“I like yours, too,” Athena said. “You look like my mom’s canary!” I almost choke-laughed at that.
“Okay, girlfriend, let’s try bouncing a little,” Trinity said to me, getting my focus back on swimming. Or, more accurately, not drowning right that second. She bounced up and down, just once. The water splashed on my shoulders. I only flailed a little bit this time. Hey, not so bad!
“You’re doing great, Melody! Let’s try a few more bounces, okay?”
I nodded and tensed, but the movement was so slow and gentle, I barely felt it. And I got what she was doing, sneaky Trinity! Getting me deeper into the water. And it wasn’t so bad at all. Then she stretched me out on my back and, with her arms tucked safely under mine, began to swirl me back and forth.
My body felt ripply-loose. It was actually sort of amazing. It was like, I was me, but I didn’t feel like me. I couldn’t believe I’d been so scared. Jeez.
Finally Trinity said, “Let’s try some kicks.”
Kicks?
“Just let your legs do their usual thing. They move all the time, even when you don’t want them to, am I right?”
Yeah, they do sometimes move anytime they want, without any input from me. Seriously. I can be sitting in class, everyone is quiet and concentrating on the lesson, and boom, my legs will simply decide to kick and jam. No music necessary.
So I let my legs do their thing—and they kicked. Ahh—that felt great! I kicked again! The water even splashed a little. Like… a swimmer! It sure wasn’t going to get me into the Olympics, but I was kicking and moving in a swimming pool. I wished Penny could see me. I felt like I’d just won a gold medal in the advanced freestyle butterfly category—whatever that is.
When Trinity said it was time to get out, I couldn’t tell her, but I pretty much wanted to spend the rest of camp right here in the water. Stick some floaties on me, come by and feed me once in a while, and I’d be good.
CHAPTER 15
Once we were all dry—ah—warmed towels—ooh la la—and dressed in our shorts and T-shirts, we headed back the way we’d come on the board path. But instead of going back to our cabin, Lulu announced we were taking a detour, which led us back to the mess hall—for pie! We had a choice of key lime pie or apple. Key lime was one of Mrs. V’s favorite desserts. As Trinity spooned it in, I closed my eyes so I could feel the flavors. Nope! Not even close to Mrs. V’s recipe! But this was camp—I was just glad it was tasty.
Jocelyn asked for seconds of her apple pie—three times, so I guess that’s called thirds! Karyn was cool with the key lime. And Athena seemed to love both, but she did ask if we could have strawberry ice cream one day. I had Elvira shout a big “Yeah!” at that.
As we finished, Trinity reminded us that we had art next. Sounded cool. I’ve always liked to look at art. Dad’s taken me to the art museum several times—I love it. There are zillions of pictures of pale European ladies, who, frankly, looked to me like they were bored out of their minds. I felt sorry for them—all dressed up in really uncomfortable-looking high-necked dresses, sipping tea or gazing out a window.
What I really like is the modern art wing, where a purple-edged square can be a political statement, or a glop of chartreuse is supposed to represent birds in flight. Dad always makes up crazy stories about the paintings to explain what the painter was thinking of when he or she decided to draw that truck or that bird or that baby.
I thought back to the patterns the trees made, the palette of blue making up the lake. Hey, maybe this was actually a chance to make the paintings I saw in my mind—at least with color! We headed over to what Trinity called the art department, which turned out to be a wide, sunny barn filled with tables that were splashed and speckled with multiple layers of every possible color.
“Sorry, not sorry about the mess,” Trinity announced as we looked around. “But great art sometimes emerges from incredible chaos. And you can’t mess up here. Whatever you create is yours, and if you create it, it’s art!”
Our counselors cut necks and armholes out of the sides and bottoms of massive green garbage bags and slid them over our heads.
So, my fashion statement for the afternoon is a giant green plastic trash bag! Look out, Seventeen, I am your next cover model, for sure! Don’t know why I even worried about choosing the exact right earrings this morning… do butterflies go with garbage bags? NOT!
Karyn wheeled herself back and forth in front of us. She turned, posed; turned, posed. “I’m wearing a one-of-a-kind outfit from a brand-new designer—La Green Glades,” she cooed, pretending to pout in front of cameras. “Okay, please, please, no more photographs!”
I typed, “I’d like to order two, please! But you gotta find some sleeker styles.” Athena, catching on, said, “I want four!” Even Jocelyn chimed in: “Three, three, three for me!” We all cracked up. The counselors just shook their heads, laughing. Kim motioned for us to pull up to a table, then brought over a stack of poster board.
“Okay, campers,” she said. “How many of you have ever made a massive mess at home or school and kinda got in trouble for it?”
Athena waved wildly. “Me! Me! Me! I make a mess ALL the time!”
Jocelyn looked away, but I spied a little smile on her face.
Karyn said, “I never make a mess.”
“Yeah, right!” I typed, and we bumped elbows.
“Well,” Kim said, “I’m giving you permission to make a mess. Actually, I’m encouraging you to be messy. No, let me be more emphatic—I’m requiring you to MAKE A MESS!”
We looked at her like she was crazy. I was sure none of us had ever been told that before. I thought back to all the times I’d spilled my spaghetti or my juice and how Mom would never actually fuss at me, but she’d sigh a little as she cleaned it up. I always felt bad when that happened. Really bad. And now this lady was telling us to do it on purpose? All right then!