Page 35 of Lady and the Camp
She listened, never once interrupting.
“So…” I trailed off, not sure what I wanted from her as a response. Again, silence. Was this thing even on? I checked the connectivity. Seemed viable. “Are you there?”
Her voice came with a little static. “Yes, I’m here. I cut out for a second. There was a lot of swearing on my end. It’s better you didn’t hear.”
Ah. At least she understood.
“I can’t believe people can be so heartless and unkind to someone they don’t know. I’m so sorry, Hudson.”
I nodded, though she obviously couldn’t see. “It was stupid of me to check. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“How about maybe you’d find some support from your fans? That would be reasonable. It sounds like the trolls are hard at work tearing you down instead of making their own content.” She muttered what sounded like threats. “Sorry. I amriledup.”
“Thanks. Not that you’re riled up, but that you care enough to be.” I pressed my lips together, breathing in deeply so more tears wouldn’t invade our conversation. I didn’t know how long the connection would hang on. “It makes me feel less alone.”
“I’m sorry you’re going through this. It’s reminding me how much we all need each other. I’ve been thinking—”
“Me too!”
“That we need a more solid plan to support each other?”
“Yes, exactly. AGolden Girlsscenario.”
“Okay, you lost me. What do Dorothy and Rose have to do with this?”
“Hello, and Blanche and Sophia. Four of them, four of us. We should all move in together!”
Either the connection flaked out again, or my idea wasn’t so brilliant.
“Yeah, I don’t know about that,” Marcy said. “Jillian’s going to marry that boy and Noah lives in Chicago.”
“Jillian and her ex—they’re moving that fast?” And while I knew Noah lived in Chicago, I guess, well, I hadn’t thought through my plan.
“Yes, Jillian and her man are moving fast.” Marcy filled me in on more details. How hadn’t that come up at the sleepover?
Oh right. They’d been focused on me. “We need a regular meeting schedule. We need a name too. A girl gang name.”
“Okay, but maybe we don’t call it a girl gang,” she said. “A crew, maybe. I don’t know. And hey, you can call me any time. Have you used that burner phone yet?”
“No. It makes me feel like a criminal.”
“Plenty of people use gas station phones who aren’t criminals.”
“Like who?”
“Maybe like, a senior citizen who doesn’t need a whole monthly plan. Or for a child, where the parent won’t pony up for a phone with all the frills. I bet my cousin has a phone like yours. How is Lucas, anyhow? He won’t text me more than a word at a time.”
I laughed. “Yeah, that sounds about right. It’s how he talks too. I think his favorite word is no.”
She groaned. “I promise he’s a good guy. I mean, I know he’s family so we can’t get rid of him, but we actively like Lucas. He’s doing a good thing out there.”
“The camp split is a sensitive topic around here. I got most of my intel from the teen counselors.”
“Mmm, well, there’s definitely more to the story than I know too,” Marcy said. “I know Lucas gets down on himself sometimes for reasons that are stupid and also that he’s doing the responsible thing by staying at that camp when others bailed.”
“I gathered he’d made some kind of big move. A tough guy like him running a camp for girls? It’s sweet, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Marcy agreed with gusto. “That’s exactly what I told my brothers. They teased him to no end. Sent him boxes of Girl Scout cookies when they found out he took the job. They thought they were being funny.”
