actually swoon anymore? You can’t swoon idiot. He’s seen your smile before and doesn’t remember it.
“Welcome to Wanderlust. Look forward to seeing you again Nora.” He gave me a half smile.
Was it a hey I get it, you’re just nervous having seen me practically naked smile? Or was it a hey, I get it, you’re the type who eats the paste smile?
He’d turned and taken his cryptic smile with him before I could figure it out. My heart beat refused to return to normal as I stared at the shimmering blue pond. Even here, in the throes of glamping paradise, I couldn’t get it together. I needed an escape hatch. And possibly a defibrillator. Life in the real world was hard. In my dreams it could be as easy as I wanted. No awkward moments. No strange glances. Only the comfortable, familiar embrace of a tangle-free love I’d recognize anywhere. So what if he wasn’t actually real, every relationship has its sacrifices.
Chapter Seven
One week later I was unpacking my gear in our two bedroom, two story log cabin, at Wanderlust Academy, Summer Camp Immersion.
I’d Googled Troy Bellisaro the second we’d gotten home. Throughout his twenty four years he’d run several successful multi-million dollar companies, under the corporation Masquerade Studios, Camp Wanderlust being his most recent acquisition, according to Wikipedia. Lots about his business endeavors, nada about him socially. Everything matched the info I already knew. He was super gorgeous. Super rich. And super forgetful. The last part I’d decided for myself based on the fact he didn’t even remember me after what had been the most unforgettable night of my life. In a good way, and in the worst way possible.
After mindlessly placing all of my belongings into two of the twelve wooden drawers provided in my bedroom, I dropped down onto the bed, and leaned back again the log headboard. The linen smelled freshly washed like rainfall and sunshine, and for some reason it made me want to be sick. Like even my digestive system knew I didn’t belong here.
So this was it. This was my life for the next 90 days. The next 2160 hours, give or take. When you were trapped in purgatory did a few hours more or less really matter?
I’d only had a chance to visit grandfather once before we left. I hated that I wouldn't be able to see him more. But the nurse promised she’d read my letters to him as often as they arrived.
He was asleep more than he was awake now, but I knew he could hear me and could feel when I was there. Which meant he’d miss me when I wasn’t. And three months seemed like a very long time to be away. Still, with the money I made from this I’d be able to get him into a facility closer to home where he could get the proper care he needed. That was all that mattered now.
I missed my old life. When Grandma was still alive. And when Granddad was still, himself.
Sighing, I stuffed the memories back down. It was over. Moving on. Our first day was pretty flexible as far as time commitments went. There was a tour and orientation and then we were invited to explore on our own after lunch. Kenzie had already hooked up with some counselors from Brazil she’d met during the interviews. When I declined to join them for a swim, she took off, leaving me alone in the expansive cabin. It had pretty much everything you could want. Indoor plumbing, microwave, even a coffee machine. I mean it was hardly roughing it. But no TV or internet sucked, and I hated being way from my sculpting class. And of course Granddad.
A walk that’s what you need Nora. Enough moping. I tugged a sweatshirt over my tank top and shorts, slipped on my flip-flops and headed outside. I followed the trail into the woods nearby. Beyond it was the lake, a crystal glistening clear blue body of liquid, just begging for some party-hard teens to fall in and drown. This place had high school horror flick all over its idyllic brochure. And here I was in the middle of it. A girl with a
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