd, I found them enthralled.
The song ended, but Nat and I stared at each other, locked in the moment.
We must have pulled off sounding completely in sync, because a whistle blew, and resounding cheers broke me out of my haze.
We collected ourselves, bowing once for the audience before exiting the stage.
Autumn’s cheery microphone voice took over from there.
The crowd was still cheering, but I wasn’t paying attention. Our hands were clasped tight as I led us away from the crowd. We walked at a brisk pace filled with adrenaline and surrounded by joy in the air.
Nat stopped between some expansive trees, away from the bonfire.
The excitement from our performance buzzed between us, but I couldn’t take my eyes off hers, noting the catches of pretty moonlight in them.
It was enough of a distraction that I was caught off guard as she went up on her toes and pressed her lips to mine.
With our foreheads pressed together, she let out a soft sigh against my lips, sending goose bumps down my arms. “I can’t believe you did that,” she said quickly. “I love you.”
My heart faltered. Blood whooshed through my ears as I looked at her. Her eyes were wide as saucers. I must not have heard her right.
My brain tried to explain it away. She hadn’t meant it. It was a colloquialism. A meaningless phrase that had spurted from her lips in the heat of the moment.
But she went from looking like she’d had a slipup to looking determined, and I knew it was too late.
“You… love me?”