“Do you kids need something?” I finally ask.
“We want to see the echo-lolocator thingy!” A small voice pipes up from the back and is hushed by a few of the older kids.
“Well, it’s sonar, but same general principal I guess—”
“There’s a principal for echolocation?”
“Do you get in trouble if you do it wrong?”
“Where’s the office?”
“No—” I stutter, trying to figure out how to dumb this down. “I meant it works in a similar fashion.”
“It has clothes?”
Are these kids playing dumb on purpose? Or is this just how kids are? What the hell are they teaching them in school?
“No. It works in the same way… but… it’s…”
“It can show you all the stuff under the mud!” Adam adds helpfully. “He let me pull it!”
Oh, good. Thanks for that, Adam.
“We want to echo-lolocate with it!” There’s that little voice again. I look at all their little faces, debating the best way to tell them to take a hike, but I can’t do it. I can’t stunt little scientific minds. I rub my finger against my forehead, thinking.
“Maybe, but I have to check with someone first.” Several of the kids start yelling and jumping up and down. “HOLD IT!” I bellow, trying to restore order. “You will follow orders. You will wear life jackets. You will work through the scientific process with zero whining, complaining, or peeing.”
“We can’t pee?”
“That depends,” I sigh. “Can you be trusted to pee in a toilet and not in my boat or on my equipment?” I ask. “Seriously. I have no clue. How old are kids when they get potty trained?”
“Duh!” One of the little girls pipes up. “We all pee in toilets all the time!”
“Okay. I guess I’ll take your word for it. Oh! I’m going to need permission slips from your parents.”
6
CORINNE
I’m not feeling any better when I wake up in the morning. I’m not feeling any better after going for a run around the property. I’m not feeling any better after a shower or breakfast, either. Even copious amounts of coffee can’t seem to pull me out of my funk.
I’m not sure if the twist in my stomach is embarrassment or rejection. Both, I suspect. I don’t know what I was thinking, inviting myself along like that. I just got swept up in the moment. Dr. Napier was laughing and joking. I was having so much fun with him, I almost forgot he was my professor.
And then I ruined it. I wouldn’t be half as tortured over the whole thing if it had just ended there. He could have made his excuse, and I could have walked away like an adult. But I just had to get my panties in a bunch and trip all over the patio furniture.
I slide behind the bar at the start of my shift. Mercifully, it seems the rest of the staff didn’t see me embarrass myself, or they’ve all contracted a case of convenient amnesia. I set up a cutting board to prep garnishes, but I’m distracted by a small group of waitresses. They’re huddled in front of a floor to ceiling window, looking out toward the lake.
“Someone lose their swim trunks in the lake?” I ask, glancing up from my cutting board.
“God, I wish,” one server sighs.
“Girl, come here,” another of the waitresses beckons me to join them. “Look at this.” I peer out over the property. Way off in the distance, a man is paddling around in a rowboat with a kid. He’s standing and pointing at something while the kid tows something in the water.
“Um… that’s nice,” I mumble. “Father-son fishing time?”
“Uh-uh, that’s the guy studying the lake. Didn’t you hear about him? He’s taking the kids out to help him.”
“Dr. Napier?” My heart launches itself into my throat as I take a better look. “There’s no way he’s letting kids help him.” I’ve seen him near children a handful of times. He looks at them with their little pigtails and overalls, and his expression is nothing short of terror. It’s like he’s expecting the Predator to rip through their skin and attack at any second.