Something in the Way (Something in the Way 1)

They shook hands. “Gary, right?” Manning asked. “Manning Sutter.”

“Nice to meet you, Manning. You don’t look like you’re in high school.”

“He’s not,” I said. “I was wondering if there were any paid counselor positions open for him.”

“It’s a little late for that. We’ve already done all the hiring.” He twisted his lips. Gary was the kind of guy who liked to find solutions for everything. If he could help, he would. “We did discuss bringing on one more counselor due to a rise in campers this year.”

“I’m interested,” Manning said. “I work construction, and we’ll have a break for a few weeks during that time.”

“Construction? Think you could help out with some projects around the campgrounds?”

“Absolutely,” Manning said.

“Great. Let me talk it over with the board and see if I can swing the budget. As for you—” He looked down at Tiffany. “I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name?”

“I’m Lake’s sister.” She paused. “Tiffany.”

“Hi, Tiffany. I’m almost certain I wouldn’t be able to convince them of a second position. We’ve got plenty of female hires. I’m sorry.”

Tiffany opened her mouth. I’d seen that look on her face before. Dad had taken her car away for a week her senior year because she’d snuck out in the middle of the night to go to a party. She’d gotten it back two days later. “But I really want to go,” she said, glancing at Manning. “And you just said you might need more help.”

“We will.” Gary smiled. “We’d love to have you as a volunteer.”

Tiffany laughed nervously. “You mean for free?”

“For fun,” Gary said, grinning some more. He turned back to Manning. “We’ll need some information from you guys. Background checks and things like that since you’ll be around a bunch of kids.”

“No problem,” Manning said.

“Good. Let me get your number, and if I can work it out, I’ll give you a call.”

Manning followed Gary to the front of the room, and I sat next to Tiffany. “This is so dumb,” she said, pouting. “I don’t even want to go.”

“You said you did.”

“If Manning’s going, I want to. Obviously. A whole week away from Mom and Dad with him would be massive.”

My entire plan dissolved before my eyes. “That’s not really what camp is about,” I told her. “Most of the time, you’ll be so busy with kids, you won’t have time for anything else. And like you said, it’s dirty.”

“They have showers, right?”

“Um, yeah. There are kids there. Personal hygiene is important.”

“Well . . . I guess I don’t really have any big plans that week.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked around the room. “I think I recognize some of these people.”

“Almost all of them go to our high school,” I said. “Some of them were in your class.”

“Oh. What about hair dryers?”

“No.”

“Makeup?”

“You’ll just want to wear a lot of sunscreen.”

“I didn’t even think about that,” she said. “I bet I’ll get a killer tan being outside eight hours a day.” She grabbed my hand. “Come on. Let’s go tell that guy I’ll do it.”

I didn’t have time to agree or protest. She pulled me up to the front. The year before, I’d asked Tiffany to come. She was fun, and I thought it might be good for her to be around kids. But now? All I could see was what I’d be missing. I wanted Tiffany to be happy, to find some direction. I just wished I could have Manning to myself again, like I had when we’d first met.

13

Lake

I hoisted my overnight bag out of the trunk. With only two weeks left of summer, Dad had insisted I bring four books along for the week I’d be at camp, but he wasn’t the one who had to carry them. Tiffany had no books—and somehow, more luggage than me, even though I’d tried to explain there’d be no occasion for a purse, let alone three.

Tiffany yanked her rolling suitcase from the car until it fell onto the street. “It’s too early to be lifting heavy things.”

“We’ll be up almost this early every day of camp,” I said.

“Are you serious? It’s practically dark.”

“It’ll be good for you girls,” Mom said. “I’m so glad you’re doing this together. Who knows? Maybe Tiffany will find that she—” She stopped and craned her neck, looking across the parking lot. “Is that Manning?”

“No,” Tiffany said, but she couldn’t hide her smile.

I followed Mom’s gaze and took in a small breath. Manning stood next to a black truck, a big, army-green duffel bag slung over one shoulder, the sleeves of his heather-gray hoodie pushed up to his elbows. Gary got out of the driver’s seat. Together, they walked over to the curb where kids and adults were congregating.

“You told your father he wouldn’t be here.”

Tiffany shrugged. “Manning must’ve changed his mind.”

“Damn it, Tiffany. What am I supposed to do? Keep this from him?”