Page 70 of That Summer Feeling

“Hee-haw!” everyone yelled back.

The awards started with the color games. The drummer pattered an anticipatory beat on his legs, building the tension in the air, as the lead singer opened an envelope handed to him by the guitarist. “In fourth place, with a score of ninety, we have Yellow Team!”

Stevie squeezed my hand tighter. The two of us were in it together. No matter what. We hadn’t gotten last. That counted for something.

Yellow Team walked up the stairs at the side of the stageand collected their trophies. They took their spot behind the fourth-place sign that had been set at the edge of the stage.

The lead singer opened the next envelope. He scrunched his brows, then leaned to the guitarist, who showed the card to the bassist, who showed it to the fiddle player. They all whispered over the contents.

“We have a tie,” the lead singer explained. “Not for first place,” he clarified as the chatter rose. “I just had to make sure what place it would be for. The consensus is that there will be no third place. So we’re gonna announce each second place team one at a time. That way everyone can have their moment to shine.”

The tension was so thick it had coiled around my throat.A tie for second wouldn’t be so bad, I thought.So long as Red doesn’t win.

“In second place, with a score of one hundred, we have Green Team!”

I could have floated through the ceiling and burst the confetti myself. Green Team assembled onstage, Frank and Andrew with arms wrapped around each other. Andrew drank in the moment, staring out at the crowd with tears in his eyes. Frank grimaced as he made direct eye contact with both Mason and Stevie. The drummer quickly swapped out the third-place sign for another second-place one, and Green Team assembled behind it.

It was down to Red and Blue. Stevie and me versus Mason and Dara.

“No matter what place we actually get, we still won,” Stevie assured me.

“We only win if we’re first,” I told her.

She smiled, then gave me one quick kiss. “Very good. I was testing you. We better fucking win.”

“Alsoin second place, we have—” The lead singer let it linger, prompting a comically long drumroll to increase the tension. “Red Team!”

There was a pin drop silence before the collective understanding landed.

We did it.

Wewon.

We did our level best to keep our composure as Red Team collected their trophies. They deserved their moment.

The second the lead singer said, “And our first place team—” all hell broke loose. Blue Team shot up, screaming and hugging one another, knocking over chairs on our way to the stage.

“With a score of one hundred and ten, Blue Team!”

I held hands with Julianne and Stevie as we rushed the stage. Captain Aja accepted our gigantic first-place trophy while Tommy held the comically large fake check that announced we had half off our camp tuition for the next summer.

I took it upon myself to hoist Tommy up. As only she could, Stevie saw where I was going with the moment, and she joined me, as well as Sky and Laurie, until we held Tommy above our heads. He deserved all the flowers for what he’d help create.

This place had become a part of me. Even if I never physically returned, every time the wind whistled through the trees or I smelled sunscreen and bug spray, I’d be back in thismoment. Back at Camp Carl Cove, under a blanket of trees, safe from the outside world, celebrating a victory few outsiders would ever see as significant.

It didn’t matter. I was a winner. A teammate. An adult who’d accomplished so much more than anyone would ever know how to give me credit for, because my accomplishments did not fit into any list I’d ever seen before. And that was more than okay with me. My other campers would always understand. Some awards would never be known by other people. They still mattered. And I was still allowed to be proud.

I got to kiss the woman I loved at summer camp under a waterfall of confetti and streamers.

It really wasn’t going to get much better than that.

When we made our way back to our seats, the other campers greeted us with a chorus of congratulations, everyone mingling, needing to shed a little more adrenaline before the ceremony could continue.

“Look at you,” Dara said to me. “A winner. Congratulations.”

I hugged her tight. “Thank you. Congrats to you too. Second place is no joke.”

“But it’s no first.”