He caught me by my upper arms. “Whoa there.”
The warmth of his hands hit me first, then the firmness of his grip, his large body at my back. He was solid, his hold on me protective while I caught my footing and then for a couple seconds after. I could run at him full force, and I doubt he’d stumble when we collided.
As Hannah pulled Katie away, I caught her wide-eyed glance at Manning. I thought I noticed her blush before she turned around.
“I have to get back,” he said, releasing me. “Will you be all right with Hannah?”
I looked up over my shoulder at him. “I’m pretty sure. Why?”
“I just want to make sure you’re okay. She seems nice, though.”
She was around Tiffany’s age, but I’d found her easy to talk to so far. “She is.”
“Okay, then. Just know you can come to me with anything you need, all right? Gary and I are cool.”
“You like him?”
Manning nodded. “I like him.”
Coming from Manning, that meant a lot. He didn’t seem easy to please in the people department, but I’d introduced him to a new friend.
“So you’ll come to me?” he asked, tapping the clipboard against his palm. “If something’s not right?”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. But we’ll be away from home. From your parents. So you can come to me. Everyone should have someone looking out for them, and I am. For you.”
“Who do you have?” I asked.
He swallowed audibly, his long neck rippling. “I said everyone should—not everyone does.”
“I’ll be that someone, Manning,” I said.
He put his large hand on my head, making me feel about half his size. “You’re going to protect me?”
I always wanted him to be safe. Cared for, fed, happy. Maybe it was naïve, but I felt I could do that for him, even if it had to be from afar for a while. “Maybe not physically. Protection comes in different forms.”
“That means a lot to me,” he said. “I’d rather you worry about yourself, though. And I’ll worry about you, too.” He took his hand back, and some of my hair went with it, falling over my face. He started to fix it but stopped himself. “Don’t worry about your stuff. I’ll get it on the bus.”
I watched him return to Gary’s side. He had no reason to worry about me. To keep me safe or happy. I didn’t owe him that either, but I’d do my best to give it to him.
Hannah and I sat together on the way to Big Bear. I tried to listen to the conversation happening between Manning and Tiffany across the aisle, but Tiffany, turned inward toward Manning, did most of the talking and anyway, Hannah had other ideas.
“Should we talk about how we’re going to do this?” Hannah asked.
“It’s kind of hard to plan for.” I leaned a little more into the aisle. Tiffany was listing her favorite music videos while Manning stared straight ahead. “Once we get there,” I said, “it’ll fall into place.”
“But it’s my first year,” Hannah said. “I don’t want to screw it up.”
She’d soon discover the resilience of kids—and counselors. “You’ll do fine.”
“I graduated with your sister, you know,” she said. “She doesn’t know me.”
I looked over at her. “She’s self-involved.”
Hannah laughed. “She can probably hear you.”
“Probably. But she won’t.” We exchanged a mischievous smile.
“Is that her boyfriend?” Hannah asked. “He’s so fine.”
“No.” I sounded defensive so I added, “I’m not really sure. Maybe for the moment.”
Tiffany stood and looked around the bus before her eyes lasered in on something behind us. “There are two kids with seats to themselves. Shouldn’t counselors get that?”
“I don’t think they planned it that way,” I said.
“I’m exhausted. I need to sleep before we get there.” She went down the aisle to a boy with headphones on. “Hey.” She pointed to the other lone camper. “Go sit with that kid so I can have this seat.”
The boy, eleven or so, didn’t argue. He would’ve argued with me, but Tiffany had boobs and some kind of power over the male species. Apparently, no age group was immune.
“Wake me when we get there,” she said to Manning, who remained facing forward through the whole thing. “Manning. Did you hear me?”
“I heard you.” He winked at Hannah and me. “I’ll do my best, but no promises.”
We giggled. Tiffany must’ve gone to sleep, because she didn’t speak again.
“So about our cabin,” Hannah said. “I think we should be firm with them. Yes, we’re here to have fun, but we’re authority figures first, friends second.”
I watched Manning as he looked out the window. Most riders who weren’t talking to their seatmates had headphones on or played handheld videogames. “Sure,” I murmured.
“I brought some stuff I think the girls’ll love, like makeup and CDs.”
I expected a week of rough-and-tumble sports and exploring, but I knew they’d love girl time as well. “We can sneak a boom box from the rec room,” I said.