s3.e6

Summer Shifts

           Following a relaxing Sunday full of easygoing and creative activities, Monday got things back into a competitive atmosphere, and Marianne was getting worse after each event. Having a break from her—and the dining hall food—was a welcome reprieve. At sunset, the gang had gathered up at the pickup area to wait for the two vehicles on their way over. They weren’t leaving camp for good; rather, they were just paying a visit to Castle Hill’s diner for a special occasion, planned before camp had started: celebrating three birthdays. Still not one to attend the parties, Millie was absent as usual.

           Mr. and Mrs. Teller showed up in the SUV with the tennis racquet sticker on its rear window, and Celeste’s parents followed close behind in an old red Ford Aerostar. Min was waiting nearby with a clipboard and the proper checkout forms that needed signing, while the kids chatted excitedly about a chance to leave camp.

           “This is so cool,” Celeste said. “Last year, I just celebrated here. I didn’t get to open any presents, but Ms. Marsdale baked me a cupcake with what she had on-hand.”

           “Yeah, but your birthday isn’t for another five days,” Sadie replied.

           “Aw, close enough. We might as well just knock ‘em out all at once.”

           “I think Sadie is just hoping to get another chance to leave camp,” Colin said.

           “Well, we could always go AWOL instead,” Celeste suggested and watched as her big, bearded dad worked on the release forms, with Min looking increasingly aggravated each time she had to point out a new line to sign. “You guys been to Overlook Diner?”

           “Yeah,” Wessy said. “The food is really fried and greasy.”

           Arthur licked his chops. “Maybe, but it’s a nice break from the camp stuff.”

           But Ash just groaned, “I hope they still have their only salad on the menu.”

           The Overlook Diner was one of Royal Valley’s oldest eating establishments, on its outskirts and with roots dating to the early, pre-interstate days. It was once the first, or last place to get gas nearby for travelers coming or going around the valley’s steepest hills. Though that aspect was long gone, the original gas pumps were still hung on the walls along with all sorts of other local tourism memorabilia from across the decades. The place was on the outer rim of town, but a big part of its history.

           It also had a small party room, where Jared and his mom, who drove him, were already seated and waiting when everyone else arrived. Greetings were exchanged as many more gifts were added to the table where four had been already waiting. Soon there was an impressive stack of presents wrapped in a variety of colorful paper.

           Jared walked over to say hi to his friends as they surveyed the gifts. “Hey, guys. All the presents made it. We kept ‘em hidden and safe at my place.”

           “Man, I go broke in June, shopping for so many gifts,” Wessy moaned. “And this year is even more expensive with these photo albums I keep making!”

           “But, Wes, I think this is the first time you got me a present since kindergarten,” Celeste noted. “Not that I’m complaining. So, do I get an album, too, or…”

           Wessy rubbed at his neck and replied, “Well… You only appear in a few of them, and you’re not exactly best friends with all of us, so… I got you something else.”

           Jace watched closely as Celeste said with a smile, “That’s all right. I can always look at Sadie’s copy. It’s nice of you just to even get me anything at all.”

           “Y-yeah, well, I didn’t want you to feel left out. The others didn’t, either.”

           Please don’t kiss Wessy, Celeste… Please just don’t… Jace thought aggressively.

           Ash replied, “Me and Arthur got you something, too, Celly! It’s like Christmas day here with all these presents—Zach even managed to get three in this pile, also.”

           “Oh, um…” Jared took out a pair of shades and slapped them on. “He asked me to do this, so…” He struck a pose and did his best Zach impersonation, “Hey guys, it’s me! Don’t think I’d forget about ya! Enjoy the swag, and I’ll see you in a couple weeks!”

           “Nice,” Arthur flatly remarked as Jared pocketed the shades. “Like he’s right here.”

           “Hey, I tried. This is already the weirdest birthday party we’ve ever had.”

           “You’re next, J,” Colin replied. “Where do you wanna have yours?”

           “Might as well make it even weirder, so… Maybe the mall’s public bathroom?”

           The kids still made it work, most having greasy burgers and fries, and milkshakes with rainbow sprinkles in lieu of cake. They got their own big table, while the five adults caught up in a nearby booth. Celeste’s folks had particularly differential jobs. Her burly dad was a boxing coach in the city, and his shirt covered up his arm tattoos. Meanwhile, her mom was a nurse, and every so often worked on boxing-related injuries. She would soon be one of Jared’s mom’s coworkers—the two already being long-time friends.

           “So… how’s camp going?” Jared asked midway through the big meal.

           “Marianne’s being a control freak,” Sadie answered. “And some of us have had problems sleeping after one of the counselors told us this messed up story. Other than that, yeah, it’s pretty good. Wes is still having some trouble getting into it, though.”

           “C’mon, Sadie…” Wessy looked ashamed. “No need to share stuff like that.”

           “That Bailey guy from the laser tag tourney—he’s a counselor with all these nightmare campfire tales,” Colin added. “And he’s so smiley on the outside…”

           “Kids picking on you, Wes?” Jared asked him. “See, maybe now you’re starting to appreciate what I did for ya back at school. I always had your back, man.”

           Looking at the floor, Wessy replied, “Sorry, Jared…Maybe I did get too… bossy sometimes. Now I know what it’s like, thanks to Marianne. She actually came up to me after a horseshoe toss and was all like,” he mocked her voice, “wow, Wes! That sucked!”

           Jared let out a big sigh. “It… It’s cool, dude. We gotta starting moving past it.”

           “Heartfelt apologies and feeling sorry for ourselves is fine and all, but this is my—our birthday party,” Celeste spoke up. “C’mon, let’s get to the goods already!”

           The twins let Celeste go first, and Jace sat back to see what kinds of gifts the others, who knew her tastes, had gotten her. A new slingshot, elbow and kneepads for skating, a videotape of Rocky V, and a red leather wallet were the highlights—but Wes’ gift was the one she saved for last and what everyone wanted to see, given their history.

           Jace, with his uncle’s insistence on sticking with “safe gifts” for the non-time-traveling kids among them, was nervous that Celeste would hate his present. There was no way lightning would strike twice, and that she’d like it as much as Sadie did her boots.

           “… Socks?” Jared tried not to laugh. “Jason, you got her socks?”

           “I love ‘em!” Celeste said as she stuck an entire arm deep into one of them.

           “Are they special or something?” Sadie questioned.

           “Yeah! These babies are high-quality athletic compression socks. I go through the normal ones like tissue paper. Thanks, Jason. You knew just what to get.”

           Jace chuckled. “You know, you’re always on the move, so I figured…”

           The others leaned in closer as Celeste started working on Wessy’s gift, forcing him to downplay their expectations, “Guys, we’re not a thing, and it’s nothing special.”

           She opened it to reveal a roaring t-rex piggybank, in an off-brand box. It must have been a more obscure sort of thing, and no one knew what to make of it at first.

           “It’s supposed to roar each time you feed it coins,” Wessy said with a shrug. “I dunno. You put the coins in its mouth. I guess it’s to encourage you to save money.”

           “That’s… kinda cool, Wes,” Celeste replied. “I’ve never actually had a piggybank before. I kinda just kept loose change in an old sock, speaking of. So… thanks!”

           Like the twins, she would be opening stuff from her parents when she went home, so for now, she put her haul on another table for the folks to take back to civilization—minus the socks, of course, which were ready to be useful at camp.

           Arthur opened the copy of Wessy’s photo album that he could share with Ash first, and they took turns with everything else. As Jace thought about how unique a pair of twins’ birthday party must be, the disparity of their gifts also became apparent. And judging by Arthur’s expressions, the divide had never been wider. Whereas he got a new watch, comic books, video games, and action figures, Ash kept unwrapping jewelry, clothing, and music CDs. Arthur soon said what was also on Jace’s mind.

           “Did you ask for all that, Ash? Or does everyone just know something I don’t?”

           She grinned and handed him a small box wrapped in shiny blue, replying, “I had a list. I knew they’d get me the usual if I didn’t. But don’t worry! I still got you the kind of thing you always like, little bro. Happy birthday!”

           “Little bro? Seriously? You never call me…” He shook his head and gave up on his remark before ripping open a game in a CD case—which took him by surprise. It was the original and currently new title, Resident Evil, the cheesy survival horror game with bad voice acting and dangerous zombies that would become a classic and spawn a long-running franchise. “Ash, this is an M-rated game… A PlayStation game. W-wait…”

           She smiled. “Yeah, you’re getting what you asked for. It’s waiting at home.”

           “Whoa, Arthur, congrats, bud,” Colin said. “Bet you can’t wait to play that.”

           “Hope I’m not spoiling it too bad,” Ash added. “I had to help Mom get the right system. She was this close to getting you a Sega Saturn instead. So, I knew.”

           “N-no it’s cool. Jared, can you smuggle this home?” Arthur asked and handed him the game. “How’d you even manage to get it? I read that it’s scary and violent.”

           She crossed her arms and grinned again. “Park helped me. You impressed? You know I always go the extra mile for you on our birthdays. Now… What’d you get me?”

           Arthur suddenly looked embarrassed. “Oh… Uh, you’re… not going to like it.” He slid over a medium-sized box to her. “Sorry… I’ll get you something else later.”

           “It can’t be that bad.” She opened the gift to reveal an original Game Boy, still sealed and including a copy of Tetris. “Uh, wow… This must’ve…”

           “I know, Ash—you probably don’t care about video games at all anymore, but you never had your own, and I figured you’d still have a week of camp to play it…”

           “I’m not supposed to ask, but was this expensive?”

           “… Um, not too bad. They’re on sale a lot because the Game Boy Pocket is coming out. So, wait, you’re cool with it? Because everyone else… I mean, I felt like I must’a missed something they all saw. I just didn’t see your new interests.”

           “Geez, Arty, don’t be so dramatic. My tastes are expanding. I asked for stuff that would give my middle school life a jump start. I’ll still play video games with ya, bro.”

           “Oh. Oh… Man, I’m so confused right now…”

           “Nothing new there! Don’t worry. You’ll figure it out.”

           Ash grabbed the last present of the night: a small box from Jace. She had already received a similar-sized box from Sadie, so it was no great surprise when she opened it to see a pair of earrings to complement the ones she got from Ms. Loraine.

           “Oh, ladybug earrings!” Ash beamed. “Ah, they’re so cute! Jason, they’re great!”

           “Well…” he breathed in, “Sadie told me you both were getting your ears pierced later this summer, so I… kind of did some shopping with her at Claire’s.”

           “Now, that, I would’ve liked to see,” Ash replied, making Jace blush a bit.

           “Hey, punkin’,” Celeste’s dad said after coming over to the table. “Did ya score some nice goodies? You about ready to head back to camp?”

           “Just about, Dad,” she replied. “Oh, check out this new slinger I got.”

           “Nice. Bet you could bag some game in the wild with that, if you needed to.”

           The parents paid the bills and packed up the presents in their cars, most of which were going back home to be enjoyed later—Ash’s new Game Boy another exception. Meanwhile, Jace hung out with Arthur outside the diner to watch the sun set past the city. Before Jared set off with his mom, he came over and requested a status update.

           “Anything happen with, uh…” he glanced at Arthur, “you know who and who?”

           “No, Jared,” Jace assured him. “We’re all good.”

           “All right… Cool. Um… See you guys in another week. Take it easy.”

           “What was that about?” Arthur asked.

           “Nothing,” Jace said. “Boring stuff. You okay, Arty?”

           “I dunno. Still feels like I’m losing her. The two of used to be so tight, ya know? Even if she says the ‘old stuff’ is still okay… Got any of that wisdom for me, Jace?”

           He answered honestly. “Sorry, man. This kind of thing is new for me, too.”

           “I figured. I just hope the whole gang doesn’t break up in, like, a few months.”

           Reflecting on the quake timeline, Jace thought, it can’t possibly break up that much.

           It was 368 days after his previous visit to André in his office when Wes showed up again, this time using the front door, as requested. He was about to give his lab partner a casual greeting, but kept his mouth closed when he saw the old man adjusting his tie in a mirror, and dressed in a formal black suit that fit right into 1992.

           “Wes…” he sighed when he caught sight of him in the mirror. “I didn’t forget that you were stopping by today. I just don’t have much to tell you yet.”

           “I made this appointment months ago…” Wes grumbled.

           “Yes, you did. You must be skipping all around time by this point, aren’t you?”

           “I’m just seeing a few dates on the side. Can’t spare a moment for me, André?”

           “You made that appointment before Hadron’s memorial service was planned. If you had any respect for this city or its founder, you could come with me.”

           “Ugh. Damn, forgot about that… I don’t exactly do funerals.”

           “It doesn’t matter what you do. I’m still working on your disk.”

           “Heh. Good thing we have all the time in the world. I’d say I’ll see you in a year, but it looks like you’re closing up shop out there. So, when and where for my next visit?”

           André tugged at his cuffs. “I don’t know. I have other things on my mind today.”

           Wes went up to the window, where light drizzle from an overcast day had created a fine mist, and replied, “I sort of remember this day. The city seemed… sad somehow.”

           “I wonder what Hadron would think if he found out his town became a hot spot for time travelers… You know, Wes, it’s kind of funny. I get why you idolize the 80s and 90s. I also like these decades better than the rough times of the 2020s and 30s. But that doesn’t mean we should still be in the past. It’s like hiding from the future we’re trying to leave for our kids. We’re doing nothing to help the world get through the tough days.”

           “Neither one of us has kids. I mean, Jace comes close, but I was never some kind of idealist out to fix society’s problems. I was damn near useless as a modern adult.”

           “You’re already starting to remind me of the older version of you I knew well. A chip on your shoulder and nostalgia like weights around your ankles.” André gave Wes’ shoulder a pat as he headed out of his mostly-emptied office. “Go home, Wes.”

           “It’s just not time yet…” Wes murmured to himself once he was left alone.

           “Come on, Robby!” Marianne shouted at her schoolmate on a hot, sunny Friday at camp nearly four years later. “Swing, stupid! It’s on your left! Your left!”

           “Marianne, last warning,” Min muttered nearby. “If you make me write you up for insulting your teammates again, I’ll get annoyed for having to put forth the effort.”

           Marianne clenched her teeth but kept her mouth shut, watching in aggravation as Robby, blindfolded, swung around a bat to try and find the last of seven water balloons tied from the limbs of one of the camp’s trees. His only opponent, a bumbling girl from Sherman Miller, had managed to dumb-luck her way into hitting three of the colorful liquidy blobs, and she was dangerously close to finding the last one. Kids from both teams were endlessly yelling directions at their players, only succeeding in creating a useless ruckus that confused more than it guided. The end result was the sight of two blind campers meandering about, which was only funny for the first few minutes.

           “Still, can we hurry this up, guys?” Min complained from the tree’s shade.

           “You got this, Robby,” Wessy threw in some encouragement.

           “I’m just gonna slingshot the balloon,” Celeste said to Sadie nearby. “They can argue about who hit it all they want. At least the game will end.”

           “Give ‘em another minute,” Sadie whispered. “I think they’re close.”

           The Miller girl suddenly tripped over a tree root. Robby ran into her as she felt around for her bat on the ground, nearly fell over himself, and somehow tapped the balloon with his own bat while his arms flailed about. He smiled, swung mightily, and popped it, dousing them both in water. It was a messy win, but that didn’t matter to Marianne. As other kids—including the competitors—laughed about the game, she just pressed down hard in her notebook to tally up another point for her school.

           “Out of another tie,” she mumbled. “The next event could get a streak going.”

           “Good game, Robby and Fiona,” Bailey said as he walked over with his whistle. “Now, onto today’s main event. Two teams of six on this one! And let’s get all the age groups involved—so, pairs from every grade. Now, we’ll play this a few more times at camp, so you’ll all get a chance. Uh, Min, you were here last year. Tell them about it.”

           “Yeah, so… This is the Morning Dew original, Hyper Hoop…” Min impatiently waited for the claps and hollers from the camp veterans before continuing, “It’s one of those made-up games with a bunch of convoluted rules that everyone seems to like anyway, and involves hula hoop goals, volleyballs and baseballs, safety cones, a penalty box, and a lot of running around, trying to figure it out. Who wants to give it a shot?”

           A lot of hands were raised, with Marianne herself enthusiastically waving her arm about as she exclaimed, “I’m good at this one! I want in! Pick me, Min! Pleeeease!”

           After Min chose a few third graders for the two teams—and Lex as one of the fourth graders—she looked at the fifth grader selections and wasted time just glaring at Marianne, crossing her arms at first. Marianne only waved even more eagerly.

           “Fine, Marianne,” Min sighed. “Since you seem to want to play this so badly. Team up with Tamatha. And let’s see… Kyle! The lazy ‘cool’ kid. Get in there.”

           “Oh, I’m good…” Kyle said with a yawn as Marianne skipped over to her team.

           “Sorry, Mr. Chill. You gotta do something at camp, or the calls from angry parents demanding refunds comes later. Just do it. I’m sure Celeste will pick up the slack.”

           “Yes!” Celeste did a fist-pump and ran over. “I love Hyper Hoops.”

           “Min? Can I play?” Morris Prescott spoke up, using his innocent voice. “It’s not fair—no one likes to give me a turn, ‘cause they all wanna be with their school friends.”

           “Yeah, sure, whatever,” Min huffed. “Guess you’re with Desert Tree this time.”

           Marianne complained, “Ms. Min, no! He’s just trying to keep the teams tied!”

           Min shrugged, Morris snickered, the teams formed, the playing field was set up—including a kid on each side that had to hold a hula hoop and could scuttle like a crab on a horizontal field goal line—and after a rundown of the rules, the game commenced. Jace watched in fascination and tried to decipher the sport’s eclectic rules.

           “Yeah!” Lex shouted after scoring one point with a baseball by tossing it into the Miller team’s hoop. She gave a third-grader a thumbs-up, adding, “Good pass, dude!”

           Volleyballs were worth two points, and Morris “accidentally” batted an incoming shot from Celeste a few inches towards and into his team’s hoop, helping her score.

           “Morris! You… id…” Marianne glanced at Min and clenched her teeth. “Gaah!”

           “Lex is pretty good at this,” Sadie noted. “But what the heck is Kyle doing?”

           Miller’s club-running cool boy had planted his feet, basically refusing to move outside of striking poses, seemingly commenting on the game around him with hand gestures, and sometimes reaching out to half-heartedly block a shot. The young Miller boy near him holding a hoop, who didn’t care about his fame, looked frustrated.

           “Geez, Zach would at least try if he was here,” Colin remarked.

           “You guys, I think I’m starting to see the practical limitations of standing around acting ‘cool’ all the time,” Arthur added. “Maybe there’s more to life, you know?”

           “Why are you two laughing?” Marianne snapped at her team’s third-grader pair who were trying to turn the game into a fun time. “Morris is screwing us up again!”

           “Marianne, chill,” Lex chided her as she ran past holding a volleyball. “Every time you get angry, he just tries harder to mess with the games. He likes it.”

           Lex passed the ball the Tammy, who kicked it into the Miller hoop, getting an extra point for the delivery method. She looked happy, but Marianne was not appeased.

           “I think I get it,” Jace said. “It’s like soccer, basketball, and hockey all in one. But using balls that aren’t even in those games… Guess the campers really like it.”

           “I want a turn,” Wessy groaned. “Even after bombing everywhere else…”

           “Wes, you’re being too serious again,” Sadie replied. “Try to have fun before you sound like Mary. It’s just summer camp. Nothing here matters in a serious way.”

           “Yeah, and you’ll find something you’re good at,” Arthur assured him.

           “This is actually a pretty cool game…” Jace murmured, rubbing his chin.

           “So does the camp have a wrestling event?” Millie asked out of nowhere.

           “What? No.” Arthur thought a moment. “If it was between the counselors, though… Bailey at the end of a pile-driver would be worth seeing. Millie, do you like wrestling or something? My dad sometimes watches it when Mom’s out.”

           “Uh, n-no…” Millie grimaced and looked up at the sky. “Of course not.”

           With seconds left on the clock, Celeste stole a baseball from Marianne and chucked it into the hoop, scoring a win for her team. To top it off, she gave Mary a peace sign after Bailey blew his whistle to end the game, turning her face red.

           “Huh? Did we win?” Kyle yawned. “Oh, cool. Good job, guys.”

           Marianne, glowering at both Celeste and Morris, added a tally mark to Miller’s score so hard that she nearly tore through her little notepad’s paper.

           “Mr. Bailey, can we have a tug-of-war game today?” she suddenly asked loudly. “I think it’s a good way to get… some energy out of our systems.”

           “Oh, great idea, Marianne!” Bailey said in his chipper tone. “That sounds fun!”

           “Hold on, Big B,” Min brought out her buzzkill tone, “we banned that last year. Kids got hurt. Rope burns and sprains galore. One good lawsuit would shut us down.”

           “Well, that’s a shame,” Bailey replied, and Marianne fumed. He then clapped and said with a grin, “All right, then. Time for lunch!”

           “You know, I gotta admit, Morris…” Arthur said between bites of his sloppy joe at the table where the gang was eating with him. “What you’re doing? Trying to single-handedly keep the schools tied and pissing off Mary? It’s actually… pretty funny.”

           Sadie snorted and added, “Yeah. I kind of gotta give you some respect for the hard work. Almost makes me not care about even winning at all. It’s all something her older sister made up, anyway. It’s way more fun just seeing her all flustered.”

           Morris gave a half-hearted smile, shrugged, and replied, “Royal Elementary is all about stupid rivalries. It’s the same thing on our playground, every year, all year. I came to camp trying to get away from all that, and then that girl forces another rivalry here? It’s like, geez, man! Give it a rest. Not everything has to be a competition!”

           “You’re all right in my book,” Colin told him. “Got anymore school stories?”

           “Yeah, tons. This one time, our principal left the PA system on, and he…”

           “School meeting,” Marianne interrupted. “And you’re not invited, Morris.”

           “Aw, come on, Mary!” Wessy groaned. “Are we eating wrong now, too?”

           “Ha-ha. You’re not one to talk, Wes. Not with your performance out there. Our school pride is on the line. Luckily for you guys, I’m good at pep talks!”

           “I bet…” Colin muttered. “Morris, at least you don’t have to deal with this crap.”

           “Good luck with all that,” Morris chuckled and got back to work on his food.

           “I’m not trying to sound mean! This is my last chance in this age group here, and I need to be able to say that my school won more years!” Marianne told the Desert Tree campers from all grades, gathered up in a corner of the mess hall. “Don’t you want to say that, too? A lot of you have been great out there, but others have been… volunteering to play games they’re just not that great at. Just play to your strengths! We’ll win easy!”

           “Or, we could just play with whoever we want, and get rid of the teams altogether,” Lex suggested with crossed arms. “Then how would you keep score, huh, bossy-pants?”

           “Because then none of you would get my King Arcade prize tickets!” Mary looked at the reactions and scoffed, “Yeah, see? That reward sure is tempting, right? That’s why you put up with me! I’m not even calling out any names here! I simply want you all to only play the games you think you can win. Sooo… That’s not asking for much, right?”

           Lex didn’t relent, adding, “You’re the scorekeeper. Fudge the numbers. I don’t think the Miller kids would even care much. They’ve probably all been to King Arcade.”

           Marianne sneered at her. “No! We win fair and square, or not at all.”

           December, who had been pretty quiet at camp, let out a big sigh and finally spoke her mind, saying, “Oh. My. God, Marianne. You are so sanctimonious.”

           “I am not… Okay, I don’t actually know what that means yet, but December, we wouldn’t even be having this meeting if your head was in the game! You’re supposed to be amazing at everything you do. You got into Everette. You’re special, so act like it!”

           “Hey!” Colin suddenly snapped. “She’s been going through a lot! Lay off!”

           “Oh, and what are you, Colin? Her boyfriend? You’re one to talk, you quitter!”

           Marianne had definitely gone too far this time, and Colin’s friends watched as he scowled and stormed off. Everyone else was fed up her with, too, and the gathering quickly broke up—with Little Miss Perfect yelling at them to come back all the while.

           As he headed back to food, Jace heard Lucy quietly tell Lex, “You are… so cool.”

           “I dunno, maybe we should still try to win as a school,” Sadie told the gang as they stepped out onto the grounds after lunch. “Not to make her happy, but so we give the younger kids a shot at the tickets—and give ‘em away if any of our class gets them.”

           “She rags on them way too much,” Colin grumbled. “Especially the third graders, who really look like they’re just trying to have fun. Ugh! She makes me so mad…”

           Arthur added, “She’s not helping anyone’s morale. Why does she ‘need’ to win so badly, anyway? Who will care about what school did better by the time it starts again?”

           Sadie eyed Felicity, who was over by an anthill watching the buggers tear apart a bigger dead insect, and said thoughtfully, “Maybe it’s an older sister thing, kind of like what Felicity has? Marianne could be trying to prove something to Carla…”

           “I’m glad me and Lucy mostly get along,” Wessy said wistfully. “That’s rough.”

           “Speaking of morale,” Sadie continued, looking at Spice this time, who was sitting on a log and looking forlorn, “I feel pretty bad for Spice. She’s been miserable.”

           Colin turned to Jace and asked, “Any ideas this time, Mr. Fix-It?”

           Jace rolled his eyes, but replied, “Well, there was one thing I’ve been thinking of.”

           Now that the gang wanted to see Jace at work again and put the pressure on, they headed over to Spice, who looked up and murmured, “You here to make fun of me?”

           “No, not at all,” Jace said, taking in the sight of her expensive designer floral blouse and Capri pants—both in pristine condition. “Hey, Spice? I got a tip that might help you get into all this. We didn’t talk too much at school, but I was wondering…”

           “I’m not doing style assessments right now, Jason. But yours was always decent.”

           “Uh, thanks. Look, I know you don’t think it’s fashionable, but maybe you’d be more willing to give the games your all if you weren’t afraid of getting your clothes dirty.”

           “What are you saying? You want me to wear the ugly shorts my mom got me?”

           “I mean, everyone else is! Your clothes also make you stand out, and not in a good way. Heck, if you hate the shorts so much, get ‘em torn up and messy, right?”

           Sadie pitched in, “Embrace the khaki. Go wild and let it all out. It’s not too late.”

           Spice grew pensive. “Huh… Yeah… You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

           Min, gathering campers, came over and told the group, “Let’s go, guys, we got a lot of games to get through before story time tonight. I got a really scary one that’ll beat Bailey’s best. It’s about a girl who gets a job at summer camp to work off college debts.”

           Saturday featured the last big event at camp, a lengthy scavenger hunt that saw eight teams of ten—plus one slightly bigger group to accommodate Morris—run around the grounds and all of its locales with a list of clues and many dozens of items to find.

           Before it started, Jace used his one-a-day phone call to check in with Wes from inside the small administration building. He could see his group gathering up from the window, and it was one that actually had some strategic thought put into it. Marianne’s neediness wasn’t on their minds; the gang just really wanted one solid victory of their own, and they had brought in the help that might give them a better shot.

           “Yeah, Millie’s sticking with us,” Jace told his uncle. “Observational skills, right? December’s still feeling down, but we figured that maybe with Colin… Um, Spice we just felt sorry for, so we invited her to our ‘winning team.’ She actually started doing a little better yesterday, though, after she finally changed into her shorts. Yep. My advice. I can’t believe it worked, either. Maybe she’s right that clothes really do make the kid. Oh, and we snagged Felicity. Just to have another three-year veteran in our team.”

           “And the others are just the usual gang? Plus Ash?”

           “Yeah. The twins haven’t been on teams much because of their, I guess, growing pain stuff they got going on, but they want to do something together before camp ends. I’m just glad we don’t have Marianne on our team. She’s made everyone miserable.”

           “I remember that.” Wes chuckled lightly over the poor reception. “I bet you miss your phone. You’ve never been away from it for more than a day, I bet.”

           “It’s not so bad. Not like it’s had internet on it for, like, a year. Mom was talking about me needing a ‘detox’ or whatever from it, anyway. Things okay over there?”

           “Nothing to report, bud. I hope you’ve had a good time out there, on your own.”

           “Mostly. It looks like the hunt’s about to start, so I gotta get going. But I think it’s time I ask the usual… How did this school competition thing end originally?”

           “Well, Jace. Morris tried his hardest, but Desert Tree eked out in the end. I won’t spoil the surprise how. You, Millie, and Robby all being there probably shouldn’t change too much about the score. You might just get there in a slightly different way.”

           “Good to know… But Marianne will still learn some sort of lesson… Right?”

           “Debatable. All right, kid. I’ll pick you up around noon tomorrow. Good luck.”

           “Yeah, see ya…” Jace sighed, then hung up and went to join his friends.

           “At three, you can open the envelopes containing the scavenger hunt clues,” Bailey, in the middle of a circle of the ten groups, announced. “Just be careful not to lose the list! Each team only gets the one. And the counselors will be all over, keeping an eye on you. But don’t expect them to give you hints! All right… One. Two. Three!”

           Felicity tore open the manila envelope, and the kids gathered around to look at the twelve hints—plus a bonus one written in red at the bottom. Everyone skimmed the clues, with Felicity, Colin, and Sadie looking particularly contemplative about them.

           “A few of these are repeats for me from last year,” Felicity said. “We can knock those out first. There are a lot of hiding places at camp, but not an infinite amount.”

           “What’s this one?” Wessy asked and pointed. “‘Look under the porcelain of a familiar seat, but those made of puppy dog tails will need to rely on others.’ The heck?”

           December sighed, “It’s under one of the girls’ toilets. I got this one last year, and it was just as obvious and gross. The counselors must have fun while hiding the eggs…”

           “Eggs?” Arthur and Ash replied in unison.

           “The prizes are in Easter eggs,” Colin replied. “But you’re not supposed to open them until the hunt is over. And ours will all be marked with a six! Last year, three teams got disqualified for taking an egg that wasn’t there’s. Don’t accidentally cheat, guys.”

           With the other groups beginning to scatter, the team put on their game faces and got to work, Wessy trying his hardest to make up for his mediocre performances at the other events. Spice’s newfound enthusiasm didn’t really lead her to working out clues or finding the prizes, but her expressed optimism after each egg did boost team morale.

           After December fetched a pink plastic prize with a “6” written in Sharpie from the girls’ bathroom, they ran over to the amphitheater. It was full of searching campers, checking various nooks and crannies of the seating, torches, and dais, all of their clues slightly different. As Larry stood watch from the top, the team plucked a blue egg from under the tenth seat in the third row. One egg was found in the pavilion, another by the supply shed, and one more inside the mess hall, where Ms. Marsdale sat in a chair at the kitchen entrance to make sure none of the kids tried to explore her clean workspace. Once a green egg taped to the side of the water fountain joined its friends in the tote bag Ash carried, they had to head into the woods, as the remaining clues all made it sound doubtful that more of the things could be found on the grounds.

           While Wessy wasn’t great at solving the riddles, it turned out that he was pretty good at navigating the woods, despite the campers only visiting it a few times for nature walks over their two weeks. He seemed to know it even better than the vets.

           “I know this rock,” Felicity said as they walked among the trees. “The ‘one shaped like a giant’s foot.’ Argh… I just can’t remember which way to go from here…”

           “Oh, I call that the Ugly Rock,” Wessy said. “Um, it’s north. Maybe an average Desert Tree block’s length away? But not as far as the Mossy Stump.”

           “Wes, how do you know these woods so well?” Millie wondered. “I thought I was pretty good at remembering faces and places, but you’re… kind of impressive.”

           He shrugged. “It’s nothing. I guess I’m just good at remembering? Like, I know Super Metroid’s and Link to the Past’s game worlds by heart.” He pointed to the left. “Oh, there’s the Mega Dirt Pile! That means the Name Tree is about fifty feet that way.” He pointed to the right. “Doesn’t one of those clues mention ‘Initials that… bark’?”

           “Hm, yeah…” December thought for a moment. “Let’s split up for a minute and cover more ground. I’ll make a run for Ugly Foot Rock and meet you near the tree.”

           “H-hold on, December!” Colin said as she walked off. “I’ll go with you!”

           “What’s this ‘bonus clue,’ anyway?” Millie asked Felicity as the remaining eight campers went deeper into the woods. “Is it worth more points or something?”

           “Yeah,” she answered. “It’s supposed to be a golden egg and worth three points, and there’s only one of them. But no one’s gotten it. At least not in the past two years.”

           Arthur looked at the hint and read out loud, “‘This one’s laid by a golden goose, and you’ll only find it if you’re brave, curious, patient, and enjoy history…’ Yeah, that’s vague. No wonder no one gets it. But if we did, we could miss two eggs and still win.”

           “Wes, you’re quite the navigator all of a sudden,” Sadie remarked as he led the group to the Name Tree, which was one of the few redwoods in the area and the biggest tree anywhere near the camp. “You got more outdoor in you than you thought.”

           “Yeah, yeah…” he mumbled and ran up to the tree, covered in letters scratched into its bark. After he looked around, he plucked another egg dug in near its roots and then stood back to admire the remnants of camps past. “Guys, let’s add our names!”

           “Pretty sure we’d run out of time and lose the hunt if we all did that,” Ash replied.

           “True, but we could do something else…” Felicity said, picking up a pointy rock.

           While she carved into tree flesh, Jace got a look at the many other full names and initials all over the tree, and got a good idea about just what the camp had meant to the local kids. He spotted Vanni’s arcade name, VAN, Brian’s brother’s in full—Wyatt Moreland, Scott, and near the bottom, in small letters… Conrad B., Jace’s pop. Not that the minor revelation meant much to him. So… Dad went to this camp, too. Eh, big deal.

           “Guys?” Wessy spoke up, staring even deeper into the woods. “What’s that?”

           Felicity finished scrawling “Ms. Porter’s ’96” into the tree, and everyone gathered up near Wes to see what he did: a plain wooden building in a clearing a distance away. Despite being a camp vet, Sadie looked puzzled. Felicity, though, was lightly familiar.

           “I saw that building last year, but I was too afraid to check it out.”

           “You, afraid?” Sadie scoffed. “What if it’s haunted? I bet you’d love it.”

           “Maybe. But not so much if it’s a condemned drug den that gives me tetanus.”

           “I say we check it out, explore, at least see what it is,” Wessy urged adventure.

           No one seemed to have a problem with getting a little closer, and as they did so, they spotted Kyle sitting cross-legged on a big rock nearby, looking real Zen.

           “Kyle, what the heck are you doing out here alone?” Arthur sighed. “Shouldn’t you be out helping your team? Or are you too cool for that?”

           He shrugged. “They said I was ‘slowing them down,’ so I might as well go off and ‘do whatever.’ I’m lookin’ out at the old museum, thinkin’ about what once was.”

           “That building’s an old museum?” Felicity replied. “Did someone die in there or something? I’ve never heard of a museum being out here… So is it haunted?”

           “Dunno. Dad just told me it closed way back. I think it was a pioneer museum. But I just feel bad vibes coming from the place. So I’ll just keep an eye on it instead.”

           “‘Enjoy history…’” Spice murmured. “Could the bonus egg be in there?”

           “I mean, if it was completely closed up, legally, it’d be a bad place to hide it,” Sadie, the closest the group had to a legal scholar, replied. “But it could be worth a look.”

           “What’s worth a look?” December asked as she returned with Colin.

           They turned to them, and Ash immediately asked, “Why are your faces so red?”

           “Uh… No reason,” Colin said in an aloof way. “We found the egg at Ugly Foot Rock. T-that’s all we did. Are we really going in that building, and is it even worth it?”

           “I’m up for it if you guys are,” Millie said. “You gotta admit you’re all curious.”

           Kyle’s assertion that the place was once a museum seemed to prove true when the gang got closer. They realized that the reason for the grass-only clearing was due to it once being a parking lot, now buried under dirt not deep enough to support trees yet. That, and the fact that a sign over the wooden front door read, “Pioneer Museum”.

           December pushed the door to see that it was not only open, but that the place was dimly lit and even had a running mini-fridge and TV set with the same poor reception as those in the cabin. The museum was bare of exhibits, though; its glass displays held nothing, and the discolored portions of the walls were the only remnants left of any hanging photographs or portraits of the old local pioneers.

           “Ugh, what’s that smell?” Spice tried not to gag.

           “Boiling cabbage. I know it,” Colin replied and went up to a gas stove where a pot of water bubbled. “Yeah, Dad makes it sometimes… Someone’s living here.”

           “And not just squatters,” Felicity noted. “This place is a legit house.”

           “Well, I’m glad you think so…” the elderly, raspy voice of Mr. Jasper came from the museum bathroom. He stepped out and waved his wet hands about. “I don’t often get visitors all the way out here. About time some of ya campers showed up…”

           “Do you live here all year, Mr. Jasper?” Sadie asked politely.

           “Eh, half of it.” He pointed to the one photo on display, hanging over the stove, which showed two dozen campers and three counselors, all in early 70s clothes. He was in it, too, twenty-plus years younger and sporting a decade-appropriate mustache. “That was taken in 1972, when the camp opened. But this museum, now… that goes all the way back to the 1930s if you can believe it. First real attraction in town, and sort of a visitor’s center, as well. City’s got quite a history. History’s your story, too, kids. But it can fade away and be forgotten. This place made enough to pay for the camp, but then its own revenue dried up by 1975, even as the camp became admired… All its treasures are now in the Royal Valley Museum, and I just maintain this… historical landmark.”

           “Mmm, cool…” Felicity said and nodded. “So, do we get the golden egg now?”

           “Now, hold on. Youngsters, always in such a hurry… The real reward you take away from this camp is knowing more than the others about our city’s past. Gather ‘round and I’ll tell ya some tales first. I don’t get to do this every year…”

           “Oh. Great,” Wessy sighed as the building’s last relic began rambling.

           Jace didn’t mind history lessons, having a mild fascination himself. But he was surprised when December, who was usually a history nerd, stepped back a little to be by herself, listening from afar. Despite thinking she might end up being the one kid from their class that he wouldn’t need to help, it was more obvious than ever that she did.

           “Oh, I know that look,” she said coyly as Jace snuck away and went over to her while Mr. Jasper talked about the region’s glory days. “Is it my turn, helper-boy?”

           Jace chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I could give it a try.”

           “I mean, I always just thought it was separation anxiety, saying goodbye to all my friends, or being worried that some of them would be jealous I got into Everette…”

           “You’ll still see your old friends around. But do you think it’s more than all that?”

           “Yeah, definitely, because the feeling’s lasted so long. I hate to admit it, but it’s as if it’s happening to someone else, like I still can’t believe I actually got into that school.”

           Jace thought and thought, and wanted to say something encouraging, but chose to be honest and replied, “I think I need to get back to you on this one, December.”

           “Hey, I’m just glad you finally asked.” She barely smiled. “Well, take your time.”

           “A whole hour!” Arthur groaned as the group left the museum and he checked his watch. “That codge… That old guy just went on and on… The hunt’s almost over!”

           “We got eight eggs plus the bonus,” Ash replied and carefully added the golden prize Mr. Jasper had given them to the bag. “We might still win.”

           “We should’ve taken him up on the offer for some boiled cabbage,” Sadie joked.

           With drizzle from an overcast sky now coming down, they saw Marianne over by Kyle, berating him for being lazy and “letting down his team,” as her own squad stood by impatiently. Notably, everyone else in her group were third and fourth-graders.

           “Hanging out with the younger crowd, huh, Mary?” Sadie derided her.

           “The other… fifth-graders, uh… Let’s just say Lex here was ‘nice enough’ to let me join her team,” she muttered as Lex, near Lucy, gave them all a peace sign.

           “You better not’ve bossed my sister around,” Wessy said assertively.

           Marianne sighed, “Lex is the leader, not… me. So, did you actually go in there?”

           Ash showed off the golden egg and answered, “Yep. And look what we got.”

           The third-grader holding his team’s seven eggs stared in awe for a moment.

           Marianne frowned. “Oh. Well, at least someone from our school got it. We might as well head back. Uh, right, Lex? It’s starting to rain and there’s only a few minutes left.”

           Lex shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. You comin’ with us, Too Cool for School?”

           Kyle got up and followed the big mass of twenty kids back towards camp, with Millie asking Marianne, “Not that I care, but how do your points work for this event?”

           She answered, “Carla worked it out so the top four teams score a point for their school, and the group that comes in first gets an extra point. We could win here, thanks to that golden egg you guys scored. And I’m good for those tickets, I swear!”

           “Win, win, win…” Kyle yawned. “There’s more to life, ya know. Like chillin’.”

           They reached the pavilion where the other six groups had gathered just as Bailey announced over the speakers that time was up. The counselors then went around each table, tallying up the eggs. Kyle’s team got in last place, only finding four of theirs, and it was pretty obvious that the kids at his table mostly chose him to blame. Celeste’s team had collected ten of the eggs, and must’ve thought they’d win until…

           “Oh, nice!” Bailey said to Wessy and his crew. “You found the special egg. Since that’s worth three points… Team Six’s final score is eleven. Great job!”

           Among light applause, Marianne, at the next table over, added up the last event’s points and told the winners, “You guys put together a good team. Let’s see…”

           “You can open the eggs now, everyone,” Kate said. “The prizes are for you to keep. Just try to be considerate with who gets to take them home, ‘kay?”

           “These are just the cheap things you get in those quarter machines,” Ash said as she revealed a sticky hand and Sadie got a finger puppet monster similar to Jace’s. “I don’t need more stuff like this… You take it, Arty. You still collect weird junk, right?”

           Arthur shrugged, added his Quest for Camelot sticker to the pile of prizes on the table, and remarked, “Well, the journey was the fun part. Good work, guys.”

           “Always feels nice to win,” Millie added. “Even if Mr. Jasper went on and on.”

           “Agh, no!” Marianne exclaimed. “It’s still a tie! I refuse to settle for a draw!”

           Morris Prescott could be seen grinning nearby while Bailey announced, “Okay, kiddos. Do whatever you want for the next hour. And after dinner, it’s movie time!”

           “Thanks,” Marianne muttered aggressively. “I will do whatever I want…”

           After the counselors mostly disappeared to gather up the unfound eggs, the light rain stopped, leaving the ground muddy. Campers were milling about and chatting when Marianne suddenly showed up with a big old rope covered in frayed hairs around her shoulder. Silence fell as she foot-scratched a line in the mud at the center of the camp.

           “Marianne… What are you doing?” Sadie asked her.

           “Settling things with a classic. Fifth-graders only. Miller kids, give us your best. One round, whoever’s in the mud first loses. King Arcade tickets are still on the line.”

           “Sounds fun, but where did you get the rope?” Delilah questioned.

           “Stan left the shed open yesterday. I hid it in my footlocker, just in case I’d need it for a tie-breaker. Because some people,” she eyed Morris, “just want to watch the world burn. Delilah, Hutch! I need your muscles. And for the Millers, I only ask for Celeste.”

           “Peh,” Celeste rolled up her sleeves, “not sure what kind of revenge thing you got circling around in that pretty head, Ms. Prissy Pants, but you can bet that it’s on.”

           “Are we really doing this?” Wessy asked as other kids stepped up. “Oh, man…”

           “The rope’s long enough for six on each side,” Felicity informed everyone. “I’ll be the ref. Reynold, be useful again and watch for counselors. They’ll shut us down.”

           “Okey-doke,” Mr. Weichster said, turned around, and took up a watchful pose.

           “This is a bad idea, Marianne,” December cautioned. “Someone could get hurt.”

           “I’m in,” Arthur said and went to the rope. “I used to play tug of war with Ash.”

           “Arty! What are you trying to prove?” Wessy fretted. “Uh… I’ll help you!”

           Jace chose not to interfere, figuring that his involvement might change the victor and screw things up. He knew that his school needed someone big and strong in the last spot, anyway. Delilah and Hutch were tough, but the Miller team had toughies, too.

           Instead, it was Spice with her scrawny arms that surprised a few schoolmates as she grabbed the rope and shouted, “I’m in! I won’t go home as a ‘slacker princess’!”

           “Someone must’ve called her that,” Sadie quietly scoffed.

           Marianne, at the front, stared down Celeste, leading the Miller boys and girls. For one of them, it was just a fierce but friendly competition. For the other, much more was on the line. Jace was fairly certain by now that Marianne had some unresolved issues.

           “Let’s do this!” she yelled, and her team started tugging a moment before the Millers had readied themselves, causing them to lose a bit of ground right away.

           With twelve pairs of heels digging into or slipping on mud, the war quickly grew intense, and not even Hutch and Delilah working together could score a fast win. Mary made call-outs to synchronize big team pulls, but it awarded mere centimeters each time.

           “C’mon, Delilah!” Spice shouted from the back. “Put everything into it!”

           “Shut up!” she grunted in response. “What do you think I’m doing?”

           “The Miller kids think we’re losers!” Marianne exclaimed. “They made fun of us all year! Said we live in a dump! No one even knows who their school is named after!”

           “No, we didn’t!” Celeste shouted back. “And Sherman Miller designed the entire neighborhood of Desert Tree! Learn some history… and stop making up crap!”

           Spice fell on her face into the mud, and Wessy and Arthur soon followed—but so did three of the Miller kids. Marianne barely seemed to notice the player reduction.

           “If we don’t win, they’ll never show us respect!” she went on. “We gotta prove ourselves! Now pull like your dignity depends on it! One, two, three—destroy them!”

           They yanked hard, sending two more Millers into the muck. Amazingly, Celeste lasted a moment longer all on her own before the rope was violently torn from her grip.

           “Celly!” Sadie yelled and ran to her, as she let out a pained moan. “You okay?”

           “Yes!” Marianne yelled triumphantly. “I won! You see that, Carla? I won us two out of three, one more than you! I’m better! Thanks, everyone! You all really… helped…”

           She only got glares in response, from both schools, while Sadie and Ash checked on Celeste, who had suffered an injury and grimaced each time she squeezed her wrist.

           “Ah, well,” Morris sighed. “I tried my hardest. But I wonder if I broke her…”

           “What’s going on?!” Min suddenly shouted and came running onto the scene. “I told you kids! No tug-of-war! Gah, no one listens. Celeste, let me see it…” Acting Nurse Min then got surrounded by other kids in distress. “Geez, look at all these rope burns.”

           “Great job, Mary,” Millie muttered. “Sacrifice everyone for some personal glory.”

           Also brought over the edge by what he had seen, Jace now chose to interfere and added, “Hey. Marianne. I know someone else that tries to control everything and make life their version of ‘perfect.’ But look what you did. You ended up hurting everyone.”

           “It’s just tug-of-war!” she argued. “Injuries happen! Kids get beat up sometimes.”

           “You didn’t need to make up lies about their school insulting us,” Delilah added. “That was not cool. I got to know a lot of them this year, and they’re all right.”

           Jace finished his point by saying, “Cookton Middle is big. Kids from both schools are going to go there. So you all need to learn to get along. The elementary school days are over… Maybe all of these little competitions don’t matter anymore.”

           “Jason…” Wessy murmured nearby. “What do you mean… You all?”

           Jace realized what he had said, and couldn’t bring himself to tell a lie that would soon be exposed regardless. He thought about how best to put it as Bailey ran over.

           “Whoa, what’s all this?” he exclaimed. “Had a little game behind our back, eh?”

           Min replied flatly, “Bailey, shush. She’s got a bad sprain. Go get the first aid kit.”

           The last Sunday of camp was just a time to chill out while kids waited for pickup. Peace and order had returned as the counselors watched over the campers, some waiting for their parents; others, the bus arriving later. Sadie sat with Celeste, none the worse for wear with a bandage around her wrist. Marianne, on the other hand, was on a log by herself, shunned by kids from both schools—who, despite her selfish efforts to tear them apart, were now fully mingling. Some new friends were even being made, all while Kyle lazily watched from the sidelines, having learned nothing during his stay.

           Wes arrived at noon, and Jace and Millie said their goodbyes and began walking to his car before he got impatient, and passing by Lex and Lucy, chatting on a bench.

           “Hey, Lucy,” Lex said to her. “You should hang out at The Dump next year. We didn’t have many classes together… But I like the way you wear your headphones.”

           “Oh…” Lucy sounded nervous. “I actually… picked up that look from you…”

           “Hey, Jason! Hold up!” Arthur called out and ran over to him with Colin.

           Colin huffed, “Jason. So… Wes is pretty upset about you moving away, but we all got to talking, and we want to throw you a little party before you leave. You know, since we didn’t get to celebrate your birthday. Let’s work something out, okay?”

           “Also, is something up with you two?” Arthur wondered and looked at Ash, who was nearby and acting a bit funny around Jace. “You both have been a little weird today.”

           “None of your business!” Ash replied sheepishly, then laughed and ran off.

           “Um, I’ll talk to you guys soon,” Jace promised. “We gotta go. It’s been real.”

           “Well, we lived,” Millie told Jace as they reached the car. “So, another party, huh?”

           “Yeah…” Jace looked over at Ash. “I just wish it could’ve lasted a little longer…”