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Nathan opened his box, pulling out an underwater MP3 player with headphones. I’d checked his phone when he was in the shower and Victor helped me figure out what music he listened to when he went for a jog or worked out. The player was preloaded with some rock and country songs that we knew he liked.
He put the headphones on, despite being out of the water, wrapping the band snugly around his head. He turned it on and moved his head along with the music.
Mr. Blackbourne opened his gift: A silver and maroon fountain pen. The silver part of the clip was shaped like a musical note and there were music symbols engraved along the band in the middle. He plucked it out of the case, carefully looking it over. “I’ve heard of these,” he said. “The tips are shaped specifically for making music notations?” He looked over the pen at me.
I nodded. It had been the hardest gift to find, but I’d dug around in a forum on the internet where musicians spoke about gifts and this pen had come up a lot as a favorite among composers.
Mr. Blackbourne carefully put the pen back in the black case. “Thank you,” he said.
I whispered, “You’re welcome,” but so softly that I wasn’t sure he’d heard me.
Once everyone was done, they looked at Victor and waited.
He sighed, realizing it was his turn to go. He bit his lower lip as he plucked the tape off the bottom of the box, and then eased it from the wrapping paper.
Inside were tickets for two to a foreign film that would be playing in the next month. I’d remembered once when he’d talked about buying out a theater for a date. I hadn’t gone that far but thought he might want to go.
Along with the tickets was a pocket watch. I’d gotten it engraved on the inside with simply: For Victor. Love, Sang.
The watch itself had taken me a week to take apart and manipulate, and a required lot of patience from Nathan for putting up with my taking up nearly his entire table with all the parts I’d had to move. But now it ran backward, like the clock I’d made for his desk.
For a guy who could get anything he wanted, I wanted to give him something he couldn’t buy. The front had the same symbol from the necklace he wore: the heart shield.
He held the watch in his hands for a long moment, looking at the inside and then flipping it over in his hands.
“Best Christmas ever,” he said.
ON THE WAY
With the camping trip coming up, I began to pay attention to the weather. It wasn’t going to snow again, but the temperature regularly dropped down to the high thirties during the night. While I’d never slept in a tent, I’d spent lots of time in the snow in Illinois and I wondered how it would be spending the night outside. Would a tent keep us safe? I worried about us freezing to death. I would have to rely on the others and the gear they’d purchased, trusting that since they’d done it before, they knew what they were doing.
I kept myself busy with other things, too, because the meeting with the Academy was still on my mind. Whenever the boys were around me, though, I did my best to fake some courage and got into the habit of being silly and distracting them when they were feeling down, especially Kota.
There was also the issue of there being other people around while on this trip. This wasn’t just a vacation and meant to be fun, but also an official meeting of the Academy. The boys couldn’t tell me much about what would happen. They tried to tell me to relax and have fun.
The looming question about what the Academy would ask of me, to join another team, hovered over us. Meeting new people, even Academy people, was daunting enough. Nervous and antsy, I was quiet and
Still, when I fell asleep at Nathan’s house the night before we were leaving for the camp, I was up past midnight thinking of what would happen, worrying about my future, the Academy, and freezing to death in a tent.
Nathan poked me in the shoulder at the crack of dawn. I waved him off, flipping over and curling back into the bed. Waking up meant facing all of it, and I wasn’t ready. The bed was warm and cozy. Nathan had slept with an arm around my waist the entire night, staying close, as if sensing I was awake with worry.
But he’d been up this morning already—I’d heard him crawl out of bed to throw in some last minute items in the bag.
He poked at me again, but I ignored it. He plopped down next to me and began to rub my shoulder and arm in slow circles. “Sang,” he called, cooing softly. “It’s snowing.”
“No, it isn’t,” I said. “I would have heard it.”
He shook my shoulder a little. “There’s zombies.”
“Not in this neighborhood.”
He laughed and released my shoulder. “Chocolate chip cappuccino muffins?”
I sat up, rubbing my eyes. “I swear, if you’re fibbing...”
“Morning to you, too, Peanut,” he said. He leaned over, planting a kiss on my cheek. He was still in his boxers, his reddish-brown hair pressed against his head in spots, and sticking out wildly in others, giving him an almost punk look. The tan was fading around his broad shoulders, revealing freckles.
“Kota wants us over at his house early to pack up. Victor should be here soon. Want to shower before we leave?”
I bit my lip and turned away to hide my panic at the mention of a shower. I put my feet on the floor, facing the window, staring at the blinds. “I’ll go find clothes,” I said, not answering his question.
I took a bath and washed up. If the camping trip was going to have us outside all day, I thought a hot soak was the best way to warm up my body in preparation.
Gabriel came by the night before, hanging up thermal pants and a jacket to wear. I put a T-shirt on for underneath the jacket. I felt the thermal pants, and wondered if it might get too warm, but put them on. He’d even put out matching pink finger gloves and a woven cotton hat. I stuffed the hat and gloves into my pockets for now as I zipped up my overnight bag that contained general stuff, complete with iPad, a book, CDs, the journal and other items. The tent and camping gear were sitting with the others’ stuff at Kota’s. Gabriel had made suggestions and helped me pack my clothes and had a bag somewhere ready to go for me. All I had to decide on was what fun items I wanted to bring along. I tapped at the phone in my bra. Should I even bring it? Would it work out there?
“Ready?” Nathan said. He stood near the bed, putting on his socks and then a set of old Nike running shoes. He had pulled them from the back of the closet.
I crinkled my nose at the old-shoe smell and forced a smile. “I guess,” I said, going to my bag, shuffling through the items again to make sure I had everything. I looked in the closet once more, wondering if I would need more underwear.
He tapped at the sides of his shoes once he was done lacing them up. “Got to wear your old shoes camping. They get so gross.”
I looked at my shoes. They were brand new, what Gabriel had put out for me.
He didn’t notice, and stood up, wiping his hands at the jeans he wore, and then put on a red jacket. He picked up his own bulging red Nike duffle bag. It took up his entire back and I’d watched him stuff it with pants, shirts and underwear and other supplies. He glanced at my pack that was only backpack size and was still only half full. “That’s it?”
I pulled my bag onto my shoulders and stood, testing the weight of it. Did we have to hike to the campground? “Gabriel packed all my clothes. I need more?”
He shrugged. “Probably not. I just get used to hearing about girls packing half the house.”
“Can we bring the house?”
I asked. “At least the heater part?”
His smile faded. “Peanut, don’t tell me you’re an indoor girl.”
I shook my head and leaned into him a little, putting a hand on his chest. “I like the idea of camping, but I was thinking of how cold it’s been at night.”
His blue eyes were intense and he pressed himself against my hand before he put down his bag on the bed and covered my hand with his. “If it’s too much for you, you tell me. I’ll make sure you stay warm.” He bent his head to look at my face. “We’ll have fun.”
I nodded, but a shiver swept up my spine, thinking about how tired I would be today since I had been up all night worrying. Despite his words, I was still worried.
He cupped my face between his palms, forcing me to look up at him. “We’ll have a good time,” he said in a more determined tone. He leaned in and kissed my lips.
At first, I thought it would just be a peck, but then I realized he was lingering. I wanted more, too. I opened my mouth slightly, responding. I let the pack slide off my shoulders to the bed.
My heart raced as he kissed me. Couldn’t we just stay here? Maybe Dr. Green was right; maybe I could fake sick and just not go.
His kiss deepened and I quickly forgot about the Academy. He moved his hands to my waist, holding me at first, and then lifting me. He started back toward the bed, and then changed direction to the dresser, where he sat me on the surface. I was now slightly taller than him, tilting my head down to kiss him.
After a moment, he broke the kiss and then looked up at me with a steady, serious gaze. “I think I know what we need to do,” he said.
“You do?”
He nodded once as his hands smoothed along the outsides of my thighs. He tilted his head up to kiss me again and then broke off to look at me. “I just don’t want to tell you.”
“Shouldn’t I know?” I was trying to figure out what he was referencing to. Was it about camping or something else?
“You should, but I don’t like the idea,” he said. “I’ve been struggling with it.” He frowned then, darkness surrounding his blue eyes. “I think I can be okay, though, if you’ll help me.”
