Where the hell did that come from? I shake my head to erase those thoughts. I won’t think of him or the others that way.
It doesn’t take long to clean up. Once we get back on task, two ideas for the egg test stand out. We make three of each to provide us with a test and a backup. In case we need to make modifications, Parker grabs extra materials to bring with us. If there’s a problem, this will save us from coming back down to the room.
The first one we try is what we call our straw man. The egg is wrapped in one of the long balloons around the outside, allowing the egg to be exposed on the top and bottom. After we tie the balloon, we build a straw pyramid around it, making sure none of the straws point directly at the egg. According to Parker, this should push the impact force away from the egg.
Jay and Noah wait at the bottom for the contraption to be dropped. The egg made it in one piece, but the straws break. Before we take time to modify this one, we try the second model.
The second one is a box made out of popsicle sticks with rubber bands tied between the corners to hold the egg in the middle. This should allow the egg to bounce around without cracking on impact. The first one comes apart on one corner when it hits. Lucca adds some tape to each of the corners to reinforce the structure, and then I drop the next one.
This time both the egg and contraption stay intact. Noah goes to grab Kelly for her to witness our success.
Kelly approves the results, gaining us fifty extra points going into our second week.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
By Thursday, we found our groove, meeting for breakfast before switching to our team room to do the first of our weekly tasks. Next came lunch, then more tasks, dinner, and free time in the evening.
Our free time varied between honing our skills in certain areas and helping me learn how to swim. Since they wanted to win so badly, I feared disappointing them, but I missed just hanging out. With us only in week two of camp, getting this out of their system while improving our position can be the focus now, but I plan to mention something next week if we can’t have fun at least a couple days a week.
This week, the tasks revolve around observation. Monday, each of us look at the same pictures side-by-side and to find the differences. The minimum to answer correctly is twenty-five, but teams receive an extra point for every picture beyond that up to a total of one hundred. All differences between both pictures must be found in order to claim the point, and teams don’t know how many differences there are. If one is missed, then that set is discarded and teams move on to the next. Each picture became increasingly more intricate.
On Thursday afternoon, we decide to split up tasks. Parker, Noah, and Jay hate hunting for differences, so they focus on something more active to do. They pick up a bonus task to work on while Lucca and I review the pictures.
“La mia bellezza, are you ready to show these guys up? We will earn more points than them,” Lucca says as we walk into the room with the others.
I turn and gently grab Lucca’s arm so he doesn’t go in the room yet. After I know the boys are out of earshot, I turn to Lucca. “Lucca, please don’t call me that. I know you didn’t mean anything by it, but it makes me uncomfortable.”
Instantly, my heart constricts, and I regret saying something as Lucca’s head dips and his face falls. “I’m so sorry. So sorry. Please forgive me. I would never say anything to make you upset or uncomfortable.”
I can tell he’ll keep going if I don’t stop him so I put up my hand before placing it back on his arm. His muscles flex under my touch, which distracts me from what I need to say. He’s really muscular. Focus girl! “Lucca, you have nothing to be sorry for. Uncomfortable is the wrong word. I just don’t feel that way about myself. I don’t want to feel that way about myself because it’s harder to hide or blend in.”
“I called you that because you are beautiful. When I first met you, I only saw the outside, but now that I know you, I see you are even more beautiful on the inside. Please tell me you forgive me,” Lucca pleads with me.
Realizing I never accepted his apology, I tell him, “You’re forgiven. I don’t like it when people tell me I’m pretty, though. I’ve had some nasty ass men leer at me and call me names. I know they only want one thing, and it doesn’t involve seeing how beautiful my insides are.”
His brows pull together, and his arms flex again. “If I ever hear anyone say anything awful to you, they won’t be able to talk anymore.”
His vehemence shocks me. Lucca’s always so peaceful, even when he talks about his neglect. I would expect this from Jay, and maybe even Parker, but not Lucca. “I’m always around one of you, so no one here would dare say anything to me. Jay promised to teach me some self-defense moves. Maybe we can do that in the evenings during free time. That way, I can take them out myself.”
Lucca harrumphs. “I’m sure Jay will teach you whatever you want. It probably wouldn’t hurt any of us to learn some basic moves. I just don’t think you should have to live with that.”
With him calmed down, I give him a sad smile. “All part of life, my friend. It will take a lot more than name calling to take me out.”
I grab his hand and pull him into the room. The boys stop and focus on us. Noah wiggles his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. “What were you two doing out there? Huh, huh?”
I wad up a piece of paper and throw it at him. “Really, Noah! You think so little of me that I would make out with Lucca in the hallway? Lucca would never let that happen. He’s much more romantic than that.” After I say it, I bite my lip, realizing how that sounds and how our hallway conversation went. “Not that Lucca and I will be making out anytime soon. We just met. You should know me better than that by now.”
The boys remain silent. I don’t want to know what’s on their minds right now. I refuse to go down this route, so I distance myself mentally. They, like everyone else in my life, will leave. At least with them, I know when it’s coming.
I clap my hands. “What are we working on, peeps?”
Parker smiles over at me. “We have a final task for the week. We should be ready for it without much prep.”
“That’s good, because I’m tired of observing.” Jay shifts from foot to foot, anxious to be out of the room. I hope it’s not because of me. “Are we still doing our task today?”
“We’ll head out in a few.” Parker settles into his position as leader and gestures for everyone to huddle in. “I just want everyone to know about tomorrow night first. From what they’ve sent us, we’ll be attending a formal dinner where we’re to observe and report.”
I frown at Parker. That sounds too easy. “Have they done this before? What are we observing?”