The Summer Is Ended and We Are Not Yet Saved by Joey Comeau Read Free Book Online

She patted Melissa on the arm and grinned at Martin.
    “Everyone,” the muscled counsellor said. “Everyone, I just need a minute here.” He looked around and smiled even wider. “I’ve met some of you already, but for those who I haven’t had a chance to say hello to, let me say: Hello! I’m Chip.”
    “His name is Chip,” Courtney informed Martin in a whisper.
    “Shhh,” Melissa said.
    “I’m supposed to assign you to your cabins,” Chip said. “And I don’t want to take all day. We have a whole night of fun and games ahead of us. So I’m gonna read off your names, and when I do, I want you to go sit at the table I point at, okay?”
    “Chip is going to assign us to our cabins,” Courtney said. “He’ll probably start by reading off our names, and telling us which table to go sit at. I have no idea what will happen next, though. I hope he tells us.”
    “Well I hope he doesn’t take all day about it,” Martin whispered back. “We have a whole night of fun and games ahead of us.” Courtney laughed at that, and even Joan was smiling now.
    Martin and Courtney must have laughed too loudly, because over at the next table Cindy gave them a warning look. She held a finger to her lips, and Martin blushed and turned to look attentively at Chip, but Courtney just waved at the scowling counsellor.
    “She wants us to be quiet,” Courtney whispered to Martin. “Otherwise we might have trouble understanding the subtle nuances of Chip’s instructions.”
    Joan was the first to have her name called, and she shrugged. She stood and Martin gave her a little wave. She didn’t wave back, but she half-smiled again. Martin wondered what she was thinking. She was quiet, and he liked people who were quiet. It was weird, and Martin liked weird.
    “Good luck,” Courtney said as Joan walked away. “I think he wants you to go to that table over there. The one that he pointed at!”
    Chip went on calling names, and Melissa was next. She was assigned to the same table as Joan, and she stood up slowly.
    “We’ll figure it out,” she said to Courtney. “If they put you in a different cabin, we’ll figure something out.” She nodded at Martin. “Nice to meet you, Martin.” She turned and walked over to where Joan was sitting with a few other girls and Sherri-Lynn, the counsellor Martin had met earlier. Beside Martin, Courtney was quiet.
    “I’m sure they’ll put you at the same table,” Martin said.
    “Shhh,” Courtney said. She was looking at Chip now, waiting for him to announce the next cabin assignment. “What did he say?”
    “Mitchell, I think,” Martin said.
    Chip repeated the name again. “Has anyone seen Mitchell? We didn’t lose someone already, did we?”
    “I think Father Tony’s talking to him,” Sherri-Lynn said from her table. “Just keep going.”
    And then Chip called Martin’s name, and pointed to a table over by the door. Martin stood up, but didn’t move. He didn’t want to leave Courtney by herself any more than he wanted to go sit with a table full of strange boys.
    “What do you think he wants me to do?” he said, and Courtney smiled. She touched his hand.
    “It’s okay,” she said. “We’ll see you outside in a bit. We’ll come find you.” Then she turned back to the front of the room.
    The room was louder now, with everyone talking to their new cabin mates. It was getting harder to hear Chip calling out names.
    There were already a few boys sitting at the table Chip had pointed at for Martin. They all seemed tanned and loud, laughing and slapping one another on the back already. Joan and Melissa were sitting side by side, watching Chip as intently as Courtney was, and Martin was stuck with strangers. It was stupid that boys and girls had to be in different cabins. It wasn’t like people were going to be walking around their cabins naked.
    Martin was in Cabin Seven. Chip was their counsellor, and he showed them the way. The cabins were back against the tree line,