Unknown (The Secret Life of Cassie Martin #1)(36)

Yeah, I should have listened to my own warning about showing off.

Noah comes running up, arms waving as he shouts. “Holy shit! Did you see that? She did some flip, spin, twist thing. Monkey really is a good nickname for her.”

“I can’t believe you made it on top of the table.” Awe fills Jay’s voice as he follows close behind. “I’d have a hard time doing that without any practice. It makes it even harder when you consider we’re in sand.”

Jay speaks with such respect, and I realize that, unlike everyone else, he understands what I accomplished was much harder than it looked. Jay does all sorts of acrobatics when he’s shown us his martial arts.

Jay sounds contemplative. “I’m guessing you’ve had dance, tumbling, and gymnastics training.”

“That was amazing,” Noah adds.

Ignoring the hands Jay and Noah hold out to help me down, I hop off the table, landing at their feet. I beam at them. “Thanks, guys!”

After all the dancing, sweat makes some of my paint run. I don’t care, though.

About to say something else, the DJ speaks up. “Last dance!”

I’m not ready for this night to end, but we probably have an early day tomorrow. I haven’t talked to the boys about it.

Micah walks up to Fallon. “I’m sorry about earlier. I’ve been so caught up in my team beating yours I forgot we’re friends first. I picked this song just for you. Will you dance with me?”

Fallon, who seems to be hard as nails most of the time, blinks back tears. “Yes, I would love to.”

Parker smiles at them as they walk off, then turns to me, putting his hand out. “May I have this dance?”

I don’t know if dancing with Parker is a good idea or not, but I put my hand in his and walk toward the dance floor.





CHAPTER THIRTEEN





Parker’s not a very good dancer, but at least he doesn’t step on my feet. All the people staring at us, including Lily, makes me nervous, though, and I almost step on his toes a couple times. I forgot Lily wanted this dance with Parker.

I shrug, and Parker wrinkles his brow at me. “What was that for? Are you shrugging at my dancing, or are you off daydreaming about someone else?”

I giggle since I had been thinking of his dancing. “When we were at the cabin before we walked down here, Lily was trying to get Fallon and me to talk to you about dancing with her. Here I am, though. I was shrugging because, I don’t know, too bad?” I giggle again, trying to put my emotions into words. I don’t want to hurt Lily, but she can be a little demanding when it comes to getting attention.

“I’ve known Lily for several years. She’s not my type.” Shaking his head, he adds, “She’s a little much to deal with and is very high maintenance. It’s one of the things I like about you.”

Ah! No! We’re not having this discussion. Not happening! Time to bring him back to a safer topic. “I’m sure she’ll find someone.”

He accepts the subject change. “So, what was up with your acrobatics earlier? Are you sure you aren’t really a monkey?”

“I told you guys I took a lot of classes at the Rec Center. Dance, tumbling, gymnastics, and running were my favorites. Dancing taught me how to be light on my feet. Tumbling taught me how to reach places someone my size normally shouldn’t be able to. Gymnastics taught me control of my body. Dance helped with that, too. Running helped me stay in good condition in case I ever wanted to run away. I considered it a lot, growing up.” I look up, and the sadness in his eyes breaks my heart a little.

“You shouldn’t have had to go through all of that. I’m sorry you didn’t have parents around to support you.” He pulls me in a little tighter, almost into a hug, but our dance hold won’t allow for more.

“What’s the saying? What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger? Or something like that. It wasn’t all bad. I made the most of the situations I was in. My will wouldn’t let me do anything but survive.” This was something I did for me. I know people have it better but make it worse and vice versa. I’m glad my character lets me take on what I have without burying me.

Just as I was about to ask him about his parents, three loud bangs echo in the woods. I grab Parker and pull him down. Growing up in some of the places I have, I recognized the noise as gunfire. I peek around as Jay strides toward us. Everyone else crouches, but they aren’t sure what to make of the noise.

“That was gunfire,” Jay says, kneeling next to us. “We need to move into a better spot. It sounded like it came from the east, but the echoes make it hard to be sure.”

“I think you’re right about the direction,” I agree with him, but we don’t move from our position. Too many people crouch around us. “The only obvious choices would be east or west near our area.”

“Everyone, please get up.” Mr. Smyth’s smooth voice comes over the speakers. “There were some local teens letting off firecrackers to scare you. They’ve been rounded up, now. There is no reason to be scared. We were finishing up anyway. Please stay together and head back to your cabins.”

“Are you guys sure that was gunfire?” Parker asks us.

“Absolutely,” I say at the same time Jay says, “Definitely.”