Sunkissed by Kasie West (popular e readers .txt) 📕

thought. “I better go. My parents will be waiting.”

“Okay, if you can sneak away tonight, follow the signs to Shadow Ridge.” She rushed ahead.

“I don’t need to follow any signs,” I mumbled.

I’d changed into jeans and pulled on a hoodie, and now, as the light was quickly fading from the sky, I searched the crowded shore around the lake for my parents and Lauren. They said they would be near the snack hut but I didn’t see them anywhere. All I saw were families sitting on colorful blankets awaiting the main event.

The lake was dotted with sailboats and paddle boats and motor boats, filled with people, all anchored and waiting as well. On the dock, an older woman tapped a microphone, then said, “Will everyone please stand for the national anthem.” I wondered if this was the infamous Janelle. She was in a flannel and jeans and her gray hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

She passed the microphone to a young girl while everyone around me climbed to their feet. And then this girl, who was probably only eleven or twelve, began to sing, with an entire camp and lake full of people staring at her. And she didn’t miss a single note.

“Jealous?” Lauren’s voice asked in my ear when she was done.

I turned to see Lauren’s smirk. “Yes, actually. I think you think I choose to have stage fright.”

“I think you choose not to do anything about it.”

“Where are Mom and Dad?” I really didn’t want to have this conversation. I just wanted to watch fireworks. I loved fireworks.

She spun on her heel and led the way to a blanket halfway down the beach area.

“Avery,” Dad said with a smile. “We thought you got eaten by a bear.”

“I almost did, but luckily I threw someone else in the path and kept running.”

“Good call,” Dad said.

Lauren blew air between her lips. “You two and your dad jokes.”

I met Dad’s eyes. It had been a while since we’d shared some friendly banter. Things had been awkward between us. I dropped my gaze and lowered myself to the blanket.

Mom was using a wadded-up sweatshirt as a pillow and she looked up and raised one of her hands. “I thought it was funny.”

“Thanks, Mom,” I said.

“Where are these fireworks going to be blasted from anyway?” Lauren asked.

Dad pointed. “Way out in the middle of the lake. You going to record tonight?”

She shrugged. “Things like this don’t translate very well to video without super-expensive equipment. It’s like when you try to take a picture of the moon. It’s just not the same as seeing it.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. Had someone told her about our moon circle or was it just a coincidence that she was bringing up the moon? Had she seen Kai or Levi…or Brooks this week?

“You feeling any better?” Dad asked, putting his hand on my mom’s head.

She had her forearm draped across her eyes as she lay on the blanket.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Are you sick?”

“I think that salad at dinner and my stomach aren’t getting along,” she said.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Me too,” she said. “But I’m going to stick it out for at least one firework.”

“You’re leaving?” Lauren asked.

“One firework,” Mom insisted.

“Well, we all know they start with the best fireworks and end with the crappy ones anyway,” I said.

Mom laughed and then held her stomach. “Don’t make me laugh.”

The lady in the flannel shirt was weaving between blankets, talking to people now.

“Who’s that?” I asked.

“That’s the owner of this camp,” Dad said.

Lauren’s eyes shot to Janelle, probably wanting to put a face to a name as well. A huge red firework lit up the sky to oohs and aahs from the crowd around us.

Mom groaned.

“Girls,” Dad said, “would you feel the need to talk to your future therapist about being abandoned on a holiday if your mom and I went back to the cabin?”

“Definitely,” I said.

“Right after I tell them about the summer my parents took away my access to the internet,” Lauren said.

“Oh good, you’ll have plenty of fodder,” Dad said, standing as another firework lit the sky behind his head. “Come home right after the show is over. It’s too crowded to stay out here late tonight.”

“I’m sorry,” Mom said to us, letting my dad help her to her feet.

The two of them slowly picked their way through the crowd. Lauren and I sat there in silence for several minutes staring at the sky. Then, as if we both knew the other had found out about the staff party happening right now, I said, “Should we go?”

And she said, “Absolutely.”

“Who told you about this?” I asked as we walked, pointing our flashlights at the trail ahead.

“I don’t remember. Levi? Kai, maybe?” Lauren said.

“You’re still talking to them even though the documentary isn’t happening?”

“Yes. We’re friends now. I wasn’t just faking it for the documentary. I’m not a user, Avery.”

“I know.” A sadness washed over me with her words and I knew why. I had thought Brooks and I were friends, but now I wondered if he was only helping me because I was helping him. I mean, that’s exactly why he was helping me; that’s how it started at least. But I had hoped we had moved on from that. This week, not seeing him once, proved to me that we hadn’t.

“Did you hear that?” Lauren asked, stopping in the middle of the path. Fireworks were still going strong in the sky, the smell of explosives stronger up here on the ridge.

“I didn’t hear anything.”

Her flashlight swept over the trees on our right. “What if there’s a bear out here?” she whispered.

I almost told her that she was being dumb, but maybe there was a bear up here, scared by the loud blasts. I pointed my light to the trees as well. I didn’t see anything, but now I heard what she had: a rustling of leaves or underbrush. My heart