In the Key of Us by Mariama J. Lockington

Author:Mariama J. Lockington
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

PADDLE, PADDLE

Thwack thwack thwack. I roll over onto my stomach on my towel and watch as Andi and Christopher hit a volleyball back and forth with some other campers. It’s Friday afternoon, and the lakeshore mixer is in full swing. After a long morning rehearsal, where Mr. London lectured us on making it through week two of camp and the importance of keeping focused for the remainder of our time together, it’s finally the weekend. Time for some fun.

Unlike last week’s dance mixer, the lakeshore mixer is one large beach party. In midafternoon, the lifeguards get out all the kayaks and inner tubes, the counselors set up the sound system and blast loud, upbeat music, and the sand fills with towels and bags as campers from the boys’ and girls’ junior division join the fun. Delicious, woody-smelling hickory smoke floats through the air as the dining-hall staff stand over a large grill flipping burgers and hot dogs.

My towel is laid out in a cluster with Beks’s and Jori’s, but they are out on the lake floating and tanning in donut-shaped inner tubes. Julie’s towel is also here, but she’s swimming furious lap races in the water against Coop. Turns out Coop is an even more competitive swimmer than Julie, and they keep beating her, so Julie keeps asking for do-overs. It looks exhausting, if you ask me. I took a quick dip earlier, but I am happy in my spot in the sun. It feels good to rest my tired muscles against the warm sand, my body still aching with joy from yesterday’s dance class. Plus, I can see Andi from here, and I’m trying to get up the nerve to ask her to go kayaking with me.

Last night before bed, she’d popped her head up to my bunk. “How was it? Your dance class?”

I grinned, and leaned closer to her. “Amazing! The best. Totally worth it.”

“Nice! I bet you killed it.”

I nodded. “What you taught me about negative space really helped. I mean, I thought about it as I was dancing, and I—”

“Lights out!” Joanna yelled, interrupting us. “Everyone needs to be in their own bunk in the next ten seconds.”

“I’m glad it helped,” Andi whispered quickly. “Maybe you can tell me more about it tomorrow? At the lakeshore mixer?”

I nodded. “Sounds good!”

“Cool. Night,” Andi said, disappearing below me into her own bed.

“Night,” I said into the dark, my mouth full of stories I wanted to tell her, and only her.

Now is my chance, but Andi has been playing volleyball since she got to the beach, laughing and joking with Christopher, and I have yet to catch her eye. I’m not sure she remembers her offer to hang out. I sigh and sit up, turning my back to Andi. Stop being so obvious. I rummage through my bag and pull out an unopened letter from Kennedy, her neat handwriting scrawled across the front of a long envelope. To be honest, I’ve been avoiding it since it got delivered a few days ago.

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