Long after all the guests have gone back to their cabins, and everyone from town has gone home, Dad, Alec, Alec’s parents–Maggie and Randy–Sadie Ann and I are cleaning up the mess. It has to be ready for tomorrow, where we’ll be up bright and early for another day. That’s probably the only reason Dad made Sadie help.

“It sucks he makes us do this. It’s not our job,” she whines for the millionth time, as she walks by me. Like all the other times, I ignore her.

I’m thinking about Nathaniel. Still wondering what made him decide I was a mystery. Yeah, I know it was probably just because I went off from the group and hid out in the woods, but he had to have been watching me to know that, right? So why? What made him watch me?

Suddenly looking less annoyed than before, Sadie whispers, “Oh my God. Did you see the boys in 3B? They’re freaking gorgeous!”

No! No, no, no, no. I don’t want her to think that. Don’t want her to have anything to do with 3B and Nathaniel because he’s intrigued by me. He talked to me. She gets a part of everything, and I want this for myself. “No. I didn’t notice them.”

“I swear, Charlie. When are you going to grow up? You wouldn’t notice a cute boy if he kissed you. That tomboy stuff might be okay when you’re younger, but you need to get out of it.”

“I’m not a tomboy.” Kind of a lie. We both know I am, but who cares? Can’t I be both? Not like to wear dresses and notice cute boys?

“Whatever. I think the younger one is your age. Not that you aren't practically married to Alec already, but still. The other one is my age. I can tell. I think I heard them say his name is Brandon.”

“Cool.” I try to ignore her as I pull down keep filling the bag with trash.

“He’s going to be the perfect way to spend the summer, Charlie. I’m finally excited about something. I can’t wait to have him.”

She dances away. Sadness wraps its ugly, lonely hand around me. Brandon has nothing to do with Nathaniel, but I don’t want her to want him. Being around Brandon means being around Nathaniel and no one notices me when Sadie Ann is there. No one but Alec, who I know to the marrow of my bones doesn’t see me as more than his best friend. The one who doesn’t understand when I say I want more than the life I have right now. I think Alec looks at me and sees The Village he loves so much.

The next day, Sadie Ann doesn’t stay in the store. She’s outside with the rest of us, working in the sun. And when there isn’t work to do, she’s still out here, which I guess isn’t as unusual as her breaking a sweat for The Village. She suntans by the water, and again, that isn’t anything new. She does it every summer, but it feels different right now because I know she’s hoping to see Brandon. It shouldn’t bother me, but no matter how hard I try I can’t stop the anger from glaring daggers every time I look at my sister.

“What’d Sadie do? You’ve been giving her the evil eye all morning.” Alec says. Leave it to him to notice.

“Nothing.” I walk over to the dock, which isn’t too far from Sadie, and sit down. Alec sits beside me.

“What do you wanna do today?” he asks.

We spend a lot of time working, but it’s not like that’s all we do. Lots of the guests are pretty much on their own and don’t need us often. There are boat rentals and sometimes people want us to take them on a tour, but usually they’re good to go by themselves. It isn’t like I don’t have any free time here, even though it never really feels free. I’m still always inside the cage of this town. Of my life. “I don’t know. What do you want to do?”

Alec shrugs, pushing his blond hair out of his eyes. As he does, I see something in his expression change. He’s looking over my shoulder. While I turn to see what it is, he says, “Looks like Sadie found a way to keep herself busy this summer.”

My stomach sinks as I see her smiling up at Brandon. He’s standing beside her and she’s holding her hand over her eyes to block the sun, a huge smile on her face. Her red bikini looks perfect against her golden skin. Especially when you count the boobs she has holding them up. The bumps under my tank top aren’t even a quarter of hers and she’s only a year older than me. I dust off my shorts like it matters.

A movement behind Brandon catches my eye and I notice Nathaniel standing there. He has a Yankees hat on, that I watch him turn around and wear backward, with cargo shorts and a white t-shirt. He gives me that nod that boys do, slightly lifting his head and sends a partial smile in my direction.

“You know him?” Alec’s voice has a strange sound to it.

“No,” I shake my head, but I’m still looking at Nathaniel. “I ran into him, but I don’t know him.” Which I guess is really what Alec is asking. Nathaniel hasn’t been here long. It’s not like I can really know him.

Brandon sits down next to Sadie and Nathaniel nods his head again, this time calling me over. Well, me and Alec over, I mean.

My heart darts through my chest like a shooting star. He steps closer to his brother and Sadie before sitting down, too. His feet are flat on the ground, his knees up with his arms resting on them. He looks so relaxed. So comfortable. I find it hard to breathe.

Which makes no sense. I don’t know this boy. But he’s different. I see it and feel it and that calls to something deep inside me that I don’t understand. But I want to. Being here at The Village, I know everything. I always have. Nothing is ever new, no matter who comes and goes. Alec and I will probably always be best friends. We’ll probably grow up and get married like Mom and Dad because they were best friends.

Sadie will leave. Mom will wish she could. Dad will grow old and Alec and I will take over. It’s written in the stars. Probably our destiny and I suddenly want to cry.

I stumble forward at the nudge to my back.

“Oh crap. I’m sorry, Charlie. I didn’t realize you weren’t paying attention.” My eyes find Alec to see he’s not looking straight at me. He's glancing back and forth between the group of three sitting down and me.

“It’s fine.” I fight the embarrassed heat I feel pushing to the surface. Alec grabs hold of my arm, as though he’s trying to steady me, despite the fact that I’m not falling. I wait for him to let go, but he doesn’t.

It’s awkward having Alec hold me like this in front of the others. It’s not like he’s never touched me before, but part of me wants to slip out of his grasp. Then I feel like a horrible person for it, so I don’t.

We walk over to the group and Sadie looks up at me. “Hey, Charlie! Hey, Alec.” The fake sweetness in her voice makes me want to throw up.

“Hey.” When I sit down, Alec’s hand comes off my arm. I nod to Sadie Ann, then Alec, Brandon, and Nathaniel.

“What do you guys usually do for fun around here?” Brandon asks. His voice is totally different from Nathaniel’s. Not deeper, but maybe a little rougher. He almost sounds like my grandma who smoked sixty-five years of her eighty. Okay, maybe it’s not that bad. Maybe I just want to find something bad about him so Sadie won’t want to get close to Brandon or Nathaniel.

“What do you do?” Alec replies with a strange kind of tightness in his voice.

Brandon shrugs. “Whatever.”

Alec’s eyes dart down. I try to keep looking at him. Or to look at Sadie, or even Brandon, but I can’t stop from peeking over at Nathaniel. He smiles and shakes his head as though he thinks they’re all being ridiculous. It’s impossible not to smile back at him.

Sadie speaks up. “You should let me show you around Lakeland Village. There’s not a lot to do, but it would get us away from here for a little while.” The way she looks at Brandon, it’s as though the rest of us aren’t sitting there. She looks confident and beautiful and a mixture of jealousy and pride blends inside me. I never thought I would look at Sadie and feel pride like that, but I do. I wish I could look at a boy I liked and feel that confident.