Page 31 of Give Me a Sign
Oliver paddles off, searching a wide perimeter. He reaches down and fishes out what ends up being a twig, before coming back to us empty-handed.
“It’s not caught in the canoe, right?” Mackenzie asks me.
I take a peek under the seats, but there’s nothing there. “Shit,” I mutter. Mackenzie glares at me, but none of the campers heard me swear or paid any mind. I’m grinding my teeth, hating that Mackenzie is going to see this all as a sign of her superior counselor status.
Eventually, we have to give up and return to the beach. Mackenzie finds Ethan, and the two of them go back out on the lake with the camper to search again until lake time is over.
On the walk to lunch afterward, Ethan falls into step next to me.
“No luck?” I ask.
He shakes his head.
I sigh. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I should have made her take it out.”
“Hey, don’t worry,” he says and signs. “You’ll only have to pay a couple thousand.”
“What?” I donothave that kind of money. My parents are going to be so mad.
“I’m joking. I’m joking.” He swings his backpack around and pulls a blank form out of a folder. “It’s probably all under warranty, but Gary will have to call Savannah’s parents and let them know. You just need to fill out this accident report.”
“That doesn’t sound great.” I stare at the form. There are a lot of questions on it.
“We go through plenty of them. Any lost items, or even something as simple as a Band-Aid for a scratch, we have to fill out a report for.”
“I really should have made sure she took it off first.”
“Campers lose things.” Ethan shrugs. “We try not to have them lose the expensive things, but there’s always a lesson to be learned.”
“Ouch.”
Ethan laughs. “Sorry, that was a bit lecture-y.”
“Yeah, got plenty of that from Mackenzie already.”
“You’re doing fine, I promise. Just get the paperwork done at lunch.”
It’s pool time this afternoon, and I’ve still got my swimsuit on underneath my clothes because there was no point in changing after the lake.
Honey bounces up and down at the shallow end to keep her head above the water. I take a seat on the stairs nearby, not wanting to get my hair wet again if I can manage that.
“Like,” Honey signs to me. “I know————.”
I shake my head. “Again, please.”
Honey rolls her eyes and gives me one word at a time. “Like.”
“You like swimming?” I say and sign.
She waves her hands to indicate that I’m on the entirely wrong path here. She tilts her head. “No, pay attention.”
I know that phrase well because Ethan uses it every day during announcements. After this morning’s cochlear incident, I’m a little unsure about myself, but I know Honey would make a fantastic counselor one day.
I glance around, wondering if someone could interpret for me, but the only person I see is Natasha. She seems to grimace at me before looking away, likely assuming exactly what I was going to ask of her. So I turn back to Honey and slide both hands forward alongside my face, giving an agreeable expression and signing, “Okay, I pay attention.”
“I...” Honey signs slowly. “Know... someone... like... you.”
“Someone like me?” I say and sign. “Like, a friend who looks like me?”
