Unscripted - Nicole Kronzer Page 0,88
heels of his hands.
“I’ll decide for you, then,” I said, suddenly desperate to get out of there. “Happy to take you up on your offer, Karen. I’ll go pack. Meet you in front in a half an hour.”
“But—” Paul DeLuca protested.
“Tell Jesse where I’ve gone?” I asked Karen. She nodded.
Leaving her to sort out the details, I marched down the hall with my sandwich in hand, out of the Lodge, and off in the direction of the cabins.
I hesitated as I neared Gilda Radner. Crossing its threshold for the first time, I had been so excited. Crossing it for the last time . . . well, so much had changed.
Suddenly, footsteps pounded in the dirt behind me. And even though I knew the police had Ben in custody, my heart pounded, too, sure it was him. I spun around.
Paloma and Emily were running toward me.
“Zelda!” Emily panted, her voice thick with tears. “They’re making you leave?”
I gave her a hug and a tight smile. “So it seems.”
“That’s terrible,” she said, swiping at her eyes.
“It’s okay.” I squeezed her arm.
Paloma thumbed behind her, catching her breath. “The Pauls are not very popular over there right now.”
I felt a tiny bit happier hearing it, but sighed. “Was any of this worth it?”
Paloma put her arm around my waist and we trudged into the cabin together, Emily right behind us. “Was what worth it?”
“I made Varsity. I wrote a hilarious sketch. I tried to show those guys I belonged there. But now I’m getting kicked off Varsity—kicked out of camp. I didn’t show anyone anything.”
“You got Ben removed,” Emily said as the three of us sank onto Mattress Island.
“I did that, I guess,” I conceded. “But in the process, I also got myself removed.”
Emily furrowed her brow and chewed on her lip. “I always thought when you try to make things right, you just point out the bad thing, and it gets fixed. Like, you see a turd in the pool and you shout, ‘Lifeguard! Get the turd out!’ ”
I smirked. “But really,” I said, unlacing my boots, “you’re swimming in the turd water when you notice the turd. And when you point it out, no one wants to touch it. And in order to fix it, not only do you have to get everyone out and drain the water, people are mad because no one gets to swim and you get blamed for noticing the turd in the first place when it’s the person who put the turd there that should be blamed!”
Paloma pushed down a smile. “Pointing out turds is never going to make you popular, that’s for sure. But you don’t strike me as someone who wants to swim in turd water.”
“No. I don’t want it for anybody else, either.” I sighed and flopped onto my back on Mattress Island. “So, now I’m a Boy Scout for six days.”
She leaned over me and smiled. “Yeah, about that. Can we talk about Hottie McBoy Scout, please?”
I chuckled and sat back up. “He’s . . . he’s nice to me.”
“Good,” Paloma and Emily said at the same time.
“But does it feel weird? Being with him? After . . .” Emily trailed off.
“After Ben?” I asked. “I know. But you know what’s different? I’m not worried about how Jesse’s going to react to every little thing I do or say. And I can tell him the truth about how I’m feeling and what I want.”
“That’s good.” Paloma nodded. “What about the physical stuff?” She kicked me a little.
I opened my mouth, blushed, and shook my head.
“Oh, we are so getting more out of you than that.” Emily got on her knees and grinned. “Have you kissed?”
I nodded.
“And . . .”
“And . . . it shouldn’t even be the same word for what Ben and I did—what . . . Ben . . . did to my face. With his lips.”
They chuckled.
“It’s really . . . I like it. I like it with Jesse.”
“Good. Did you do anything else?” Emily waggled her eyebrows at me.
“When did you get so nosy?” I asked, pushing her off her perch.
“Deflection.” Paloma pointed at me. “And she’s not being nosy, she’s just making sure you’re okay . . . Are you okay?”
I nodded little nods. “I . . . think so. I will be? We haven’t . . . done anything other than kiss and hold hands, but I really like him.”
“Even so, it’s okay to need some time,” Paloma said.
“That’s what Karen, the nurse, said.” I took