My uncle raises an eyebrow at me, as if I'm the one under suspicion for sneaking out of my cabin in the middle of the night. So much for everything being normal for a little while… "What would I possibly be doing outside my cabin in the middle of the night?" I ask.
"Whoa, I never pointed any fingers." He backs up to the stage and sits on the edge, swinging his feet and trying to look young and hip like her always is. His tricks just don't work on me though because I've always known him as my dad's goofy younger brothers who fled to England when he was fifteen and never looked the same in any old photo's after that. No would ever believe me if I told them I found a family portrait from when Brown was just twelve, wearing a blue suit. "You know, I wouldn't tell your parents if it was girl that was seen sneaking out every night… I might have to kick you out though," he smirks through his somehow responsible yet irresponsible words.
Even though I'm going to be eighteen in October and my parents could probably care less what I did at a high school camp with horrible adult supervision, I ignore him trying to be cool and truthfully say, "It's definitely not a girl."
"I saw you meeting Mitchie meeting at four in the morning," he playfully punches me in the arm. "That time, though, I was the only one who saw you and I couldn't rat out my favorite nephew."
Finally, I get tired of standing next to him and sit up on the stage. And happen to find it unusually temping to swing my feet back and forth. "Are you saying that because I've got two platinum records or because I'm your only nephew?" He laughs, but it's true. "Besides," I continue, "Mitchie and I broke up over a month ago."
"You never told me that Shane! I need details about what goes on at this place, my hearing's going bad." I don't give him any of the details I know he wants but I tell him the usual 'It didn't work out' thing and explain that we're starting to become friends again and it's good we had a break from each other and blah, blah, blah. "Do you think the two of you will get back together?" He poses.
"No," I give my answer right away. It feels kind of good to be so sure of myself.
Uncle Brown hesitates a minute and tells me, "Well, warn Jason and Nate that I'll be stopping by tonight for a final answer. I don't care if it's you or not, if nobody confesses I can't let you three come back after this."
"I understand. Thanks, Uncle Brown."
Later on at dinner, I decide to let go of the fact that Mitchie found out without me telling her. I don't care how she found out, because nobody else has said anything and I no longer get Mitchie's sad looks of cartoon frowns and puppy dog eyes every time I pass her. Now I just get to sit and talk to her and Tess at lunch and between classes and, sometimes, if we're sitting more towards the corner where no one can hear us, one of them will bring up Daniel and I can't help but want to talk about him. Today there were people sitting close to us though, two of them young girls who kept giggling and smiling at me, so I didn't get a chance goggle over this guy I hardly know.
It wasn't long before I got to meet Daniel in the music room like I had been anticipating all day. I walked to the empty cabin across camp and waited a short moment for Daniel to arrive, not even thinking about Brown or Nate or anything else. We just hang out in the music room for a couple hours after that. I teach him a little more about writing music and he tells me about his dance class.
"I've been dancing for as long as I can remember. It would probably be weird not to do it every day," he tells me.
"Maybe you could try ballroom dancing next year," I suggest; hoping we could have a class together, "You're coming back next year, right?"
"Yeah, definitely. You?"
Remembering that Nate still hasn't told Brown he's to blame, my mood changes out of the blue. "I hope so," I say, "There's been some rule breaking within the band," I explain and elaborate on the story. I even tell him how I know it's Nate and that I don't want to be a snitch, so Jason and I are just waiting for Nate to confess. Later, I tell him about how Brown's giving us until tonight to say what's going on and that I have to leave.
Before I go, he stops me to say, "I really hope that you're back next year, Shane." His tone is completely serious and normal, then he lets a smile break on his lips, as do I, as I tell him bye for now.
At my cabin, it's really quiet. Jason's sitting on his top bunk drawing something again and Nate's nowhere to be found. I set the stack of sheet music I'm holding on my bed and walk around to my night stand. As I'm searching for my cell phone or mp3 player or anything to do, Uncle Brown knocks on the door just in time. Behind him is Nate, who looks exceedingly guilty.
"Alright guys," he says in his English accent, "You're off the hook. Nate came to me on my way here and owned up. I'll just have to talk to you in my office, Nate." The two of them were about to leave again until Jason stopped them.
"Brown, wait," he says as he's closing his notebook and jumping off his bunk. "It isn't completely Nate's fault. I knew he was sneaking out every night and I didn't do anything about it. I shouldn't be off the hook."
When Jason says it, I realize that I did the same. I guess it isn't fair that only Nate gets in trouble after I never even said anything to him. And I had been thinking about how I did the same thing Nate was but never got caught, therefore, never faced the consequences. "I did too," I tell him.
My uncle starts to look irritated. "You guys knew and you waited until now to tell me?" His voice ever-so-slightly raises but sighs loudly and calms down again. "Nate, where were you even going?"
Nate's faced abruptly looks washed out except for his blushed, deep pink cheeks. "I… uh… I can't say." he mummers. Brown steps closer, looking as intimidating as ever. "I was," Nate speaks trying not to look straight at Brown-meanwhile Jason and I are now dying to know where he was- "I was going over the lake to Camp Star. To visit Dana. We're, uh, dating now."
That's why Tess wanted to know how long Nate's been sneaking out. When Nate and I kissed, he was cheating on Dana. After I hear Nate's answer, I have no idea what anybody is talking about. I listen to bits and pieces but the rest I cannot pay attention to. I stare into space, thinking. I could even say I know what it's like to be 'the other person.'