A Parthan Summer - Julie Steimle (large ebook reader TXT) 📗

basin not far from the lake’s edge. There were many cabins for activities set in this basin, but all the cabins where the students slept were on the hills surrounding the main campground, amphitheater-style. A great deal of land below was carved out specifically for students to practice their sports, including three grassy fields that must have once been cow pastures with the way they were so perfectly clear of trees. These stood behind the lodge between the boys’ and girls’ sections of camp like a wide minefield. There was also a pool and tennis courts, along with a baseball diamond.

Across the campground on the far hill, going in the opposite direction she could see the boys’ cabins. Their school’s wrestling team marched up that way the same time the girls were going to their cabin. Jeff trailed behind his group, still watching her—his predestined, yet disliked duty—while Brian and the rest were involved in a lively conversation, laughing together like they always did. Zormna envied Jeff. Brian and the rest were a heap load of fun, especially compared to the girls she was stuck with. Her group was just so catty.

“Miss. Miss….” The counselor called out, though Zormna did not pay attention to whom. She still watched as Jeff walked backward to the opposite side of the camp.

“Miss!” To Michelle, the camp counselor asked, “What is her name?”

“Zormna! Get your butt over here!” Michelle ordered, sounding just plain bossy. 

Cringing, Zormna turned with a glare for Michelle. Yet she had to look farther up the hill than she had expected. The entire team stared down at her from a much higher spot—or so it seemed at first. As she a blush rose in her cheeks, making her face feel hot, she jogged up the hill to catch up. But Zormna noticed that she was not the only one watching the boys walk to their cabin.

“Oh, he is so hot,” Stacey Price murmured.

“No kidding,” another teammate said.

Michelle looked disgusted at Zormna when she reached them. “Are you going to lag behind all day?”

Nodding curtly to Michelle, Zormna almost answered. But a sudden giggle burst from Joy and Stacey.

Zormna looked back. Choking on her own laugh, she saw that Jeff had fallen backwards. Still lagging behind his group, he had tripped over a tree root while watching Zormna join the cheer team. 

Jeff got up, dusted himself off then waved to the crowd of cheerleaders that he knew was watching him. Then he gave a bow.

“Thank you!”  Jeff’s voice barely carried across the campground.

Zormna rolled her eyes and turned to walk further up the hill.

Jennifer poked Zormna in the ribs. “I think he likes you.”

Zormna halted incredulously. “Are you kidding?”

The other girls cackled. But a number of them were nodding.

Joy, however, averted her eyes, blushing with a little jealousy.

“Oh, for pity’s sake.” Zormna snorted. “Don’t be gross.”

“Don’t talk like that, Zormna. Bad boys are so hot,” Stacey said.

Joy edged up to Zormna’s side. “Come on, Zormna. Admit it. He likes you. Yesterday, he showed up at the house to make sure you were ok.”

Jennifer’s and Stacey’s eyes grew wide, both grinning at this tasty morsel of gossip.

But Zormna only made a face. She couldn’t tell Joy the real motive to why Jeff came over. She couldn’t just say he was her bodyguard and she was actually a princess. They’d laugh at her silly.

“He did?” Jennifer asked.

“It’s not what you think,” Zormna snapped.

“You know though,” another team member said, “Think about it. He’s been watching you since forever. He teases you constantly—a true sign of teenage boy love. And he is never too far from where you are.”

Still, Zormna snorted loud, shaking her head. “Yeah? Well, he only came over because Todd asked him to watch my back because of the FBI are following me all the time. He’s doing it for Todd.” Which, of course, was a complete lie.

But Joy looked a little more at ease, buying it.

“I thought I saw him checking out your butt back at the lodge,” Jennifer said.

“Don’t be stupid!” Zormna snapped back. “Go ask him. Go ask his friends. I hang out with his friends all the time. And they can tell you he and I don’t get along.”

“Oh, I’ll ask him alright.” Stacey said, delighting in her own romantic cleverness. “I already know he’ll deny it. You have a love-hate relationship.”

“A WHAT?” Zormna flushed deep red, staring at her.

Joy cringed also, nodding at that. “You have to admit it. You think Jeff is cute. I’ve seen you check him out.”

“Really?” Stacey and Michelle chimed in.

Jennifer laughed with the other girls, looking back at Zormna whose face was now flushing uncontrollably.

Joy grinned weakly at her Sherlock Holmes-like deductions, her face clearly showing she ‘knew’ she was right. Though there was also jealousy in her looks, a jealousy she was fighting. Generally, Zormna liked Joy, but not when she got like this.

Zormna violently shook her head, storming up the hill. In fact, she moved quicker the angrier she got.

“I never—” Zormna started to say, not liking where the conversation was going.

“As if. I’ve totally seen the way you look at him. You were especially eager to wrestle him in the tug of war pit last semester,” Stacey chimed in. “You just wanted to grab some.”

With another grimace, Zormna stomped up the hill. “That is not the reason—”

“Just admit it, Zormna,” Jennifer said.

“I won’t!” Zormna yelled, folding her arms tightly across her chest.

They had just reached the first flat place on the hill path.

The camp counselor had led them right to the doors of a wood cabin. She turned around to face the group with a grin. “Me thinks she doth protest too much.” 

The girls giggled louder, though Zormna felt more confused. She hated it when people spoke that queer old English to sound clever—mostly because she barely managed with modern English and all its crazy slang. Besides, her last English teacher had not covered Shakespeare yet.

“What are you talking about?” Zormna shouted, completely red in the face now. “I broke his nose! He kicked me in the face! I hate him. He hates me! That is the way it has always been, and I do not see it ever changing!”

She stomped her feet up the cabin steps then pulled on the door for it to open, seeking some escape from the crowd whom she felt was mercilessly ridiculing her.

The door stuck fast.

She tugged on it some more and only stopped when she noticed the concerned but amused look on her camp counselor’s face.

“I need to unlock the door first,” the woman said, dangling the keys so they jangled.

Zormna could not go redder. She stepped down from the door with every attempt to hide her mortification.

The other girls had gone silent, though. Each one stared at Zormna as if she were some lunatic who had been dropped from the sky. Perhaps they were reminding themselves that Zormna’s great aunt was crazy.

Once the door was opened, one by one the girls on the Pennington cheer team filed into the cabin to claim a cot. Zormna hung back, wondering how much her temper may have sabotaged her relationship with everyone on the team. It would be a bad thing for her, as she needed them. Safety in a crowd was the whole plan…so the FBI could never just pluck her off the street unnoticed anymore. Unfortunately, just the mention of some sappy romantic entanglement with a guy like Jeff made everything inside of her revolt.

As Joy passed by Zormna to the doorway, she asked just above a whisper, “You broke Jeff’s nose?”

Zormna glanced up with a bashful smile and nodded. “Didn’t Brian ever tell you the story? All of them know.”

Shaking her head, Joy tried to suppress her amused shock. She went in to claim a cot, but she struggled not to laugh. She hurried to the cot next to Jennifer, tossing her sleeping bag on it. The other girls also seemed to be smothering similar looks. And Zormna wondered…maybe they were just pushing her buttons to get a rise out of her.

The counselor entered the cabin loudly announcing meal times and activities while posting the paper on the clipboard that hung right next to the door. As the woman spoke, she did it with a tender tone of someone who really would listen to them if they had anything important or private to say. And though Zormna didn’t know her or her family origins, she got the impression that this woman was long time employee of the camp, and therefore safe.

Zormna moved to go in to claim a cot for herself, but the counselor stopped her with a gentle hold on her arm. “Listen. I am also here to talk to you if you have any problems. If you need anyone—”

A disbelieving huff escaped before Zormna could stop herself. She met the woman’s gaze and said, “You don’t really mean that.”

But the woman replied, “Yes, I do. If you need someone to talk to, I’m here to help.”

Zormna set a hand to her head. “Whatever.”

“Pardon?” The counselor frowned.

Sighing, Zormna said, “I know you are just doing your job. But you can’t possibly help me. I am not dealing with boy trouble. And I don’t need advice about acne or being bullied. I can handle all that, so don’t bother.”

Sighing, the woman replied, “All the same. I can tell something heavy is on your mind. And even though it is not boy trouble, if you need a listening ear… I am here.”

She turned and walked out the door and down the hill, waving.

Zormna watched her. A tug at her chest compelled her to follow the woman, realizing Miss Betiford was being sincere. Her tenderness was disarming. They were partway down the hill when Zormna called out, “My great aunt was murdered before I moved here, and I was supposed to live with her. And now the FBI are following me everywhere. Is there some way you can help with that?”

The woman stiffened. She turned back around, staring as if she had not heard Zormna right.

“I know it sounds crazy, but you can verify it with the other girls,” Zormna said. “That boy just now was just watching my back. And their teasing wasn’t helping. That’s why I lost my temper. I am sorry.”

The counselor swallowed down her skepticism and asked slowly, “Are you…sure you’re not just—”

“Being paranoid?” Zormna shook her head. “The FBI came to our house and showed us their badges. They say they are waiting to see if my great aunt’s killer will come after me, as…my parents were murdered when I was five, and I was a witness. My uncle was killed a year later…. It is sort of a family problem.”

Miss Betiford went breathless.

“They’ll eventually show up at camp,” Zormna added. “If they are not here already.”

The woman’s eyes widened, clearly fighting the urge to say Zormna was definitely being paranoid.

“I know it sounds crazy,” Zormna said. “But it is true.”

“I…” The counselor then regained her composure. “I think, um, you’re just pulling my leg.”

Groaning, Zormna snapped, “Would you prefer that I say I was Martian princess raised in a military facility, and that I am here on Earth hiding from killers who are hunting down a prophesied savior born to lead an army to save the human race from an endless war?”

The woman really stared now. It took a while for her to say anything at all. And she didn’t sound happy. “I was serious. I would like you to be.”

Of course no one would believe the truth. And Zormna had not meant to blurt it out so bluntly. But it was just driving her crazy.

“Well…” Zormna said, walking backwards up the hill again, “Then don’t ask me to tell you about things. You won’t believe them.”

The camp counselor blinked as she stared up the hill at Zormna. Finally, with a sigh and a tired smile, she said, “You don’t have to make up stuff.”

“No need,” Zormna muttered, continuing on.

It was depressing. She didn’t want to go