The others went to check if their dinners were up, but our tables were all finished, so I turned and motioned for Gabe to follow me back to our service station, past James dismantling the salad bar.
‘Bahama, I hear a gauntlet was thrown?’ he asked as we passed.
‘Seven forty-five if you want to come by.’
‘Sweet!’ He flipped a dressing ladle and caught it, getting ranch all over his hands. ‘I’ll make sure my car is out of the way.’
Gabe slung the tablecloths over the chairbacks for the tables he was changing. ‘What’s the big deal with the linens?’
I shrugged. ‘It’s just an annoying trip back to the laundry room, and you have to grab enough for everyone.’
‘I can do it; it’s not a big deal.’
‘I know it isn’t, and Connor does, too. Doesn’t mean we want to go. You grabbed them, there was enough for our section, you win.’ I began polishing the silverware as Ava arrived, holding two cardboard boxes.
‘I heard and came right over.’ She dropped the boxes on the service station.
‘Has Connor gotten them yet?’ I asked, reaching into the boxes and feeling the hard plastic of the individually packaged butter. Room temperature – perfect.
‘No, he went right for the laundry room.’
‘Seriously, Thomas …’ Gabe had started calling me Thomas. I wasn’t sure why, since the only people who called me Thomas were the managers and residents. But I liked the way he said my name. Though Ava didn’t seem to, because she made a face. ‘You don’t have to fight him over this. It’s ridiculous.’
Ava snorted, and I smiled and patted Gabe on the shoulder. ‘It’ll be fine.’
As long as we didn’t get caught. I hoped.
I grabbed a handful of butters and shoved them in my left apron pocket. Then I took two handfuls of the margarines and put them in the right pocket. Ava grabbed a handful of each and stuffed them in her own apron, giving me a wink.
‘Gimme your keys,’ Ava said. ‘I’ll move your car.’ I handed them over, and she left.
Gabe still looked nervous.
‘It’s going to be fine.’ But I think I was saying that for my own benefit.
I was taking a risk, getting into it with Connor when Natalie seemed to have her eyes on me at all times, just waiting for me to step out of line. But I still felt like I had to stand up for Gabe. Even if it was in a ridiculous way. I knew Connor was just lazy and trying to intimidate him, but I also wanted Gabe to know I would stand up for him if I had to.
Once in summer camp, while we were playing tag with a big group of kids, two guys who liked to be jerks for the sake of being jerks decided to gang up on me. One of them – Marcus Everhart – tripped me as I was running for home base. I landed on the asphalt between the rubber mats of the jungle gym and swing sets, skinning my hands and knees.
Gabe was there in an instant. He said he had seen the whole thing and told them off. He bent down next to me and put his hands on my forearm. ‘Come on, let’s go clean you up.’
‘He’s fine,’ Marcus said. ‘Stop babying him.’
Gabe didn’t bother arguing with them. He just walked me over to the counselor, Ms Louis, who looked up from her phone and winced when she saw my skinned knees and palms.
‘What happened?’
I didn’t speak, expecting Gabe to tell her everything, but he didn’t. Instead, he said, ‘He tripped while we were playing tag.’ Then he let me go inside with Ms Louis, and she tended my wounds with burning antiseptic wipes and large bandages. Just as she was finishing, Marcus Everhart was brought in by another counselor, Mr Harris. Marcus’s eye was swollen, and he had a cut just above his eyebrow. He managed a scowl at me before wincing and putting a hand to his bad eye.
‘What now?’ Ms Louis asked.
‘He says he ran into a swing during tag,’ Mr Harris said, getting an instant ice pack and popping it.
‘No more tag!’ Ms Louis led me back outside, where she berated the rest of the campers and told them to play something else.
‘What did you do to Marcus?’ I asked Gabe.
‘Nothing.’ He shrugged. ‘He ran into a swing.’
