Keeping Her Secret by Sarah Nicolas

spied the satisfied smirk on his face, and she had the sneaking suspicion she’d been set up.

Chapter Seven
    When Riya had first been told of the scheduled nap time, she thought it was silly, but that day she’d laid down on her bunk after lunch and immediately passed out. She’d only woken in time to go to the next activity session thanks to Elise’s shrill voice calling for Stefanie and Tiffany to hurry up. That girl sure did pack a lot of decibels into such a small frame.
    That was why she’d walked in to the singing session a little late. With all eyes on her and no crowd to get lost in, it was also the only reason she didn’t immediately turn and walk out as soon as she saw Courtney at the front of the room. Bailing would create a bigger spectacle than staying and toughing out the session. Or so she’d thought. Until Colt had made her sing solo. Her skin still crawled at the thought of singing in front of all those other people.
    But the way Courtney’d looked at her as she sang, when she called her “incredible,” had left Riya in a stupor for the rest of the day. Courtney did not like her, she kept reminding herself. But there were moments when she thought, just maybe… And those moments were the worst ones, when she lowered her defenses and pictured a different future than the inescapable one.
    Though she’d taken the afternoon class on distinguishing between edible and poisonous plants, Riya hoped nobody’s life depended on that knowledge because she remembered none of it. At least she knew the pasta primavera sitting untouched on the plate before her was safe to eat.
    “You okay?” Dee hissed in her ear.
    Riya shook her head as if she could shake her thoughts loose. “Just having a rough day.”
    “Really?” Elise chimed in. “Because I heard you did so well in singing that everyone in the room instantly fell in love with you.”
    Riya breathed a small laugh without smiling. “People exaggerate.” She changed the subject. “So what are we going to do tonight?”
    “We could TP the boys’ cabins,” Dee suggested.
    Tiffany shook her head. “There will be too many people running around for us to get away with it.”
    “We could play cards again,” Elise said. “I have ten pounds of candy in the bottom of my dresser.”
    The twins teased her about her candy addiction. Dee kept getting prank ideas shot down by Tiffany, who Riya was beginning to believe never agreed to participate in any of Dee’s pranks.
    Before she knew it, the girls had pulled her from her funk, and they spilled out into the setting sunlight drunk on laughter.
    Where they ran straight into Courtney’s crew. Courtney clung to the back of some tall ebony hunk Riya hadn’t yet had the pleasure of meeting, her legs wrapped around his hips, piggy-back style. Bridget, the pretty brunette Courtney spent most of her free time with, sat similarly upon the back of the same David Courtney’d been flirting with at breakfast the other day. The girls’ shrieks of laughter rang through the air as the boys chased each other in a circle.
    “Let’s race,” David called to his friend.
    Trey popped up next to Riya. “Great timing. I need a jockey.” He swept in front of Riya and bent his knees, holding his arms up to catch her. Apparently, this was a thing.
    Riya glanced at her friends, who grinned back at her. What the hey ? She jumped onto Trey’s back.
    “We’re ready!” Trey announced.
    “We have a challenger!” the boy carrying Courtney said.
    Riya wrapped her arms around Trey’s chest, holding tight. He gripped her wrists, laughing.
    “Come on, Blondie.” Stefanie grabbed Elise’s hand, tugging her behind her. “Let’s embarrass these boys.”
    Yelping, Elise leapt onto Stefanie’s back. The sound echoed clear across the lake.
    “Oh-ho-ho,” David shouted. “And we have a girl-on-girl team. Better grab a jockey, Chastain.”
    Tiffany took three steps back, attempting to blend in with the shadows. Dee watched