Oakley Colby's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Oakley Colby had four days left to tell Jesse Coleman she had liked him since sixth grade. The bus pulled into Ulmwood at noon, and she watched him swing his duffel onto his shoulder two rows ahead of her. She had rehearsed the sentence for three years. She wanted to say it here, in a place neither of them lived, before the trip ended and they went back to being classmates who only talked at their lockers. Cabin A smelled like pine and bleach. Oakley claimed a bottom bunk near the window and shoved her bag under the frame. Three girls took the bunks across from hers, all named Olivia, all already laughing about something she hadn't heard. Olivia E sat on the top bunk in a red skirt and platform shoes that seemed wrong for a cabin. Olivia A watched Oakley unpack without saying anything. Olivia B braided the fringe of a yellow cardigan across her lap. At dinner, Oakley carried her tray past the long tables in the cafeteria and saw Jesse sitting alone at the end of one. She sat down before she could talk herself out of it. "You made it," he said. He pushed his roll toward her without looking up. "I saved this. Not in a weird way. I just don't like the crust." "Thanks." She tore off a piece. Her hands were shaking, so she put them under the table. "I was going to ask you something." "Okay." "On the last day. Not now." She smiled at her tray. "I just wanted you to know I was going to." He looked at her then. He opened his mouth, closed it, and nodded once. "I'll be around," he said. "That sounded cooler in my head." She was still smiling when she walked back to Cabin A. The smile lasted until the door closed behind her and Olivia E stepped into her path in socked feet. "Sit," Olivia E said. Oakley sat on her bunk. The three Olivias stood in a half-circle. Olivia A crossed her arms. Olivia B leaned against the bedpost. "We saw you at dinner. With Jesse." "We've been talking to him all week," Olivia B said. "He sits with us at every activity. You noticed, right? The seat next to him. That's not open." "He talked to me first," Oakley said. Olivia E crouched so their faces were level. "You have four days here. Pick a different one. If you don't, we'll make sure the rest of this trip is the worst week of your life. Try us." They climbed into their bunks like nothing had happened. Someone turned off the light. Oakley lay on her back and stared at the slats above her. She had said the words out loud to him. She had also just been told, very clearly, that saying more would cost her. She counted the days again in the dark and fell asleep without deciding what to do.