When I reach the Corral, I open the door, look around, and notice the place is empty. Good, I won’t have to deal with anyone or pretend I don’t want to retaliate against Mindy.
Noises in the back remind me people work here, probably preparing dinner. I walk up to the door to the kitchen and knock. A middle-aged woman answers. When she sees my face, concern fills her eyes. “Oh my dear, what happened?” She directs me back out into the dining area to sit down.
“I’m fine. There was a little mishap at the pool,” I respond quietly, not wanting to go into details. “I know there’s a clinic, but I don’t need to see a doctor. I was hoping someone could give me a small bag of ice.”
“Of course. You really should see a doctor, though. You may have a concussion.” Her stern gaze puts a small smile on my face. Not everyone here acts like Mindy.
“I was looked over at the scene.” I omit telling her it was Fallon and Parker checking me over, and based on her short nod, she seems appeased.
Without saying anything else, she strides back into the kitchen area. About a minute later, she returns with a small bag of crushed ice, a few paper towels, and a bottle of water. “Wrap those paper towels around the ice before you put it on your eye. You shouldn’t put the ice directly on your skin because it can cause damage. You should also drink that entire bottle of water. If you need more, come see me.”
She leaves to return to her kitchen duties.
I stay there for a second as I wrap up the baggy and open the water. The water tastes good and refreshing; I hadn’t realized how thirsty I became. I twist the cap back on, put the wrapped baggy of ice on my face, and head over to the kiosk where I can sign in for computer use.
At the kiosk, I have to input my name and a reason for using the computer. I hadn’t considered that. What should I put? Telling people I need an escape plan won’t go over well. I guess it doesn’t hurt to put I’m reviewing the flora and fauna of the area. I plan to reference my run-in with the poison oak if questioned.
The kiosk accepts my request and gives me my sign-in number. At the desktop farthest from the entrance, I set my bag of ice and water bottle off to one side, sit, and input the number. This brings up a home page with the most beautiful picture of the lake at dawn. The lake sparkles with the yellows and oranges of the morning sun.
Before clicking on the Internet app, something touches my shoulder. Already paranoid from the events of the day, I spin around and nearly hit some guy in the face. He reminds me of a stereotypical surfer with wavy, blond hair that falls over his light-blue, almost clear, eyes.
He backups slowly with his hands in the air. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
My shoulders slump as all the air leaves my lungs. My nerves control my actions, and I need to take that control back. “It’s not a big deal. I was more surprised than anything. It’s been one of those days.”
I clamp my lips shut, refusing to explain anymore.
His hands lower as he nods. “I heard about what happened this morning with Mindy, and then with her later at the pool. Are you all right?”
I gape at him. Is there a viewing room somewhere where you can watch and hear the events of the day? Maybe it’s on a continuous loop so anyone can walk by and review the latest news. Or maybe it’s like CNN with a ticker bar scrolling at the bottom of the television screen giving live updates.
“I’ve been through worse.” My dark mood wants to avoid people and talking. This guy may be Mindy’s golem. “Did you need something?”
“I was going to tease you about sitting at my computer, but you don’t seem to be in a joking mood.” At least this guy’s perceptive. “Do you mind if I sit here?” He points to the seat next to me.
Maybe he’s not as perceptive as I thought. What do I say? I don’t want company, but it’s not like I can tell him to go away. At least the guys I’ve met so far today have been decent.
“Please sit wherever you are most comfortable.” I try to be as formal as possible. If I’m not overly friendly, he might stop talking to me.
“Thanks. I’m Noah.” He sits down and turns his chair to face me. No luck on him ignoring me.
“Cassie.” One-word answers might clue him in.
“I just want to warn you that Mindy is going to be forced to apologize to you. She claims she just bumped into you as you were bending over, but several people saw her actually push you. You can probably get her kicked out if you wanted to.”
Why is he telling me? These people confuse me.
“How do you know that?” I turn to face him and study him. Noah has a square jaw, his thick eyebrows darker than his hair.
“I know things, or at least, I have a way of finding them out.” When he shrugs, his broad shoulders stretch the thin material of his white t-shirt. “After I heard what happened, I decided to check on the situation. This place can be challenging enough without someone purposely making it harder.”
Noah avoids answering my question, so I take a different route. I’ll loop back around to question one in a minute. “Do you help out all the new kids this way? Why would you want to tell me all this? I’m guessing this isn’t your first year here, so you must know Mindy. You don’t know anything about me. You may be throwing your hat into the wrong ring.” Growing up, I had a tendency to avoid all things male, so having four guys intercede on my behalf makes me weary.
“I’ve never liked Mindy. She picks one person to be her target each year. Most people are afraid of her, or at least of her dad. He doesn’t have any pull, but new kids don’t know that. Kelly was going to put a stop to it this year, but until the pool, you seemed to be taking care of it yourself.” Pride and awe fill his voice.
I try one more tactic to get him to open up about his source of knowledge. “Did Kelly tell you what the plan was for Mindy? Not just for Mindy’s treatment of new kids but specifically for apologizing to me?”
Noah’s narrow lips kick up on one side, not fooled by my bid for more information. “Would you accept that I’ll tell you more tomorrow? We’re going to run out of time tonight. People will start coming in for dinner in about ten minutes.”
I read a book on tells and lying once, and he doesn’t display any of those signs.
“Agreed, but I want to know everything tomorrow. I’m tired of being in the dark around here.” I instantly regret adding that last part; I didn’t mean to acknowledge it out loud.
“You’ll find out so much tomorrow your head will hurt.” He winks at me as if he knows a secret but isn’t ready to share it yet. Such a tease.
“My head hurts now from all of this, but we’ll see tomorrow. I may ask you so many questions, you’ll think I’m a two-year-old.” I don’t understand why, but I want him to like me. Being nice is the best way to accomplish that.