Page 86 of Dead of Summer

Well, if I’d needed a sign that Darcy is going to make this week as awful as possible, that had been it. My heart sinks, and Kinsley moves just enough to gesture not-so-politely towards Darcy, her eyes just a little narrowed and her shoulders just a touch stiff.

“You don’t need to do that,” I murmur, shaking my head slightly. Kinsley’s hand reaches for mine, and I let her tangle her fingers with mine as we walk. “Seriously, she’s just Darcy.”

“She’s a bitch,” my best friend snaps. “And if she’s going to act like that or try to say shit to you, then I’m going to hit her with a kayak paddle and knock her into the river this time. And there won’t be any tanned, responsible lifeguard around to—” She stops, eyes going wide as she looks at me. “Shit, I’m sorry Summer. I didn’t mean to?—”

“No, it’s okay. You’re all good.” I give her a wan smile, tugging her toward our cabins and swinging our entangled hands like we’re much younger and much less laden with responsibility and, in my case, bitterness. “It is what it is. He didn’t come back, he didn’t show up. He didn’t stay.” The words burn between my lips, leaving my tongue tasting bitter and feeling raw.

I hate the words and how they burn, almost as much as I’m finally starting to hate Kayde Lane.

And that’s a good sign, right? That some of my sadness, some of my hurt from him leaving, is finally turning into the hate that it should’ve been all along.

I don’t need Kayde in my life, or at Camp Crestview. I certainly don’t need him around a batch of kids that he would end up wanting to kill or maim or whatever.

And I don’t need to figure out if me making a deal twice in a row would be just as successful as it had been a couple of weeks ago.

“Let’s start with your cabin, yeah?” I ask, veering off toward Dormouse. “Yours is always easier.”

“Because your kids are feral, no matter what session it is,” Kinsley mutters in response, but grins happily and falls back into step with me after one last glance toward Darcy, as if she wants to make sure to get in any final threat that she can.

We don’t always do a campfire the night before the kids get here.

Sometimes everyone is too tired from cleaning and prepping for the campers, though that’s usually the first few camp sessions of the summer. Especially the very first one in May, when we’re cleaning out the mess left by any stray animals that had somehow made it into the cabins. Not only that, the amount of dust in the halls is always pretty impressive after going nine months of the year with no one here except Mr. Fink, who barely does more than a drive by.

But tonight, the embers crackle high above my head as Daniel talks about something that happened during our week break. I’m not that interested, especially in something involving sports and drinking, and my brain tunes in and out of the conversation.

Until Shawn, my second least favorite counselor but in close running with Darcy, says, “Wonder who Fink will get for Coyote cabin this late in the year.” He’d wondered the same thing before Kayde, mentioning at our fire that he’d heard it was some guy from Arkansas.

But this time there’s something other than curiosity in his tone.

This time, I don’t need to look up to know his eyes are on me, along with Darcy’s. I tap my fingers on my knees, eyes fixed on the fire instead of them.

“Maybe if someone hadn’t?—”

“One more word.” Kinsley speaks before I can, and her voice is anything but friendly. “One more word, Darcy, and I’ll make sure Fink gets a list a mile long of all the shit you pawn off on Liza and Daniel. Do you fucking hear me?”

Darcy’s surprise is audible, even in its silence. My gaze flicks up to meet hers, narrowed, and I find that, at the very least, I’m not afraid of whatever she has to say. Instead, a slow smile crawls across my lips so I add, “Did you ever think that infantilizing Kayde is what made him so turned off by even looking at you, Darcy?” My words are oh-so-sweet, and she jerks back, confused by them for a moment.

“I mean, you’re sitting here implying that I’m the reason he didn’t stay. That I chased him off or whatever. Seems to me you think he needs someone to be his mommy to tell him what to do. Seems to me you’re just a little upset you didn’t get to be that mommy to tell him he should be here, instead of wherever. Didn’t know you were into that. But honestly?”

My smile widens, though there’s nothing friendly about it. “Guess it’ll surprise you, then, to know that Kayde is more than able to make his own decisions without Mommy and Daddy around to do it for him. Sorry he left without you getting to fuck him like you were begging for. Which, by the way, was probably just as much of a turnoff as your Oedipus complex?—”

She jerks to her feet, her mouth open, but Shawn grabs her before she can lunge across the fire and try to strangle me.

“But stop blaming me for you having one less dick to ride this summer, m’kay? Judging by Shawn over there trying to sound like you, he’d be more than happy to replace Kayde. Who you never had a chance with.”

Kinsley stirs beside me, eyes wide as she glances my way. Even Liza seems a little surprised by my words.

But some of my longing turning to hate has made this much easier to stomach, and my eyebrows lift slowly at the display of Darcy still standing, still being held back by Shawn. “Something you want to say?” I press, drawing my knees up to my chest. “Something you want to add to this conversation?”

“Shut up,” Shawn mumbles, rolling his eyes as he forcibly tugs Darcy back down. “Just shut up and fuck off, Summer.”

“Wish it was you gone instead of Kayde,” Darcy murmurs, slamming back down onto her log and not bothering to hide her glare or her derision.

“Same to you, babe,” I promise her, a reckless grin on my lips. “I can promise you that the feeling is extremely mutual.”

I watch as Shawn leans over and whispers something to her, and it’s impossible not to notice how Daniel looks a little uncomfortable with whatever it is they’re saying.

But I’m certainly not afraid of Darcy, and while I may be a little unsure of Shawn, he doesn’t frighten me, either.

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