hung—with one group for a while, then they’d move to another. Thankfully, people didn’t dislike them or poke fun at them like they did some of the unpopular groups. How could they poke fun at them when people hardly knew they existed? Or at least that’s how Kylie had always felt at school. Not really disliked, or mistreated, just invisible.
And the reason for missing Sara right now, well, that was a no-brainer. Kylie might have been a floater, but she’d never had to float alone. Since fifth grade, she and Sara had been a team. And Sara had definitely been the head floater—the role naturally taken on since she was the one who worried the most about fitting in.
Inhaling another gulp of smoke, Kylie moved to escape the path of the wind. As her gaze moved from one group to another, one of Nana’s old sayings filled her head, birds of a feather flock together.
The flocks, or cliques, were different at camp than in high school. She spotted Della and the pierced boy, Jonathon, crowding around a group of kids, all vampires, no doubt.
Standing close to the fire, roasting marshmallows, was Perry, the shape-shifter, and with him were two other guys and a girl. Kylie wondered if they could all turn into unicorns.
Derek stood to the side of another crowd, as if he wasn’t so sure he wanted to belong. She assumed these must be the fairies, or Fae as he called them. Not that she blamed him for using the different version. No straight guy would want to be called a fairy. Not that anyone could mistake Derek for gay. Something about the way he walked and carried himself was overtly female-loving male—like Trey.
Staring under her lashes, she let herself admire Derek’s overtly male body. The wide shoulders, the square jaw, the way he filled out his jeans. That’s when she realized she was doing it again—comparing Derek to Trey. She really, really didn’t want to get caught up in that emotional storm, so she looked away.
Luck would have it that her gaze shot straight to another hard male body among a different flock of campers. Lucas. His warning about Della’s cousin echoed in her head as she let her gaze move over his tall frame. Not that she planned to allow herself to appreciate the view for long. The fact that she appreciated it at all annoyed her. She owed her cat more loyalty than that. Right?
Before she could force her gaze away from his solid torso wrapped in the black T-shirt, she noticed his goth-dressed girlfriend standing next to him. Her body was pressed so close, that nobody would dare come between them.
Lucas turned around as if he’d sensed her staring. Kylie attempted to look away, but his gaze locked on hers. She felt caught. Then the strangest thing happened. A forgotten memory surfaced. She’d been walking home from school, and a few of the older boys had started picking on her. One of the bullies had picked up a rock and slung it at her, but Lucas appeared out of nowhere and caught the rock. Like some kind of pro baseball player, he slung it back at the kid and hit the bully right between his legs.
The boy fell in the street moaning. Lucas had walked beside her the rest of the way home—as if to protect her. Those bullies never bothered her again.
Realizing she continued to stare at Lucas during her memory recall, she swung around. She noticed Miranda chatting with an artsy-looking crowd—obviously the witches of the group. Still feeling the tingle of Lucas’s gaze, and needing something to get her mind off both him and her ex-boyfriend’s lookalike, she started moving toward Miranda.
Hopefully, Kylie had learned enough floater skills from Sara to get her through the next few months. Because face it, why should camp be any different than high school? Belonging to a group and fitting in just wasn’t in her cards.
* * *
Kylie’s pillow didn’t smell right—didn’t feel right, either. Nothing felt right. She’d been the first to leave the campfire. When Holiday stopped
And the reason for missing Sara right now, well, that was a no-brainer. Kylie might have been a floater, but she’d never had to float alone. Since fifth grade, she and Sara had been a team. And Sara had definitely been the head floater—the role naturally taken on since she was the one who worried the most about fitting in.
Inhaling another gulp of smoke, Kylie moved to escape the path of the wind. As her gaze moved from one group to another, one of Nana’s old sayings filled her head, birds of a feather flock together.
The flocks, or cliques, were different at camp than in high school. She spotted Della and the pierced boy, Jonathon, crowding around a group of kids, all vampires, no doubt.
Standing close to the fire, roasting marshmallows, was Perry, the shape-shifter, and with him were two other guys and a girl. Kylie wondered if they could all turn into unicorns.
Derek stood to the side of another crowd, as if he wasn’t so sure he wanted to belong. She assumed these must be the fairies, or Fae as he called them. Not that she blamed him for using the different version. No straight guy would want to be called a fairy. Not that anyone could mistake Derek for gay. Something about the way he walked and carried himself was overtly female-loving male—like Trey.
Staring under her lashes, she let herself admire Derek’s overtly male body. The wide shoulders, the square jaw, the way he filled out his jeans. That’s when she realized she was doing it again—comparing Derek to Trey. She really, really didn’t want to get caught up in that emotional storm, so she looked away.
Luck would have it that her gaze shot straight to another hard male body among a different flock of campers. Lucas. His warning about Della’s cousin echoed in her head as she let her gaze move over his tall frame. Not that she planned to allow herself to appreciate the view for long. The fact that she appreciated it at all annoyed her. She owed her cat more loyalty than that. Right?
Before she could force her gaze away from his solid torso wrapped in the black T-shirt, she noticed his goth-dressed girlfriend standing next to him. Her body was pressed so close, that nobody would dare come between them.
Lucas turned around as if he’d sensed her staring. Kylie attempted to look away, but his gaze locked on hers. She felt caught. Then the strangest thing happened. A forgotten memory surfaced. She’d been walking home from school, and a few of the older boys had started picking on her. One of the bullies had picked up a rock and slung it at her, but Lucas appeared out of nowhere and caught the rock. Like some kind of pro baseball player, he slung it back at the kid and hit the bully right between his legs.
The boy fell in the street moaning. Lucas had walked beside her the rest of the way home—as if to protect her. Those bullies never bothered her again.
Realizing she continued to stare at Lucas during her memory recall, she swung around. She noticed Miranda chatting with an artsy-looking crowd—obviously the witches of the group. Still feeling the tingle of Lucas’s gaze, and needing something to get her mind off both him and her ex-boyfriend’s lookalike, she started moving toward Miranda.
Hopefully, Kylie had learned enough floater skills from Sara to get her through the next few months. Because face it, why should camp be any different than high school? Belonging to a group and fitting in just wasn’t in her cards.
* * *
Kylie’s pillow didn’t smell right—didn’t feel right, either. Nothing felt right. She’d been the first to leave the campfire. When Holiday stopped
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