Where Secrets Lie (14 page)

“
Yeah, ok.”

That night at the campfire, Katie and Lara watched as Mary and her friends introduced themselves to Terry. They stood around and chatted with her for a couple of minutes, just long enough for all the other girls at the campfire to take notice. Then they moved on.

The next day, they showed up for the lunch hike, and so did Terry. They all said hello to her, and when they stopped for lunch, they asked Terry to join them. The younger girls not only noticed, they were all a twitter about it. That is, except for Brittany, who was dumbfounded. The tide was shifting in a direction she did not care for, and there was not a damn thing she could do about it. She couldn’t compete with the older girls’ influence, so she just kept quiet. By the end of the hike, a couple of the younger girls even exchanged a few words with Terry.

Katie came up and stood beside Lara. “You’re a genius.”

Lara smiled. “No, Mary’s mother’s a genius.”

“
Yeah, her too.”

~

On rainy days, they took the removable seats out of the auditorium and set up tables for crafts. Usually this was only for an afternoon here and there, but at the end of July, it started raining, and it did not let up for three days.

Outdoor activities were cancelled during the day, and there were no campfires in the evenings. When they were not in the auditorium or dining hall, they were in their tents. They played board games, cards, and told ghost stories. At first, it was fun, but it did not take long for the novelty to wear off, and by the third day, there was a lot of grumbling and not just from the campers.

“
I swear, if one more kid makes me a friendship bracelet,” Lara said.

“
I don’t think I can stand to play another game of monopoly,” Katie said.

“
Or checkers,” Lara said. “Why does everyone like checkers?”

Although Katie and Lara still spent their days together in the auditorium, Katie missed their time on the trails. Sometimes they talked when they were hiking, but often they just enjoyed each other’s presence. The same was true in between their hikes, when they watched softball games, or when they spent time at the campfires. There were always people around, but it felt to Katie like she and Lara were somehow on their own. Being crammed together in the auditorium did not give Katie the same sense of separateness, and she missed it.

On the third day, around dinnertime, the rain let up. Patty announced there would be a campfire that night. The firewood had been protected under tarps, and while the ground might be a little slippery, they could just throw blankets on the rocks and benches to keep the dampness away.

At the campfires, there were always marshmallows available to roast, but sometimes there were also hot dogs or ingredients for s’mores. Everyone was delighted both were available at the campfire that night.

“
So what’ll it be?” Lara asked.

“
I can’t decide,” Katie said.

“
Let’s have both.”

Katie agreed and got a hot dog to start. Lara got several marshmallows, which she put on a single skewer.

“
What are you doing?” Katie asked. “Having dessert first?”

“
I’m starting it first, but eating it last.”

“
Oh, geez, I totally forgot.”

Lara smiled. “How could you forget my famous method?”

“
My bad,” Katie said but rolled her eyes. When Katie made a s’more, she plunged her skewered marshmallows into the fire so they flamed. Then she put the charcoaled marshmallows between chocolate and the chocolate between graham crackers and scarfed the s’more down.

Lara’s method, however, took more time. She roasted the marshmallows until they were crispy, but not burned, on the outside and soft all the way through. Then she layered them between chocolate and graham crackers and wrapped the whole thing in foil. She placed the foil package on the edge of the fire near where it was hot so that the graham crackers would toast, and the chocolate would get gooey. Then she opened the foil to allow the s’more to cool for a couple of minutes before she consumed it. Placement and timing were important. If the s’more was too close to the fire, or it was near the fire for too long, the crackers would burn and the chocolate would liquefy.

Once Lara placed her foil package just so near the fire, she began to roast her hot dog. Katie watched her.

“
Oh, shut up,” Lara said, “or I won’t let you have any.”

“
I didn’t say a word.”

“
Yeah, but I can hear what you’re thinking.”

“
Oh, you can, huh?”

“
Uh huh.”

Katie laughed. “Then I’ll try to think more quietly.”

Even though Katie thought Lara’s method was tedious, and she enjoyed teasing her about it, she had to admit the resultant s’more was more delicious than hers.

After they ate their hot dogs, Lara pulled her s’more from the fire to cool.

“
How bad do you think the trails will be tomorrow?” Lara asked.

“
Slick and muddy.”

“
But we’re going anyway, right?”

“
God, yes,” Katie said. “You want to, don’t you?”

“
You bet, do you think we should check out the trails first? There could be a lot of downed branches and stuff.”

“
The girls probably wouldn’t mind helping us clear that out of the way. Besides, they might mutiny if we made them wait, and I wouldn’t blame them.”

“
Me either.” Lara took a bite of her s’more and handed it to Katie. “Be careful, it’s still a little hot.”

Katie took a bite, and as she handed it back to Lara, a blob of chocolate fell onto the web between her thumb and forefinger.

“
Ouch,” she said and shook her hand. Most of the chocolate flew off. She put her hand to her mouth and licked off what remained.

“
Did it burn you?” Lara asked.

“
Just a little.”

“
Let me see.”

Lara took Katie’s hand and angled it toward the diminishing firelight. While Katie watched Lara, the sensation in her hand heightened. Yes, she felt the burned spot, but she felt the tips of Lara’s fingers against her palm and Lara’s thumb across her knuckles even more. What the hell?

“
It’s red,” Lara said. “Do you think we should put ice on it or something?”

“
No, it’s fine.”

“
You sure? Maybe we should show Patty. It looks like it might blister.”

She was still holding Katie’s hand, examining the red spot.

Katie’s cheeks flushed. “It doesn’t hurt, I don’t want to show it to Patty.”

“
Ok, if you’re sure.”

“
I’m sure.”

“
Then let’s finish that s’more,” Lara said and let go of Katie’s hand.

The dampness in the air made it chilly despite the fire, and almost all of the girls had already gone back to their tents. Patty walked up to them carrying a box filled with the leftover food and the used skewers.

“
Hey girls, when the rest of the kids leave, would one of you come and get me? I’d like to go grab a cup of tea, but I don’t want the fire to be unattended.”

“
Sure, Patty,” Katie said.

“
We’ll help you put the fire out, if you want,” Lara said.

“
Thanks, girls. I’d appreciate that.”

Patty left, and they finished eating the s’more in silence. Before long, the few remaining girls left, and the fire burned down.

Katie and Lara each got a shovel and a bucket of water to pour on the coals and embers. When Katie poured the water from her bucket onto the smoldering fire, she did it way too quickly, and the water bounced up and splashed across Lara’s feet.

“
Hey!” Lara jumped back.

Katie giggled. “Sorry.”

They both picked up their shovels and began to scatter dirt over the top of the fire’s drowned remnants. Lara threw a shovel full of dirt onto Katie’s feet.

Katie looked up startled.

“
Oops.” Lara giggled.

Katie grinned and tossed dirt toward Lara’s feet. Lara jumped out of the way, laughed, and tossed more dirt at Katie. They went back and forth, laughing all the while, until the fire was buried, and their shoes and lower legs were filthy.

“
I’ll get Patty so she can check it out,” Katie said and started to walk away.

“
Wait a sec, you’ve got soot or something on your face.”

Lara reached over, placed her fingertips under Katie’s jaw, and used her thumb to rub the smudge off Katie’s cheek.

Her touch sent a quiver through Katie that was shocking in its intensity. It unnerved Katie, yet she did not pull away. She didn’t want to sever their connection, and that frightened her. Was this only happening to her, or did Lara feel it too?

“
There, got it,” Lara said.

“
Thanks,” Katie said and hurried away.

~

The next morning, when Katie saw Lara sitting at their table in the dining hall, she dallied at the service counter and pretended she could not decide what she wanted for breakfast. She was nervous, and she was unsure what to do about it.

She was going to make a fool out of herself if she didn’t figure it out soon. After all, they’d been friends for weeks, spent all of their time together, and everybody knew it. She couldn’t suddenly be nervous around her. She had to calm down and behave as though nothing had changed when that was the very thing that made her so anxious. What if nothing had changed for Lara?

~

Katie concentrated on having normal conversations with Lara during breakfast and while they got ready for their morning hike. As far as she could tell, nothing was bothering Lara.

When they reached the spot on the creek where they took a break, Katie and Lara stood off to the side and watched the girls as they waded into the creek and splashed each other. Lara took a drink from her water bottle. When she reached around to replace it in her fanny pack, her arm brushed against Katie’s.

Was Katie imagining things, or did Lara do that on purpose? Oh, please let her have done that on purpose. Katie was dying for some indication Lara was feeling the same way she was.

Lara was standing behind Katie on her right side. She touched Katie’s elbow with her fingertips.

“
Are you ok?”

Katie’s heartbeat quickened. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“
You sure?”

Lara stopped touching Katie’s elbow and shifted her weight forward, so the front edge of her shoulder pressed against the back edge of Katie’s.

“
Because you’re acting like something’s bothering you.”

Ok, now that was definitely on purpose. Thank God, it wasn’t just her after all. Katie leaned her weight back against Lara.

“
Nothing’s bothering me.” Anymore.

~

No matter how much time they spent together, Katie and Lara were never all alone. If campers were not with them, they were nearby. There were moments when they appeared to be alone, but within seconds, someone would materialize. Consequently, they shared a lot of furtive touches and fleeting looks but nothing that would draw attention to them or arouse suspicion.

Katie often lay awake at night and thought about being alone with Lara. What would happen if they didn’t have to concern themselves about what someone else might see? Katie had never felt this way about anyone. Did it mean that she had a crush on Lara, or could she be in love with her? Whatever she felt, did Lara feel the same way about her? It was all so exciting and confusing, enthralling and scary. Sometimes she wanted it to stop so she could catch her breath, and other times she hoped it would never end.

Although Katie was dying to talk to Lara and find out what it all meant, she was afraid that it would sound childish to ask, so they never spoke about what was transpiring between them.

~

Before Katie knew it the last session was over, and she was in her tent packing. The idea that she wasn’t going to be able to see Lara every day had her dazed.

What would happen now? How often would they talk? When would they see each other again? They didn’t live that far apart. The drive between Boulder and Littleton was only about an hour, but it’d be a year before either of them got their driver’s license.

Katie continued to mull the whole thing over. When she finished packing, she wrote her address and cell phone number down on a scrap of paper and put it in her pocket.

It was a hectic morning. The campers’ parents arrived to pick them up, and the counselors were busy helping them with their luggage and saying goodbye.

Once all the campers were gone, Katie asked Lara if they could go somewhere and talk. Their mothers, as well as all the other teenaged counselors’ parents, were coming within the hour to pick them up. They did not have much time left.

Since all the other counselors were either loitering around the dining hall or going to their tents to finish packing, Katie and Lara wandered in the opposite direction toward the trails.

When they reached the shed, they went around the corner and down to the far end where they were out of view of the parking lot. Katie pulled the piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to Lara. Lara unfolded the paper and read it.