Page 12 of Give Me a Sign
“Better keep the ice packs ready—” Bobby is interrupted.
Simone grabs his arm. “Nah, you gotta change that.”
“But it’s my faaaaaaaaavorite,” he drags out the word. What are they talking about? “Can’t right now anyway.” He holds up his fingers, slimy from the mayo in his sandwich.
I strain my ears over the clatter and echoes of the dining hall and realize Bobby is playing music.
Simone rolls her eyes and reaches into his pocket, retrieving the phone and changing the song. There are clearly zero personal space boundaries between these two, but I can’t figure out if I’m getting relationship vibes or not. As if by instinct, I glance down the table, and my gaze lands on Isaac. This whole meal he’s been in rapid-fire, one-handed sign conversationwith two other counselors. I must be watching too obviously, because he turns my way and locks eyes with me. He smiles, and I quickly look away.
“You mind turning it up while you’re at it?” I ask Simone.
“I got you,” she says, adjusting the volume to the perfect point where I’ll be able to hear more of the music without it overpowering her and Bobby’s voices. As she leans back into her seat, the chair nearly topples over with the weight of her bag hanging over the back.
“Whoa! What do you have in there?” I ask.
I don’t know why she’d want to carry around such a load all day. All we’re required to have is a flashlight, a first aid kit, and a waterproof Otterbox case to hold hearing aids and other devices during swim time.
She grabs the bag and shoves it under the table. “A few books. I’m close to done with one, but I’ve got two more to have a choice on which to pick next.”
“Oh, are they Braille?” I ask.
“Yep, for reading practice,” she confirms. “They’re massive.”
“Anddirty,” Bobby adds.
“Shut up, Robert,” Simone says, but her mouth curls into a small grin. “There’s nothing wrong with reading romance, especially during the summer. They’re fun.”
“Hey, dinner wasn’t bad, right?” I say, eager to change the topic. “I remember eating a lot of cold nachos.”
“Yeah, that’s why we make trips to the store,” Simone says. “Or Mackie’s or Freddy’s.”
“Do counselors leave, like, every night?” There’s so much about this part of camp—the after-hours—that I want to explore.
“Gosh no.” Simone takes a sip from her water bottle, leaving me in suspense. “It’s literally, like, twenty-five minutes to get to any of those places.”
“We only have from nine thirty until midnight,” Bobby says. “If we’re not on duty.”
“That makes sense,” I say.
“And it’s not like we make enough to be spending money all the time anyway,” Bobby says.
Yeah... if I want to come back and work again as a senior counselor next summer—that is, if there’s a Gray Wolf to come back to—I’ll definitely need to be earning a bit more so I don’t go to college with an empty bank account.
“Hey, girl,” Mackenzie says and signs, standing close to me as I refill my water bottle. She lets down the sleeves of her T-shirt, which she’d rolled up for dinner. Everyone else is getting ready to leave the dining hall. “What are you doing tonight?”
“I’m not sure yet.” I don’t know what to do at camp without a schedule structured down to the minute and an early bedtime. “What about you?”
“I’m going to go catch the rest of golden hour.” She points outside. “Since we have free time during training week, I figured I’d make a bunch of extra videos to post in case the next two months get hectic.”
“Videos?”
“For my YouTube channel I told you about! Gotta keep the sponsors, you know?” She nods for me to move aside so she canfill her bottle. “Do you want to guest in one? We could do a fun summer song. I can teach you all the words.”
“No, that’s fine,” I sign, and casually walk away.
Just how much does she make with that crap? It sucks that someone like Mackenzie can make money while Deaf creators often struggle to get views. I can’t think of a single reason why I would ever want to appear on Mackenzie’s channel. I don’t want people to assume my less-than-perfect signing skills mean I’m just another hearing person trying to use ASL for clout.
“Hey, junior counselor!” Ethan waves for my attention. I’m relieved, hoping I’m about to be included on some plans for tonight, but then I notice the bucket of soapy water beside him. “I got a first job for you to do,” he says. “Time to put you to work.”
