Chapter 19

Friday morning dawned bright and clear. The sun sliced through the chill left by the cold night, enough that if one stood very still facing the light, and concentrated very hard, they could feel its warmth, and almost stop shivering.
Michael saw Jesse doing just this during O Canada at the flag raising. She wore a camp hoodie, and though the hood was pushed back and her hands locked behind her back in respect for the country, her eyes were closed, and she wasn’t quite facing the flag - just east of it, in fact - as though drinking in every drop of sunshine that she could, like a plant with its leaves outstretched towards the life-giving rays. There was a smile on her face that spoke of such peace, such contentment, that he couldn’t help smiling along. As the anthem ended and the campers were dismissed for breakfast row by row, he sidled up beside her and whispered in her ear.
“Any particular reason for that look on your face?”
Jesse looked up at him in surprise. “What look?”
“That look you had just now, with your eyes closed.”
“Were my eyes closed?”
“Yes, I’m afraid they were.”
“How unpatriotic of me,” she quipped.
He shook his head as though to shame her. “Not a very good example to set for the children, you know.”
“Well, let’s just hope they didn’t notice.”
“Yes, well, there is always that hope, but I don’t think we can depend on it.”
“Why’s that?”
He whispered confidentially in her ear again: “Because half the boys here, including the entire population of Tumble Inn, have a humongous crush on you.”
She laughed and pushed him away playfully. “Don’t be ridiculous! If any little boys are looking at me, (and I doubt they are) it’s more likely that they’re wondering if I’m hiding a basketball underneath this shirt.”
Try as he might, Michael could detect no bump beneath the baggy sweater. “Noo, no,” he insisted, taking her hand and tucking it in the crook of his arm as he led her to the dining hall, “it’s that maternal glow you have about you. It has enhanced your natural beauty to the point where no man can resist you.”
She laughed. “No adolescent boy, you mean.”
“I mean no male over the age of eleven.”
“You’re a nut,” she said.
“That, I can’t deny,” he said, “but at the moment, I’m also the envy of about twenty-five lovesick little boys, all wishing it was them escorting the pretty head female cabin leader to breakfast.”
“Speaking of which, are you sure this kind of contact between us is entirely appropriate for a Bible Camp?” she said with some seriousness, trying to hide her embarrassment at being called pretty.
“Perhaps not under normal circumstances,” he conceded, “but in your delicate condition, I don’t think anyone can object to my offering of assistance.”
She laughed again. “If my condition is so delicate, it’s a wonder they let me work here at all!”
“Oh, I’m firmly against it myself,” he agreed. “You’d be much better off resting, but as long as you insist on exerting yourself, I’m afraid my chivalrous nature is going to get the better of me.” He ushered her in the door and Zeb, who was holding it open, gave her a wink and slapped Michael on the back as he passed.
“You work fast, Mike,” Zeb called after him, and Michael responded by flashing him a grin that said just how pleased he was with himself.
He had difficulty finding two spots together for Jesse and himself, since they had come in after all the campers, but by getting Keith to move a table down, he managed to situate themselves across from each other. Keith, too, grasped Michael by the shoulder and said something quietly to him, which Jesse couldn’t make out over the din of noisy, hungry campers. Whatever it was, Michael got the joke, because they both had a good chuckle over it, and quieted down just in time for grace.
Well, he seemed to be acting more like himself, anyway, Jesse thought. A little incorrigible, perhaps, but it was better than that sad look he’d had in his eyes the last few days. She’d really been worried about him. Now, looking at him across the table from her, he seemed to have a new gleam in his eye that she hadn’t seen before. She didn’t know exactly what to make of it. She almost asked about it, but decided not to risk jinxing the spell. He was dishing out oatmeal to campers with flourish, whether they asked for it or not, and his obvious zest for life, and oatmeal, was so contagious that even the skeptical ones were soon piling on the milk and brown sugar. One particularly adventurous ten-year-old added peanut butter and jam to his, and seemed to like it.
About five minutes into the meal, Will’s voice shouted through the general racket. “Hey Mike!”
Michael scanned the room and located the caller waving at him from across the hall.
“Good luck!” A few of the other male staff overheard, and expressed their approval with guffaws, some stomping feet, and a few loud claps.
Michael blushed and told Will to mind his own breakfast, but he was literally beaming. Obviously, he knew what was going on, and didn’t mind it.
Jesse wondered what the joke was. “What’s all that about?”
He turned back to her, smiling the way you do after a big laugh. “Nothing,” he said. “They’re just being guys.”
“Well, guys are weird, then,” she said.
“I totally agree.”
“Me too,” piped up a little girl at their table.
“Girls are weirder,” the peanut butter and jam boy shot back, and the argument continued until the kitchen girls brought out the eggs and toast. Amy Laverly shot the boy a look and threatened to take his peanut butter away, and that was the end of that.
There was a general feeling of joviality surrounding everyone at breakfast that morning, from the campers to the kitchen staff. At least one person, though, was not happy: Jasmine was confused at first, then mad. She had seen Michael give Jesse up. He’d resigned himself to the fact that she loved someone else. He’d seemed disappointed, but not devastated. Her plan had been working so well. He would have got over it, in time, especially with her there to comfort him, and she’d taken every opportunity to talk to him, even just to be near him, in the hope that he might turn to her for companionship. Maybe he hadn’t exactly shown an interest in her, but he hadn’t been disinterested. For once, she’d just had a fair chance. He might – he just might have noticed her there someday. Then he’d walked in with that two-bit floozy on his arm, acting like he’d just won a gold medal! Did he not even care about what she’d told him, what Jesse had done? Or had she lied to him about that, too? Everyone was so eager to believe this girl, to make excuses and exceptions for her. She could have a baby with one guy, kiss another, and have a third worshipping at her feet - and everyone else cheered for her! She got standing ovations wherever she went! It was inexplicable.
Nobody noticed Jasmine, though. Kaimi might have, if she’d been there, but the older cabin leader had finished her two weeks, and was gone for the remainder of the summer. Before she left, she’d discussed her concerns about Jasmine with Samantha, and asked her to watch out for the girl. Samantha was now in the kitchen, however, obliged to run bread through the toaster, due to a hip injury that had caused a shortage of cooks. And Hannah and Susannah, though excellent friends, were not the sort to pick up on things like this. They perceived that Jasmine was moody, but could detect no reason for her ups and downs. So she was on her own, as usual.

The next time Jesse was alone with Keith, he asked her if she still thought Michael was acting weird. She laughed.
“Yes, but just the opposite now. He’s so happy it’s almost nauseating. Did you have anything to do with it?”
“Me and Zeb might have had a talk with him.”
Jesse was thrilled to hear it. “Aw, really? And I almost thought you didn’t care.”
“We didn’t notice anything; that doesn’t mean we didn’t care.”
“Did you find out what was wrong?”
“Oh, just guy stuff. It wouldn’t interest you,” he said with his typical male machoness.
Jesse rolled her eyes, but left it at that. As long as Michael was fixed, they could keep their secrets if they wanted.