“In the summer?” Also, Girlfriend + Eliza. Processing that.
Max gave me a look, and although I didn’t know him, I could tell it was supposed to be a meaningful one. He held out the swatch again, so I looked at it again. Really looked at it.
Then I understood. There was a character on Silver Arrow named Bram, a tall alien with silver hair. And he always wore a scarf that was this color.
Eliza was making a Bram Scarf (on the fansite message boards, the real Arrowheads referred to it with one word, a Bramscarf).
Girlfriend + Eliza + Bramscarf. Still more processing needed.
“I can order the yarn for you,” I said. “But don’t tell anyone. You know, because of Agnes.”
“No problem there. Agnes scares the shit out of me,” said Max, who then leaned in closer because apparently this had become some shady deal. “How long would it take to come, if you ordered it?”
“Probably two days.”
Even though I could pick the color out of a lineup from thirty feet away, I snapped a picture of the fabric swatch and took down Max’s phone number.
“I’m really curious about why Agnes banned you from shopping at her store,” I said, feeling more confident now.
“That answer would also involve my girlfriend. She has, you know, artistic vision. It’s pretty strong. She wants what she wants and sometimes she gets a little crazy—I mean, intense about it. That’s why she sent me today. She didn’t want to piss anyone else off.” He looked at me and smiled. His two front teeth were crooked, parted like a tiny curtain. “If she’d known it was you working here, she would have come, I’m sure.”
“I’m here for all your Silver Arrow needs.”
Max laughed hard, as if I’d said more than I’d thought. “Will you be at the lake today?”
Max asking felt like Camden asking. That mammoth lump in my throat again.
“I might.” It came out as a croak. “Will you?”
“Yeah, maybe. See you then. Maybe.”
Then he was gone and the door chimed, and the FIND VERA! poster fluttered in the sudden gust like the wave I should have made but didn’t.
The town day camp was held at the rec center, whose cinder block walls and unfortunate orange-and-green interior design scheme had seen the birth of dozens of pot holders, God’s eyes, and sock monkeys for at least a decade, including several I’d made as a kid myself.
When I walked into the gym, I found Danielle’s group and spotted my sister standing off to the side, her counselor’s hand on her shoulder. Dani was crying. When she saw me, she ran up and wrapped her arms around my waist.
“What happened?” I asked, partly to her and partly to her counselor, a college student with a headband and clipboard.
“She fell.”
“Not by accident!” barked Dani, then shot a dirty look at two girls standing nearby.
“Danielle and those girls were on the playground, and they were involved in some kind of game,” said the counselor, trying hard to sound calm and professional. Not really succeeding. “I guess there was a disagreement and Danielle got angry and ran away from them.”
“To Lava Island,” corrected Danielle.
“To Lava Island,” said the counselor with emphasis, “but she fell. The nurse checked her out. She’s fine. We didn’t feel it necessary to call anyone.”
“But it still hurts!” cried Danielle, the tears coming again. “And if they hadn’t made me run away, I wouldn’t have fallen!”
I took my sister’s hand and started leading her out. “Thanks,” I called back to the counselor. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
I marched a weeping Danielle through the parking lot, me not saying a word because what was the point in saying any words, and opened the door for her when we got to the car.
“Get in,” I said, rubbing her back. She did.
“We were pretending we all had imaginary ponies and then the other girls changed it to actually being ponies, and that wasn’t how it was supposed to go!”
“I know.” I reached over her to snap her seat belt. When I looked at her face, I saw one stray tear traveling down her left cheek. I pressed my finger to it, then pulled my finger away, and it was like it had never been there.
“I want to go home,” said Dani, her voice shaking.
“We can’t go home. Mom’s sleeping. We’re going to the lake.”
“I don’t want to.” Danielle sniffled.
Yes, we could have gone somewhere else. But I’d told Max I’d be at the lake. Max had probably told Camden I’d be at the lake. I was going to the lake, dammit, melty kid sister or not.
“But I want to teach you how to dive this year, and today’s the day we’ll start.” I pulled that one out of nowhere. I wasn’t afraid to admit I was good.
After a few more sniffles, she said, “Okay.”