Chapter Twelve
Then
Forty-One Days Before the Fire
My mother was shaken up after the office break-in, though she tried her best to hide it. Especially since we’d enacted a much stricter curfew system. We’d doubled up on night rounds as well, meaning there would now be at least four counselors awake and on duty until midnight.
We were under explicit instruction to not gossip with the campers about what had happened, but that didn’t stop the news from spreading like wildfire; it was hard, after all, to completely hide the evidence of a trashed building.
It didn’t help that more than one camper had noticed Sheriff Ramon’s patrol car when he’d stopped by the next day to check things out.
In another unfortunate turn of events, Chelsea had twisted her ankle slipping on the dock, which took her out of commission for a few days. She hadn’t broken it, thankfully, but it was bad enough that hiking was entirely out of the question.
That was a problem, because today was the overnight trip to Lady’s Lurch for Brook Trout, and it was well known as being the best hike of the summer. I couldn’t exactly lead the group all on my own, but both the girls and their parents would riot if we canceled.
So there were a few things stacked against us. But I quickly found a silver lining—my mom asked Trevor to be Chelsea’s stand-in.
It was his night off, but Anita Olsen was passionate, persistent, and difficult to say no to. So he didn’t.
I was more excited than I wanted to let on. Every time I looked at him, the butterflies started to swarm. It seemed serendipitous, that we could spend a little bit of time together, away from everyone else.
The path to Lady’s Lurch was well marked and mostly flat, a simple and beautiful two-hour hike in each direction.
We got to hang back and let the girls lead the way.
Which was certainly for the best, considering that it was harder for them all to openly ogle Trevor if he was walking fifteen feet behind them.
“What are you laughing at?” he said, catching the look on my face. I was horrifyingly sweaty, my hair tied back with an old bandanna.
His expression was exasperated—as if he already knew what I was about to say—and it only made me laugh more. “You’ve got some fans,” I said, gesturing ahead of us at the three girls in the back of the pack.
Though it was hard to hike while staring behind you, these three were proving that it was, in fact, not impossible. It was funny how subtle they thought they were being.
“Shut up,” Trevor said, rolling his eyes. He punched me lightly on the shoulder, just as the girls turned around for the one hundredth time. Not surprisingly, they exploded into groans and raucous giggles at the mere sight of me and Trevor touching.
“I didn’t know they were together, let’s go back—”
“Every hot guy at this camp, like, already has a girlfriend, I’m suing—”
I snorted an unflattering laugh, then slapped a hand to my mouth. “Wow, we sure got serious fast,” I teased. “I’m already your girlfriend and you haven’t even taken me to dinner yet.”
Trevor didn’t say anything right away, and I snuck a glance at him. He was staring at me with an unexpected intensity that made my toes curl in my shoes.
I stopped walking, hit over the head with the rush of it, and so did he.
He was so tall. I had to crane my neck to see him, as close as we were now standing. As always, he smelled like salt water and mint, though part of me wondered if it was just the tiniest bit more concentrated today.
“What is it?” I asked.
He flashed his teeth, then tugged on a lock of hair that had fallen loose from my ponytail. “Just trying to decide.”
“Trying to decide…what?” The words came out low and breathy as his finger barely grazed my cheek.
“Where I’d take you to dinner.”
Heat rushed to my face. “That’s—”
“Miss Greer?” Kendall’s voice up ahead jarred me solidly back into the present moment, and my responsibilities. We were not on a date, unfortunately; we were chaperoning a hike for children. Whatever this was would have to wait. Trevor dropped his hand just as I took a step back from him.
“We’re right behind you,” I called up the path, entirely flustered, and I made myself move forward. I was certain he was smirking.
—
“I’ve made a decision,” Kendall announced.
It was hours later, and we were the last two awake, except for Trevor, who’d snuck off to the beach a while ago after a few too many screams at lizard sightings.
We were sitting around the makeshift campfire we’d built out of flashlights—fires were strictly forbidden this summer due to the dry conditions—and she’d stifled three yawns in the past five minutes.
I’d just been about to suggest she head to her tent.
“Kendall,” I said with a sigh. “Remember, we talked about this. I know you want to go home, but you’re going to have to wait until the end of summer like everyone else.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I’ve officially decided who my first-ever crush will be.”
I raised my eyebrows at her, fighting a smile. “First crush ever? Seriously?”
“Yes, ever. The boys at my school are not smart. And they all smell bad.”
I nodded somberly, accepting this astute assessment. “Fair enough. This is a big deal, then. Who is it?”
“Carter Banks. He’s in Bluegill.”
I scrunched my nose, attempting to scan my brain for any image of Carter Banks. I wasn’t sure if I recognized his name.
“This is his first year, too,” she explained.
A toad croaked from somewhere, and Kendall gave a pointed look of disgust.
“Well, tell me everything,” I said, nudging her with my knee. “What do you like about him?”
Her expression was thoughtful, as usual. “We have a lot in common. We both like the same comic books and graphic novels. And he’s funny. He thinks I’m funny.”
I could tell, even in the dim light, that a flush was creeping up her cheeks.
“He believes me, about seeing the Phantom in the woods.” She lowered her voice, conspiratorial now. “He saw it, too. Walking past his cabin.”
I stilled. “He saw…what?”
“The same thing I did. There’s someone out there, Miss Greer.” She took a sip from her water bottle, some of it dribbling onto her chin. She wiped it off delicately with the napkin she still had folded in her lap from dinner, as formal as if we were at a tea party with Meghan Markle. “The Phantom.”
When I didn’t say anything, she looked at me. “Please don’t be mad. Everyone’s talking about it, not just me and Carter. Another boy in Bluegill, Jeremy Wallis, saw him, too.”
I frowned. Before I could ask my next question, Kendall yawned again, the loudest yet.
“I’m tired. Good night, Miss Greer,” Kendall chirped at me before disappearing into her tent, where Harper was snoring loud enough to raise the dead.
As I turned off the flashlights, I wondered how my mom would react when I told her all this. The whole thing made me uneasy, thinking about Kendall having whispered conversations with other kids, all of them working each other into a frenzy over what they’d seen—no, what they thought they’d seen.
And then I worried about just how many other campers were having these same clandestine meetings with each other. Kendall had said everyone’s talking about it. Was she right?
Just how quickly would all this Phantom shit get completely out of hand?
I grabbed my sweatshirt that I’d let Kendall borrow from the log we’d been sitting on, and tied it around my waist. The air was warm still, but not stifling, now that the sun was down.
Setting up camp this close to the water had its advantages—there was a pleasant, if not cool breeze that rustled my hair every few minutes.
I stretched my arms over my head, thinking of sleep, but then my eyes flitted toward the beach. That’s when I realized—now, it was just Trevor and me. Every anxious thought I had about the Phantom left my brain completely, and I went to find him.
He sat on the small beach, his feet in the water. The shore was a little rocky, but I didn’t mind, and I dropped down next to him.
He took a pull from a flask that he must have snuck with him, and I watched his lips move.
Psychopath. Stop it.
“You brought a flask?” I asked, scrambling to talk about anything innocuous. He held it out to me, and I hesitated only a moment before accepting.
I misjudged how bad it would taste and immediately started sputtering, putting my hand over my mouth to keep quiet. “What is this?”
“You don’t like it?”
“That is lethal,” I said, coughing dramatically, just to make him laugh. It was dark, but I was smiling. I knew he could hear it.
A low chuckle. “I’m aware.”
“Did you…” I trailed off, searching my brain for another topic. “So, I mean, how have you been?”
I thought he might make fun of me, my almost formal nicety, but instead he took a deep breath, like he was genuinely considering the question.
“Do you want the real answer? Or the polite one?”
“The real one,” I said easily.
He nodded, as if in acceptance, and closed his eyes.
“My parents were not happy that I decided to come back this summer,” he said. “Especially my dad. I don’t know how much you know about him, but he’s a man with…high expectations.”
Of course I knew about Trevor’s dad—his law firm was one of the most prestigious in Atlanta.
“I never really had an interest in being a lawyer. Too buttoned-up for me. My older brother, Marshall, was built for it. He’ll be partner in the next few years, and he’s my dad’s pride and joy.
” He shrugged one shoulder. “Which was honestly always fine and good for me. I got to play it under the radar, you know? Marshall was valedictorian, I skated by on B’s.
Marshall was hardwired for success, for discipline and grit, and I just—sounds stupid, but I always knew I just wanted to be happy.
Be comfortable. See the world. I’ve always been scared of being… stuck.”