Unscripted - Nicole Kronzer Page 0,40

The thunder boomed louder and lightning flashed longer than I’d ever witnessed.

WHEN I SAY TO DO SOMETHING, YOU DO THAT THING. UNDERSTAND?

I had made Ben angrier than I’d ever seen him. Was I wrong not to listen to him? I just thought I knew better—Jake was moving. Wasn’t it going to mean more to him in the long run that he could walk across the whole rope bridge than it would bother him to get a little wet?

I blew warm air into my cupped hands.

I DON’T CARE THAT IT’S NOT LIGHTNING—I SAID COME DOWN!

Granted, it was pouring now, but it hadn’t been then. Did Ben just really know the mountains? Could he tell what the weather was about to do?

But Ricky and Jesse and Murph also knew the mountains. They’d seemed cautious, but in the end, Ben had been right. The storm was worse than Jesse had thought it’d be.

LET’S GO, LET’S GO! YOU WANT TO GET US KILLED?

My nose dripped. I exhaled.

I knew two things for sure: those Boy Scouts did not like my team, and they did not like Ben. Their comments jumbled together in my head.

This is where the “team” part of team building usually comes in . . . I just . . . I wish he wouldn’t talk to you that way . . . When you call someone a girl, it’s quite the compliment . . .

They were right to dislike my team, but they didn’t understand all the circumstances.

Look, Ellie, it’s . . . weird without Marcus here . . . He had all the answers. Now I’m supposed to have them . . . I’m looking out for you. I am.

Then suddenly all I could think about was the feeling of his warm fingers on the skin of my lower back.

Ben was just being protective, right? He was scared because of the rain. I hadn’t listened when he’d told us to come down. Balance giving and taking. I’d have to talk to the Boy Scouts and help them understand . . .

When I next opened my eyes, the rain had stopped, my towel had fallen on the floor, and my body felt warm again.

The clock on the wall and my grumbling stomach both indicated that dinner was in fifteen minutes.

I felt heavy as I changed clothes and folded a scarf into a triangle and knotted it over my hair. How would it be seeing Ben again? Or Jake? Would he be grateful? Embarrassed?

Ben’s angry voice echoed in my skull as I skirted the mud puddles. Distracted, I bumped into an aspen tree and all the water that had been resting on its leaves poured down on me. I sighed and peeled off my now-soaking flannel shirt. Ben’s voice was replaced by Brandon’s and Xander’s voices, taunting me about a wet T-shirt contest.

God, those jerks. The sun came out as I tied the shirt around my waist and adjusted my tank top straps. Maybe I should have listened to Ben when he told me to get off the ropes course, but he was still wrong for not shutting down the latest round of Brandon and Xander assholery. I imagined opening two giant, empty Nalgene water bottles and dropping Brandon and Xander inside each and screwing on the lids. Smiling, I marched toward the Main Lodge.

As I climbed the steps, I wasn’t sure I was ready to face Ben. I stopped off on the porch to refill my water bottle and rehydrate, using it as an excuse to peer through the window.

No sight of him. I exhaled relief.

As I threw open the screen door, I spotted Hanna. Grinning, I trotted over to her, and she threw an arm over my shoulder.

“And where did you get caught in the storm? Someplace cozy?” She smiled conspiratorially.

“I wish. You?”

“Just rehearsal, but we were working on characters. Emily and Jonas played squirrels frightened by their own tails.” She smirked and shook her head. “Their space work was outstanding. Then a guy on our team made me a lifeguard, and I fireman-carried everyone across the stage, including Dion.”

I laughed. I wished I been there to see it.

“I love character work,” she said, pulling out a chair at one of the tables. “Sometimes it’s nice to be someone else for a while.”

Spontaneously, I grabbed her hand. “I like you. Who you are.”

She chuckled, and we sat in the folding chairs. “From what I hear, you need that advice more than me, Zelda-girl.”

I frowned. “What did you hear?”

Hanna waved me away.