The Lost Summer by Kathryn Williams Read Free Book Online Page B

on my hair and shoulders.
    The song on the radio changed to an old disco tune, the kind of funny, random song that you only listened to at camp, and because of that, reminded you of summer every time you heard it. Winn and Sarah started to dance on the platform of the lifeguard stand. They pulled out all the cheesy dance moves they could remember: the Lawn Mower, the Sprinkler, the Roger Rabbit. Winn did the Running Man.
    â€œDo the Worm!” I shouted from below. Winn dropped to her stomach like she was really going to do it, sending us all into hysterics, but there wasn’t enough room.
    â€œKatie Bell,” Winn called from the lifeguard stand, “you have to walk the plank too!”
    Katie Bell shielded her eyes with her hand as she looked up at Winn, standing like a goddess of summer on her pedestal.
    â€œMy stomach hurts,” Katie Bell called. “Female problems.”
    This was the excuse every camper had given at one point or another to avoid swimming. It seemed that ninety percent of Southpoint campers’ menstrual cycles were attuned to the weather, because cold days saw a sharp increase in cramping. It was the only thing the counselors could report back to Fred that he wouldn’t question—until the eight-year-olds overheard us and started using it as well.
    â€œSorry, Katie Bell,” Sarah shouted this time, twirling her whistle just as I had been moments before. “Everyone has to. Dock rules.”
    Katie Bell heaved an exasperated sigh and looked at Sarah and Winn blankly before turning to me. “Hel,” she entreated, “come on. You know I can swim. I won the freestyle at Field Day last year.”
    â€œEveryone has to, Katie Bell,” Winn echoed from the lifeguard stand.
    â€œLast time I checked,” Katie Bell called, her attitude kicking in, “I don’t have to do anything. It’s camp.”
    â€œKatie Bell . . .” Winn said impatiently.
    I caught Sarah rolling her eyes at Winn as she turned her back to us and faced out to the lake.
    â€œKatie Bell,” I repeated quietly, wondering why she was making this into a thing. We always had to take the swim test. It wasn’t news.
    She looked at me with determined disbelief. “You know I can swim.”
    I sighed and glanced up at Sarah and Winn, who were whispering. “I’m sorry.” I shrugged helplessly. “Maybe you’ve forgotten since last year.” Stupid joke. She wasn’t buying it. “It’ll only take a minute,” I pleaded. “Then you can get out and sunbathe with us.”
    Katie Bell let out an annoyed, accusing huff and stood, dropping her towel, where it landed at my feet. She marched to the edge of the dock in front of the bench and dove off, the water barely rippling where she pierced the surface. Gracefully, she sliced through the water, quickly catching up with the last of the girls, who were doggie-paddling.
    As Katie Bell tagged the floating dock and flipped to come back, the sound of a motor emerged over the teeth-chattering and talking of the landed Sharks. A boat was cruising from the center of the lake toward the swimming area. My heart skipped a beat, and I squinted to see who was driving.
    Winn had come down from the lifeguard stand. She sidled up beside me. “What’s her problem?” she asked, nodding at Katie Bell in the water. She seemed less irritated than perplexed.
    I’d long ago accepted Katie Bell’s quick temper. It was part of what made Katie Bell Katie Bell. But for others, I knew it could be jarring. “Don’t worry,” I sighed. “That’s just Katie Bell. She hates to be told what to do.”
    â€œYeah,” Winn said, but she wasn’t really listening, because now she was also peering out at the motorboat with an unreadable expression on her face.
    To my half-blind eyes, the driver of the boat was just a brown figure in long swim trunks and no shirt. I assumed