A New Reflection

46. Scavenger Hunt

The intense aroma of pine swirls around us as we jaunt from our cabin to the front of the lodge, where Steve instructed the team to meet at 7:30pm. Normally, I would be fretting over how many hours they plan to keep us and calculating the hours of sleep until our ungodly wake up time, but tonight, all I feel is a static of excitement crackling throughout me.

Alex hooks me with his eyes from across the way, and as I draw nearer, I see him survey me from head to toe before flicking his glance to the ground. He occupies himself with organizing some papers and digging through a large mesh bag of items, which Steve holds in a tight grasp.

"Gather around," Steve commands in an even voice.

"Are we gonna sing, Coach?" Holly jokes.

"Group therapy session?"

"Truth or dare?"

"That boring game where we have to say the other person's adjectives?"

Alex and I peek at each other at the same time, and his face turns a shade darker as he smirks; his blush is a rare and delightful occurrence. From my peripheral vision, I catch Shelly staring at me. When I turn my head, we share a quick, conspiratorial half-smile.

"If everyone could close their trap for two seconds, I will explain what we're going to do. Take a seat." A practiced layer of tranquil neutrality barely covers Steve's irritation, and I have to swallow the laughter bubbling from inside me.

Alex is still shuffling through the bag, which Steve has yet to release from his clutches.

"What in God's name are you doing?" he snaps at his assistant coach.

Alex lifts his head in surprise. "Looking for the envelopes."

"I already have them over there." Steve points with impatience at the ground a few feet away.

"My bad." Alex grimaces with insincere remorse, causing all the girls to bust up laughing, then attempts to tug the tie string from Steve's hands, presumably to search for something different.

"Stop it!" Steve reprimands, pulling the bag towards himself. "Be still! Sit down." He gestures to the ground where the rest of us are seated. Alex, unaffected as always, throws his arms in the air in a swift gesture of defeat and leaps down from the step. I giggle heartily with the rest of the girls when he trips over a large pine branch and stumbles to the ground (which I'm certain he does on purpose just to screw with his coaching partner).

I can tell Steve is fighting the urge to laugh with the rest of us, but he forces his face taught, rolls his eyes and rubs his temples for effect. "You are worse than the sixteen-year-olds, Coach Alex."

Sixteen. Many of the girls here are so young. I don't mind hanging out with them, however. I've grown up spending most of my time with cousins who are either older or younger than I am.

"In pairs, you are going to complete a scavenger hunt. Coach Alex spent the last hour sprinting all over this property hiding the items you are to find, and God knows how many hours prepping these elaborate clues." He holds up the envelopes Alex was previously hunting for, revealing the slips of paper inside one of them. "So take it seriously, because a lot of unnecessary time and effort went into this."

Knowing none of his insults have the power to hurt Alex's feelings, I'm sort of loving Steve's dry and cutting humor tonight.

Alex, unable to sit still, hops back to his feet. "There is an A-MA-ZING prize for the winners. I mean it."

"What is it?" Holly calls eagerly.

"It's a surprise. I just said that. Prize—surprize. It's in the word." He's so cute I can hardly stand it.