Free The Season of You & Me by Robin Constantine

join in.
    “Is this a new thing?” I asked. She nodded.
    I caught Bryan’s eye. He put his clipboard over his face then took it away, shaking his head and grinning. Synchronized clapping with mascots wasn’t his thing either. For some reason, that was comforting, like I had an ally. The music died down and Mr. Beckett tapped his handheld mic before speaking.
    “Welcome to the first day of the rest of your summer!”
    A cheer exploded through the room.
    “We’ve got so much in store for you! Bur first, let’s give a warm welcome to our new camp mascot, Monty!”
    “It has a name,” Tori said, covering her eyes.
    “On the count of three, ‘Hello, Monty!’ One, two, three—”
    Mr. Beckett held his microphone out to a very uninspired yelp of Hulllo, Monteee . Some of the younger kids didn’t look so enthused about a gigantic fake manatee being in such close proximity.
    “You can do better than that . . . again, let’s give a warm welcome to Monty!”
    It was now or never, I thought. Just jump in and accept that this is what I’d chosen to do for the summer. Goofy as hell, but kind of exciting—new. Different. And about as opposite from Gavin, with his indie-rock, flask-carrying, floppy-haired existence, as I could get. When the count of three was over, I joined in, adding my voice to the chaos:
    “Hello, Monty!”
    Camp had officially begun.
    By the time Friday rolled around, I was more than ready for the weekend. The first week of camp was fun, but being Tori’s second-in-command was intense. She was type A squared and had plans for each and every group that came in. The first week was all about baking, and ended with a craziest-cupcake contest that we judged. The following week was going to be nutritious snacks. If anyone could make it fun, I supposed it could be her. She even seemed to be warming to me, as long as I kept up with her.
    And I kept up with her, but now I was ready for two days of freedom.
    Well, sort-of freedom. I’d already promised my dad and Leslie that I’d babysit for Hunter that night so they could go to a wine-tasting dinner. My Friday night would be chilling with Hunter and unwinding with a game of Hedbanz. Winning at life and Gavin free! That was me.
    I grabbed my backpack. “See ya Monday!”
    Tori looked up from her phone. “Wait, where are you going?”
    “Um, home, why?”
    “Our first staff meeting is in fifteen minutes.”
    “Oh crap, I’m supposed to babysit at seven.”
    “Relax, you’ll be home long before then. Mr. Beckett can talk the bark off a tree, but he usually keeps these short and sweet. C’mon.”
    Tori packed up her bag. We did one final sweep of the test kitchen to make sure we’d put everything away. She locked the door and we walked to a room at the opposite end of the hallway. Wade and Bryan were already there and waved us over. Chairs were arranged in a large circle, which always meant, ick, sharing . Tori took the seat closer to Wade. I sat on her other side, took out my phone, and texted Dad I’d be late but not to worry.
    “What are you doing here?”
    I looked up as Tori spoke. A boy with dark hair and a backward baseball cap sauntered over to her.
    “Nice to see you too, Tor.” He glanced at me. Tori sighed.
    “Cass, this is Nick, my brother.”
    He tilted his chin in greeting as if it were too much effort to do anything else.
    “The cupcake stealer,” I said.
    “My reputation precedes me.” He grinned as he slumped into the seat next to me, manspreading enough to make me feel claustrophobic.
    “No, really, Nick, why are you here?” Tori talked around me.
    “Staff meeting, right?”
    “What?”
    “Maybe you two should sit closer,” I said, getting up. Tori scooched over and she and Nick continued to hiss at one another. I took the empty seat next to Bryan. I barely noticed his wheelchair. It was compact and almost sporty.
    “Checking out the wheels, eh?” he said. My face flushed.
    “Uh, I just . . . was thinking how you