Goddess Boot Camp(17)

“Forget it,” I say, fed up. “I’m not sticking around for this. Who cares if I fail the stupid test. I’ll just—”

Stella’s eyes look over my shoulder and she practically melts. Well, as much as Stella can melt, anyway. Her face gets this totally dreamy look and somehow I know it’s not just my humiliation she’s been fantasizing about.

“Morning, Xander,” she calls out, waving at someone behind me.

I spin around, eager to see who can turn the queen of mean into a total delight. Walking into the courtyard is a tall, brooding rebel boy, dark and dangerous right down to his scuffed motorcycle boots. Without even a second glance I can tell he’s trouble. He has that go-ahead-and-try look in his eyes. Like he’s always looking for a fight.

He doesn’t say anything, just kind of jerks his chin—the way guys do when they think they’re too cool to wave—in our direction.

Stella follows him with her eyes as he crosses the courtyard and takes a seat on one of the benches. When he stretches out his legs and kicks one boot over the other, I think I hear her sigh.

Then again, it could have been one of the ten-year-olds, since every last one of them is staring at him like he’s the gods’ gift to girls. Maybe he is. With his short-cropped, dark blond hair, chiseled cheeks and jaw, and serious set of muscles—displayed clearly in his tight black T-shirt—he looks like he walked straight out of an action movie.

Only Adara and I seem to be unaffected by his beauty. I prefer the dark, curly-haired, distance-runner type. She probably does, too.

“Who is he?” I ask Stella.

“Xander Katara,” she replies absently, reverently, still openly staring.

“What’s he doing here?” I smile as a thought occurs. Maybe I’m not the only grown-up in the camp. He looks like the kind of guy who knows how to wield his powers, but maybe not. “Is he in the camp, too?”

That tears her attention away from him. “Of course not.” She looks at me like I just made her eat a lemon. “Xander is a counselor. Besides, the boys’ camp doesn’t start until July.”

“Then why is he here?” I ask. “Shouldn’t Goddess Boot Camp be girls only?” Like my shame would be any less if there were only girls present to witness my humiliation.

“Daddy made an exception,” she says, although she doesn’t seem too unhappy about the resulting situation. She scowls at me. “For your sake.”

Before I can ask what she means, my watch starts buzzing. I quickly punch off the alarm I set last night.

“Ten o’clock,” I explain.

Suddenly, happy, cheerful Stella is back.

“Time to start,” she announces. “Let’s all form a circle in the middle of the courtyard.”

She glances at Xander, who looks completely uninterested in the proceedings of the camp. But when Adara herds the ten-year-olds into position, he deigns to join the group. Stella scoots in next to him.

I hover outside the circle, still not certain whether I’m participating.

“Welcome to Goddess Boot Camp, girls,” she says, pulling on her head-goddess-in-charge persona. “My fellow counselors and I are going to make sure this is one of the most memorable experiences of your young lives.”

When Stella emphasizes the word young, I roll my eyes. If she thinks those little digs are going to get to me, she’s wrong. Compared to cross-country trash talkers, she’s an amateur. Rather than rise to her bait, I just cross my arms and hang back. She can say whatever she wants, but I am not going to lose my cool. I am implacable.

Until Adara says, “Make room in the circle for Phoebe, girls. She needs all the help she can get.”

My face feels like it’s on fire.

Now, Stella can goad me all she wants. I’ve learned to ignore her for the most part. But there’s just something about Adara—maybe it’s my tweak over her friendship with Griffin or her generally superior attitude—that makes me want to fight back. So, when she makes her little snide comment, instead of walking away, I walk into the circle. I take the position directly across from her—which happens to place me between Stella and Xander. I can feel Stella fuming next to me, but I don’t care. I’m busy staring Adara down.

“Can we start already?” Xander asks in a bored tone.

“Right,” Stella says, snapping out of her minisnit and brightening at the sound of his voice. “We’re going to start off with an overview of our schedule for the next two weeks. Dara”—she nods across the circle—“the welcome packets please.”

Adara pulls a rainbow stack of stapled papers from her bag and hands half to the girls on either side of her. The girls each take one and pass on the rest.