Unknown (The Secret Life of Cassie Martin #1)(41)

Because I have no jewelry, the girls convince me to leave my hair down. Lily curls it to form soft waves down my back. A light touch of makeup completes the look.

At least, that’s what Lara tells me.

With the number of campers, the staff split the dinner event into three nights so the room wouldn’t be crowded. Lily’s and Lara’s teams went last night, and Fallon’s team will go tomorrow night. Fallon warned me Mindy will be attending tonight’s session. I won’t let that bother me, though. I’ll be fine as long as her table is away from mine.

Right at five thirty, a knock at our door echoes through the cabin.

Fallon opens it and calls me over. “They’re ready for you. If you don’t hurry, they’ll barge in here.” She rolls her eyes. Parker wouldn’t burst in here unless he thought there was a problem, not with having the wrath of his sister come down on him. She turns to the guys. “She’s coming. Slow down.”

Thanking the girls for helping me, I walk toward the door. I take a deep breath, nervous but not sure why. I glide out the door, working to exude as much confidence as possible before I see the guys standing at the bottom of the steps waiting for me. Each one has a different wildflower in his hand.

I take the steps slowly so I don’t fall in the heeled shoes, and Noah reaches me first. “You’re breathtaking.” He hands me my flower and kisses me on the cheek.

A blush heats my face as he steps aside, and Lucca walks up. He hesitates for a moment before he hands me his flower. “Even more lovely than a field full of wildflowers.” He, too, kisses me on the cheek.

Jay strides forward, hands me my flower, and he kisses my cheek, close to my ear, before whispering. “We’re a lucky team.”

After he steps back, Parker takes Jay’s place. He kisses my cheek before he hands me my flower. “Beautiful,” is all he says. He then offers me his elbow. Jay, on my other side, also offers me an elbow.

Lucca and Noah bring up the rear.

I shift to glance back at them, and Noah offers me a full tooth smile. “We get to escort you back to the cabin later.”

As we walk down the path toward dinner, I spot Mindy waiting for her team near her cabin. Jenny stands next to her, whispering in her ear. The two girls sneer at me as we pass. Mindy’s mouth pops open to speak when Jay leans down, distracting me. “They’re just jealous. Smile and walk on because nothing can match how amazing you look tonight. Don’t let them ruin it.”

He gifts me with another kiss. I blush, smile, and keep walking, missing if Mindy said anything or not.

Dinner tonight is located in the main building, in a conference room behind the auditorium. Instead of a plain, academic feel, a bright, flower-filled room greets us. Around the room, the dimmed lights glow softly as candles burn low on the round tables, adding to the ambiance.

Rather than focusing too much on the changes, I concentrate on how this will impact our assignment. “I think they made it darker in here to make it harder to detect changes.”

“Good observation,” Noah agrees. “I wouldn’t have thought about that.”

“Cassie, why don’t you sit with your back to the wall so you can see most of the room?” Parker surveys our surroundings. “Even if we don’t catch everything right away, your memory will help.”

We find the table with our team name on it, and Noah pulls my seat out for me. “Are you okay here? You don’t have to sit in the corner.”

I giggle, remembering when I saw Dirty Dancing for the first time. “I’m no one’s Baby, so it’s okay.” He starts to complain, but I hold my hand up. “I don’t mind. I want us to do the best.”

“You could be someone’s Baby,” he whispers under his breath, not intending for me to hear.

As the others talk to one another, I pay attention to different items in the room, giving myself a starting place for what may change. Tuning out the guys while there’s a conversation going on is difficult, but since we don’t know when the changes will start, I do my best.

Hoping Parker has additional information he hasn’t shared yet, I ask, “Parker, do you know when this is going to happen? Are we to look at everything or just things associated with our table?”

“The paperwork wasn’t specific, so look at everything.” Parker glances around the room again to take in the details as everyone settles down at their tables.

As the night progresses, I notice small differences, but my lack of experience with these things makes it difficult to know if they’re normal or not, so I make mental notes. Like, one table has their drinks served by one person and their appetizer by someone else. Another table has their drinks and appetizers served by the same person. Our waiter is the same person both times, but the first time his tie is black and the next time his tie is dark blue.

We overhear some of the teams talking and many of the things seen are the same things between each group. As the guys find differences, they tell me what they notice so I can keep inventory as the night goes on. This allows them to focus on other changes throughout the night without worrying about remembering what they already discovered.

Noah nudges my full dinner plate. “You should eat.”

Lucca nods. “We’ve noticed more than the minimum sixty, enough to get us ahead of most teams. Take a break.”

“You did great on our challenge this week.” Parker beams at me. “You got ninety-nine out of one hundred correct. We get those bonus points plus the points Noah, Jay, and I earned doing the outdoor view challenge.”