Five Summers (20 page)

EMMA WOKE WITH A START. SHE’D BEEN DREAMING about being out on the lake again with Adam, in the canoe. Only this time, they were in the middle of a thunderstorm and the lightning was hitting the water all around them. Emma was terrified and kept crying out for Adam to hold her, but he just kept rowing and rowing without turning around. A huge clap of imaginary thunder had woken her up, and for a few confused seconds she thought the storm must be real, especially when she heard tapping on the outside of the cabin, like heavy raindrops. But through the window right next to her bed she could see early moonlight on the grass outside, and it was dry. Emma sat up. Maybe Adam had finally come to apologize.

“Do you hear that?” Jo whispered. She was peering through the slats of the adjoining bunk. Emma nodded, just as a paper airplane flew into the cabin and landed on Jo’s lap. If it really was Adam, he had terrible aim.

“What the—” Jo jumped out of bed in her sports bra and shorts and was headed for the door when half a dozen other paper planes came whizzing in, hitting her in the legs and chest.

“
Now
!” cried a male voice. Fists beat against the cabin walls from the outside. Across the cabin, Sunny screamed. Emma was freaked out, but she was also pretty sure that serial killers didn’t usually take the time to fold origami before making their attack.

“Incoming!” Jo yelled, diving down into Emma’s bed. Maddie sat up in her top bunk and banged her head on a ceiling beam. Across the cabin, Sunny screamed as a silhouette appeared in the doorway. Emma thought for a second that it
might
be Adam—was this some kind of grand gesture? Because if so it was really weird so far—but as the figure stepped into the cabin she saw it was Matt Slotkin, wearing a tank top and pajama bottoms, and holding Jo’s megaphone.

“On your feet, ladies,” he shouted through the loudspeaker. Emma heard movement above her; Skylar was finally stirring. Three more boys clambered into the cabin, shining flashlights into the girls’ faces. Once her eyes adjusted to the glare, Emma could make out Mark, Bowen, and Zeke.

“Did I stutter?” Matt yelled. “On your feet.
Now
!”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Jo demanded, standing up and shielding her eyes. “Is this some weird wake-up call?” She looked at her watch. “It’s not even five.”

“Silence!” Bowen yelled, and Jo flipped him off.

“We’re just paying you a visit to make sure you’re in shape for the big game today,” Mark said, circling the cabin and banging on the bunks of the girls who hadn’t gotten out of bed yet. Emma saw Sunny shoot him a withering look. She stood up and crossed her arms over her chest, wishing she had kept her bra on. Adam was nowhere to be seen, but she was sure he had known about this—and maybe even helped plan it. It felt even more humiliating than being stood up.

“What are you talking about?” Skylar yawned, climbing down the ladder with a sheet wrapped around her.

“They’re making sure we’re tired, is what they’re doing,” Jo said angrily.

“That’s it, Putnam, drop and give me twenty,” Zeke yelled, pointing at the floor. “And you!” he waved his flashlight at Maddie. “Start doing jumping jacks.” This was not the sensitive art wunderkind Emma remembered, who used to make glazed vases by the dozen.

“Oh, shut
up
,” Skylar groaned. “What are you even doing here? Why are you even friends with them?”

“You guys can’t make us do anything,” Jo added. “We outnumber you!” She sneered at the boys, who had momentarily stopped their attack to pretend they were fighting each other with light sabers.

“Don’t worry, there’s no way I’m jumping up and down with no bra on, regardless,” Maddie said.

“Well,” Zeke said, turning to the twins and shrugging, “if they won’t do the boot camp I guess we should just go to plan B and take their clothes.” Bowen and Mark started grabbing suitcases and heaving them out onto the grass.

“No!” Sunny cried, guarding her bags. “I’ll do squats! I need to work on my glutes anyway.”

Jo snatched the flashlight out of Matt’s hand and shined it back in his face. “You think taking our clothes is going to keep us from beating you today?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. “It’s just going to make us beat you worse.”

“You can beat me naked anytime, sweetheart,” he taunted. Jo punched his arm, hard, and he cried out in pain.

Emma watched the boys ransack the cabin. She didn’t really care if they took their suitcases; probably they’d just stack them in a pile on the basketball court or something obnoxious like that. What she did care about was why Adam wasn’t with them. It was pretty clear he was purposefully avoiding her.

“Is Adam with you guys?” she asked Zeke as he grabbed her bag of toiletries from the windowsill. He ignored her.

“Hey,” she said, a little louder, “where’s Adam?”

“Who cares?” Jo shouted, still focused on her shouting match with Matt. “He’s probably sleeping off a hangover—or hooking up with someone random.” She shot Skylar a quick look—but not quick enough for Emma not to notice. And she had known Skylar for too long to miss the guilt written all over her face. Emma could still see the boys stomping around, but for all intents and purposes, the cabin went silent. Blood rushed to her head along with a wave of white noise.

“Why did you just look at
her
?” Emma heard herself ask, in a much louder voice than she intended.

“What?” Skylar and Jo asked simultaneously.

“Ohhhhhh, snap,” Matt said gleefully, covering his mouth with one hand.

“I thought you said you were going to tell her,” Jo sputtered.

Skylar looked at Emma nervously. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said to Jo.

“No one looked at anyone,” Maddie said. “Let’s just all calm down, get these jerks off our property, and go back to sleep.”

“No,” Emma said sharply, staring at Skylar, who fidgeted under her sheet. “Why would she look at you, Sky? Tell me
what
? Why would you know anything about Adam hooking up with anyone?” Jo wasn’t the kind of person who misspoke. For her to connect Adam and Skylar in that way at four in the morning, there had to be a reason. And if there was one . . . Emma couldn’t finish the thought. Nothing had happened. They wouldn’t do that to her.

“Can we please not talk about this with them here?” Skylar begged. Bowen shined his flashlight in her face and she winced.

“Wait, you’re not denying it?” Emma heard her voice rising even more; she could barely control it. “You hooked up with him?” Skylar looked down at the floor. “LOOK AT ME!” Emma screamed, and reached out to yank Skylar’s sheet.

“Em, please,” Skylar whispered. “I’m in my underwear.”

“You didn’t care about being in your underwear last night in the lake!”

“Does anyone have any popcorn? This is better than
Girls Gone Wild
!” Matt laughed, and Jo lunged at him again.

Emma’s mind raced through the past three years, through all the e-mails and texts Skylar had sent from camp, complaining of her boredom and recounting funny stories of her escapades with the other counselors, barely mentioning Adam. Whenever Emma would try to subtly work him into correspondence, Skylar would just say that Adam was Adam. The same. Annoying, yet lovable. And Adam, G-chatting her late at night, referring vaguely to his girl problems, had never once indicated that the girl in question might be the friend Emma had trusted most in the world.

“Get out!” Emma screamed. She wasn’t sure who exactly she was talking to, but as far as she was concerned, they all could leave.

“Calm down,” Zeke said. “Everyone knows Skylar gets around. Is this really news?”

Skylar looked like she’d been slapped. Even though Emma didn’t want to speak to her—maybe ever again—she also wanted to dropkick Zeke in the balls and send him flying into another state. Luckily, Jo was on top of that. She shoved him, hard, and the boys finally got the message. They filed out noisily, and Sunny and her friends followed, sneaking peeks at Emma as they left, like they were slowing down on the highway to rubberneck at a car crash.

“Just say it,” Emma said, looking Skylar in the eyes. “I want to hear it from you.”

“Yes,” Skylar said softly. “We hooked up. But it’s over. And I never meant—”

“
When
was it over?”

Skylar sat down on Jo’s bed. “Thursday night.”

Emma let out an involuntary sound that fell somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “Great,” she said. “This is very educational. And when did it start?”

“Emma, please,” Skylar whispered. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

“When. Did. It. Start?” Emma said, slowly and patiently, like she was speaking to a mentally disabled person. She wanted the words to hurt.

“The last night of camp,” Skylar said quietly.

“What, last summer?”

Skylar paused, and just like that, Emma knew.

“No. The year you left.”

Emma had only ever fainted once—after staying up all night to finish a final paper on feminist symbolism in
Moby Dick
—and she remembered feeling at first like she was being drawn back in space, seeing her computer screen through a pinhole that swiftly got smaller and smaller against an ocean of black. The same effect was happening now. Skylar, Maddie, and Jo suddenly seemed far away. Emma flashed back to the moment she’d turned away from Adam on the rock. She’d spent that night crying into her pillow while Jo and Maddie tried to cheer her up with junk food and card games, but the person she’d needed had been Skylar. She’d been so worried when she didn’t come back to the cabin. Knowing now where she’d been that night changed everything. It rewrote history. Emma could barely wrap her brain around it.

“How could you do that to me?” Emma yelled. “That night, out on the shore, you told me to go for it. You knew how much I liked him. You
knew
.” Skylar kept her eyes down. “And then . . . you just took him? That same night? You could have had
anyone
. What is
wrong
with you?”

“I know,” Skylar said softly.

“And then you tell
her
first?” Emma asked, pointing at Jo.

“I only found out today,” Jo said, walking over to the window on the far side of the cabin. Skylar and Maddie still stood frozen in their places, like onlookers in one of those naked hallway dreams that still tormented Emma the night before each new school year.

“Still, you could have said something. You could have warned me!” Emma knew she was lashing out, but she didn’t care. It felt like Jo and Skylar had conspired behind her back to keep the secret, which was almost worse than Skylar and Adam.

“I know you’re upset, but this isn’t about me,” Jo said.

“No, it’s about a friend who does the most hurtful thing one girl can do to another girl,” Maddie said, turning on Skylar. “I can’t believe you just sat there while I talked about Charlie and Christina, and you didn’t even flinch!”

“We’re talking about Adam,” Emma said testily, “not Charlie.”

“I’m sticking up for you!” Maddie cried.

“She’s right, let’s just focus on one love triangle at a time,” Jo muttered.

“Sorry I’m so annoying.” Maddie stalked off to stand by herself near Aileen and Kerry’s bunk.

“Don’t be a drama queen,” Jo groaned. “We all listened to you yesterday, and it’s time to listen to Emma right now.”

“Don’t talk to me like I’m one of your campers,” Maddie said.

“Then don’t act like one!”

“Stop it!” Emma shouted. “This isn’t about either of you. This is between me and Skylar. You guys should just leave.”

“So we have to watch the entire I’m-In-Love-With-Adam series for five years but we get booted from the live finale?” Maddie snapped. “That’s fair.”

“I want them here,” Skylar spoke up. “At least Jo.” Emma ignored her and turned to Maddie.

“I didn’t say I was in
love
with him,” Emma cried. “And why are you being such a bitch all of a sudden?”

“I’ve been exactly where you are,” Maddie said. “Exactly. But you don’t care. It’s only a big deal when it happens to you.”

“Excuse me for being more involved in my own life than yours,” Emma sighed. “It’s called subjectivity. Plus, we only found out about Charlie yesterday!”

“Jo knew.”

“Well, apparently Jo knows everything!” Emma said, putting her hands on her hips.

“Are you kidding?” Jo cried. “No one tells me anything, and when they do it’s only because they don’t have anyone else to talk to. Skylar only latched on to me because you didn’t make it as a CIT.”

“Latched on?” Skylar repeated angrily. Then, to Emma: “You applied? You told me you decided it wouldn’t look good on your resume.”

Jo shot Emma a nasty look. Over the course of the last few minutes, they’d all shifted position so that each girl occupied one corner of the cabin, like a human map of continental drift.

“Do not talk to me,” Emma snapped.

“You can’t just shut me out,” Skylar said.

Emma wished she could literally turn her back, but the top bunk frame directly lined up with her chin. So instead she sat on her bed and looked out the door, away from Skylar. Sunny and Co. were lined up on the grass a few feet away, listening intently. Everyone on the girls’ side could probably hear them.

“Did you sleep with him?” Skylar asked.

“Wow, that’s really none of your business,” Emma said. She instantly wished she had just said nothing. She wanted Skylar to think she had done it.

“Please tell me you didn’t,” Jo said.

“We can’t
all
be celibate,” Maddie sneered. “Who cares if she did? Good for her. Don’t be so repressed.”

“I am not repressed!” Jo cried.

“Please, you live in a fantasy world. Everything’s about your precious camp; you don’t give a shit what’s going on outside of it. You’re like Peter Pan—you even have the haircut! No wonder you’re a virgin!”

Jo gasped. “Take that back!”

“No,” Maddie said. “It’s true.”

“Nothing you say is true and you know it,” Jo said.

“What?”

“I can’t believe anything you say. You’re my best friend and I don’t even know who you are.”