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I returned her nod with a reassuring smile before turning back to Marissa. But not before I caught a slight smile on Erica’s face. It was barely there, but I saw it. Relief flooded me. Finally, I was getting through to her, and my mind immediately went to the one person who would understand the hugeness of my small win—the only person who would really understand how important this was for me.
Blake.
CHAPTERSEVEN
Penny
The soft twangof Troy’s guitar filled the balmy air. Tonight was group camp, the last one before the final goodbye camp in three days’ time.
“I can’t believe it’s almost time to leave.” Lucy let out a sad sigh, and Crystal shoved her from behind with a snicker. “What?” she murmured. “I don’t mind it with the Petersons, but Camp Chance is so freakin’ cool. I don’t ever want to leave.”
I smiled to myself, amazed by how far the small, quiet girl next to me had come in just ten days.
Troy had been right; Camp Chance really did change lives.
“We all have to leave eventually, Lucy.” I ruffled her hair, and she ducked away from me, smoothing it back down.
Some of the girls took group camp very seriously. It was one of the few times they interacted with the boys. Gone were their daytime scruffs, replaced with cut-off shorts and pretty floral tank tops and tees.
Even Erica had made an effort tonight. She hadn’t spoken to me again since her slip earlier, but something about her felt less detached.
We entered the clearing, and I did a quick head count. We were the last cabin to arrive, it seemed, and everyone else sat quietly around the fire.
“You made it.” Marissa came to the edge of the circle to greet us. “Hi, girls. Come on. Troy is just getting started.”
We hurried behind Marissa to our section of the circle, and the girls squashed in beside Sheridan’s group. When they finally settled, I looked up, and like always, my gaze found Blake across the fire.
“Okay,” Troy started, “now that everyone’s present and accounted for, how about a song? Everyone remember flea fly?” He strummed the familiar note on the strings, and a sea of heads nodded.
“Flea,” he sang.
“Flea,” everyone responded.
I tried to look away and focus on Troy, but Blake’s intense gaze refused to let me.
“Flea fly.”
Flea fly. My lips moved, but nothing came out, and a slow grin spread over Blake’s face. He knew exactly what he was doing, and yet, I still couldn’t drag my eyes away from him.
He’d caught me in his trap, tugging on that invisible thread tethering us.
“Flea fly flow.”
I heard the words, heard the circle repeat them, but they sounded distant, as if someone had turned down the volume button.
“Feasta…”
“Hi,” Blake mouthed at me, the corners of his mouth tipping up.
Just look away. This is dangerous territory, Penny. Too dangerous.
“Hi,” I mouthed back with a coy smile ignoring the little voice in my head. The familiar flutter of butterflies started in my stomach. It was a feeling I was becoming used to whenever Blake was nearby.
“Cooma lotta, cooma lotta, cooma lotta feasta.”
“Hi,” he mouthed again, and I dropped my gaze.
It was too much all at once, and I needed to break our connection.
