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I didn’t have the heart to be the voice of reason—to tell her not to get her hopes up. Instead, I simply smiled and nodded my head. Enough disappointment and upset filled the lives of so many of these kids.
I couldn’t face being just another person to add to that.
I wouldn’t.
* * *
Almost forty minutes later, after being persuaded to make cocoa for the girls and listen to a round of scary stories, it was time for lights out.
I arrived at camp thinking it would be strange to share a room with six hormonal teenage girls, but I’d soon gotten used to the bedtime gossip and chatter. Hot days spent active around Camp Chance meant that most of the campers were ready to sleep when curfew rolled around.
“Night, girls,” I called into the darkness, only a sliver of moonlight reflecting through the glass window at the front of the cabin.
A chorus of good nights echoed off the wooden beams, and I stared at the bunk above me. It was empty. Counselors took the fifth set of bunk beds, positioned slightly away from the rest of the bunk beds next to the front window, giving the kids and the staff a little more space.
It also meant counselors slept closest to the door to catch any late-night escapees.
The first time I caught two girls trying to sneak out, I’d smiled to myself. That was me, ten years ago, sneaking out to meet Blake in No Man’s Land. Of course, they had been trying to meet up with some boys from one of the other cabins so I had to reprimand them, but I’d done it with a knowing smile. I could relate. More than they knew.
Within minutes, silence descended over the cabin. Nothing but the sound of heavy breathing and the occasional rustle of sleeping bags. Sleep didn’t come easily to me though.
It never did.
Not here, and not back in my apartment above The Oriental Garden.
Sleep brought darkness, and the darkness brought nightmares. Although since being here, they had happened less often. I didn’t know if it was exhaustion or something else entirely.
I had been lying there for at least thirty minutes when a gentle tapping against the cabin startled me. My whole body went rigid, listening for the sound again.Tap, tap, tap. I slowly unzipped my bag and swung my legs over the edge of the bed, careful not to make a sound. The last thing I needed was six tired and overexcited girls letting their imaginations run wild with them, especially if my suspicions were right.
Tiptoeing around the bed, I hooked my finger around the simple curtain and pulled it back. The full moon illuminated the cabin row; a single lamp hanging from the porch lit up each cabin, but I couldn’t see anything—or anyone.
Tap, tap, tap.
I jumped back, my heart leaping into my mouth. My hand gripped the door handle and turned it carefully. It clicked open, and I pulled it ajar, enough to slip through and close it behind me.
“Hello,” I called out into the eerie surroundings.
Nothing.
I listened for a few more seconds, convinced I must have been hearing things until movement caught my eye. Blake was standing in the shadows between my cabin and the next. His hood was pulled up, but I knew it was him.
My heart always knew.
Our eyes locked, and I questioned him silently.
“Come on, for old times’ sake,” he mouthed.
What was he thinking?
We could be discovered at any moment. It was totally reckless, not to mention against the rules. Yet, I found myself shoving my feet into my sneakers and tiptoeing down the steps.
“Hi,” he mouthed as I reached him.
“Hi,” I replied, my heart beating so hard I felt a little lightheaded.
This wasn’t a good idea.
So why did it feel so right?
