A/N: Hey everyone!!!! You've all been so amazingly awesome! (A little excited, I know.) Today's my birthday, so I may get a couple of chapters posted since I don't have any other obligations! Enjoy!
Jealousy is an interesting feeling, and when the adjective 'interesting' is used, it means awful, horrible and downright self-loathing worthy. Kintra could feel her fists clench once again as she looked over at the girl cuddling up to Nick by the side of the pool. She forced her hands to release from their attack position, telling herself that she was only upset because this girl was definitely trying to hook up with Nick, her best friendand thatshe wasn't a bit jealous. It wasn't working.
"Keep that up and the towel will be nothing but tatters," said a voice behind her. Kintra turned so swiftly that her neck protested for a moment with a sharp pang. Mrs. Grey stood there, arms folded over her chest, her eyes sparkling. She looked back to where her son sat, laughing over something the girl had said. "Oh, Kinny," she said with a sigh. "Boys can be so stupid sometimes." She brushed Kintra's cheek with her hand in a motherly gesture and continued. "He has everything he could want, right here, and yet he goes off to find it all in some other girl."
Kintra spluttered, and her hands shook as she raised them to protest. "I'm not jealous," she replied adamantly. "I just don't like her."
Mrs. Grey laughed at her response. "And why don't you like her?" she probed, trying to make Kintra see her point. "She seems very nice, and she's very pretty."
Kintra looked back at the girl who was swinging her legs through the water, and her head dropped to her chest, effectively hiding her sorrow for a moment. Finally, she raised her head and looked her teacher right in the eyes as she signed, "I don't like her because I've fallen in love with Nick."
Mrs. Grey nodded her head thoughtfully. "As you should have," she said. "You two share a bond that I've never seen before. You connect without words getting in the way." She shook her head. "I hope this one's just a passing fancy." She stood up and smiled at Kintra, leaving her to go dive into the pool once more.
"Me too," Kintra signed, since there was no one else around to see it. She smoothed out the towel and stood, walking over to the edge of the pool, trying to decide how she wanted to enter once more.
Without warning, something barreled into her, knocking her into the water and falling on top of her. Kintra fought to get to the surface, avoiding any arms and legs in the process, and gasped for air to replace the air that had been knocked out of her. She whirled around as fast as the water would let her to find the culprit of the escapade. She expected to find Joe, grinning madly at her, out of splashing range, but instead, she found a tall, blonde-haired boy looking very sheepish. "I'm so sorry," he cried out. "Are you hurt?"
Kintra shook her head.
"Are you sure?" he asked, looking her up and down for any appendages twisted horribly out of place.
Kintra nodded.
"I'm Matt," he said, extending his hand. "And I wasn't paying attention. I'm so sorry." He held her hand, waiting for her to say something, and Kintra blushed because she couldn't sign anything to this boy. Almost immediately, he dropped her hand. "I forgot," he said, blushing. "You need both of your hands to sign." Kintra's eyes widened and Matt explained. "My family's been here for most of the day and I've seen you signing to the Grey's." He grinned and raised his hands. "I'm in a sign language class at school," he signed. "It's cool to find someone to test my skills out on."
Kintra laughed, but as usual, the action remained silent. She smiled as she slowly signed, "I'm Kintra. Nice to meet you."
"Kinny!" someone called. Kintra looked up from Matt to see Kevin standing by the edge of the pool. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," she signed before Matt could feel guilty once again. "It was just an accident."
Kevin nodded. "Okay," he said. "As long as you're not hurt."
"Thanks!" she signed and turned back to Matt. They talked for quite a while, and soon, they ended up getting out of the pool so that they could sit on the edge and talk a little more. Finally, with the sun beginning to set in the distance, both families decided to leave. Matt grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and wrote down his number.
"Here," he said, handing it to Kintra. "If you ever need to call me." Kintra took the number and smiled, not having the heart to tell him that even if she wanted to, she had no way of talking to him once she had called him.
"Come on, Kintra!" someone called, so Kintra waved goodbye and hurried after her family.
She was silent as the Grey family walked back to the bus, not even using her hands to spark conversations like she usually did. Everyone but Nick seemed to notice as he tugged once again on her wet ponytail. "She gave me her number," he whispered conspiratorially.
"Who?" Kintra asked, even though she knew full well who he was talking about.
"Catie," he responded, and the dreamy way in which he said her name made Kintra's stomach churn. "She gave me her number," he repeated excitedly.
"Do you want me to go into spasms of delight?" Kintra signed, looking acidly at Nick.
Nick looked taken back. "What? Why don't you like her?" he asked.
'Where do I start?' Kintra wondered, but she just signed, "Never mind." She brushed past Nick and sprinted the rest of the way to the bus, claiming the bathroom before anyone else. She took a longer shower than necessary, since the chlorine had been washed off in the first ten minutes, and finally stepped out, sure that she couldn't stay in the bathroom any longer. When she stepped out of the bathroom, once again in jeans, a T-shirt and a scarf, she found everyone else dried off and lounging around. Instead of teasing her about taking forever, Joe just shook his head. Kevin looked apologetic, and both the Grey parents looked nervous. Kintra looked from one to the other and finally saw what was the cause of this gloomy behavior.
"Yeah…I know!...So, Saturday night after the concert?...Great…See you then…Bye." Nick flipped the cover back over his phone, ending the conversation, and looked up. He saw Kintra and smiled. "Took you long enough," he teased, saying the words that no one else dared to say.
"You have date," she signed. It wasn't a question, and it wasn't a statement. It was more of an accusation.
"Yeah," Nick responded slowly. "Do you have a problem with that?"
Everyone seemed to be holding their breath. This was the moment for Kintra to tell him. There was no better time than this to let him know that she couldn't bear to see him with anyone else. That was the moment that she let slip by. "No," she signed, and turned away, walking stiffly back to her bunk.
She was still waiting for the tears to stop running down her face.