Alice grimaced. ‘I suppose we just decided we were better off as friends?’
It wasn’t a good enough explanation for Briar, who had built the idea of Tess up in her head for so long. She was the one who got to date Alice while Briar watched from an ocean away. Briar had spent countless nights looking at the photos of them on Alice’s Instagram, finding Tess’s Tumblr in second semester and poring over her poetry wondering which ones were about Alice. She had combed through the details of every line, looking for Alice’s influence.
‘Who decided?’ she asked, wondering if Alice had treated Tess the same way she’d treated Briar, brushing off whatever they’d had without a backwards glance.
‘She did,’ Alice said, then shook her head. ‘I don’t know, maybe it was mutual.’
Briar raised an eyebrow, and Alice sighed.
‘She knew I wasn’t in a place to be dating anyone, emotionally speaking,’ Alice said, looking at their hands again. Briar fidgeted, moving her hand away under the guise of grabbing her coffee.
‘You didn’t agree?’ Briar asked.
‘Not at first,’ Alice said. ‘But eventually, yes. She was right; what I needed was a friend.’
Briar’s heart clenched uncomfortably. Part of her wanted to point out that she had been Alice’s friend, that she would’ve continued to be, even after everything, if Alice had just let her.
‘Right,’ she said instead. ‘And there hasn’t been anyone else?’
‘Nope,’ Alice said. ‘Too busy, as previously noted.’
Briar nodded, not fully satisfied with that answer, but not wanting to push her luck. She glanced at the bill between them and finally picked it up. ‘We should head out. I hate driving at night.’
‘I remember,’ Alice said, slipping out of the booth.
Chapter 17
Briar
They got back to camp in time for dinner.
‘Our fearless leaders have returned,’ Freddie shouted from one of the mess hall tables, saluting them. It was Sloppy Joe night, something Cook always made for the British holdovers in between sessions.
Briar smiled at the children munching on their sandwiches, red sauce dripping all over their hands and faces, as Alice examined the food in mild horror.
‘What, you’re too good for Sloppy Joes now?’ Briar asked, fixing herself a plate.
‘I think I prefer beans on toast,’ Alice grumbled, taking the seat next to her.
‘Don’t let Cook hear you,’ Briar murmured close to her ear. She caught Sierra staring at them and quickly moved away.
After dinner, Freddie kept the kids occupied with an elaborate Settlers of Catan tournament, leaving Alice and Briar free to plan for the next session at a nearby table.
‘Okay, so if we move the Joshes to rotation 5, we’ll have enough counselors on shift to cover duties. That way everyone gets a night off, and we’ll have one rotation on standby to fill in where needed,’ Alice said, drawing out a diagram. ‘Then you, me, Sierra and Freddie can serve as shift leads,’ she said, still scribbling. ‘We’ll have to find someone to lead the last one, but we can figure that out tomorrow.’
‘Carly could work, she’s in rotation 4 and she’s been here nearly as long as Sierra,’ Briar suggested, and Alice added the name to the list.
‘Okay, and then between you and me, whoever’s not on active shift will man the main office, answer calls and deal with any disputes,’ Alice said. ‘Does that sound good? This way you’ll have at least a few hours free each day, if you need to go handle any, um, business.’
Briar cringed, remembering the last time they’d talked about her plans to sell the camp. ‘Thanks.’
Alice didn’t seem to notice. ‘Well, I don’t want to jinx anything, but I think the next session has a chance of not going completely horribly.’
Briar laughed. ‘With confidence like that, I don’t see how we could fail.’
‘You two look like you’re in a good mood,’ Sierra interrupted, walking by them.
Alice glanced hesitantly at Briar. It was an unspoken question what the hell they were supposed to tell people about the shift in their dynamic.
