nerve to kiss someone?
âHey! Where are you guys going?â
Finally! We turned around, and the beam of a flashlight bounced across our faces. All I could see were two dark forms standing there, shining a light in our eyes.
Perfect. The Porch Patrol really was on duty after all.
I recognized them when they got a little closer: Madison Abernathy and Lydia Duncan. They were still dressed in camouflage.
âWhat are you two doing?â asked Madison. She was really pretty, with long dark hair. She had a few leafy twigs sticking out all over the place.
âUh, we . . . uh,â stuttered Lance. His mouth hung open, and the light reflected off the lenses of his glasses. Now I felt bad for getting him into trouble.
âWe were just going for a walk,â I said. âLance was showing me the Camp Crockett sights.â I gave them both a big smile. No way could I tell them we were on our way to his cabin.
âNo, youâre not,â said Lydia. âYou guys know youâre not supposed to leave the dining hall. Get back to the dance.â
âAre we in big trouble? Please donât tell Eda,â I begged. Actually, I didnât care if she told Eda or not. The more people who knew about it, the better.
âJust get going.â Madison shone her flashlight at us one more time, so I couldnât see their expressions. Did they think it was funny theyâd caught us? Or were they mad? Their voices had been all stern-sounding. When we walked past them, I wanted to grab Lanceâs hand so it would look like we were up to something, but I didnât want to make the poor guy faint.
âUh,â said Lance. He was still speechless.
âHey, itâs okay. They wonât do anything to us,â I whispered to him. Madison and Lydia walked behind us, like they didnât trust us to find the dining hall on our own.
When we got back to the porch, it seemed like there were about twenty or thirty people watching us as we walked up. I bumped against Lance a couple of times to make it look like we were a real couple whoâd been caught making out in the dark. He scooted over each time I did it, though, so I stopped.
Maybe I shouldâve smeared my lip gloss before everybody saw us. Why didnât I think of that before? Chloe Carlson wouldâve thought of that. Wait a second, Chloe Carlson wouldnât need to smear her own lip gloss; the boy she was with wouldâve done it for her. But so what? Chloe wasnât the one who got caught this time. I was. And things couldnât have been more perfect. It was exactly like I thought it would be.
âLance! You da man!â a boy yelled from the porch. Somebody whistled as we walked up the steps. I had a little smile on my face as everyone watched us. Lance stared at his shoelaces the whole time.
When we walked into the dining hall, a Camp Crockett counselor gave us a long, intense look; then he walked toward us. I was afraid he was Lanceâs counselor, and now he was going to yell at us for leaving the dining hall. But for some reason, he was looking right at me. He didnât even notice Lance was there.
âHey, donât I know you?â he asked.
The second he said that, I recognized him. Brandon Matheson, a guy who used to play football at Central. A teammate of Justinâs!
What was he doing here? I did not want to be recognized by anyone from home! Especially not in front of Lance. If Lance hadnât been with me, I wouldâve taken off running in the opposite direction.
Brandon pointed at me. âI got it! Youâre a Duckworth, arenât you? Yeah! I remember you from all the practices!â
âOh, hi,â I said. Now, bye. See ya later. Adios, amigo. âYouâre Brandon, right?â I asked him through my clenched smile. His hair was longer than it used to be, and he looked a little older.
âYeah, thatâs right. So youâre going to Pine Haven,
âHey! Where are you guys going?â
Finally! We turned around, and the beam of a flashlight bounced across our faces. All I could see were two dark forms standing there, shining a light in our eyes.
Perfect. The Porch Patrol really was on duty after all.
I recognized them when they got a little closer: Madison Abernathy and Lydia Duncan. They were still dressed in camouflage.
âWhat are you two doing?â asked Madison. She was really pretty, with long dark hair. She had a few leafy twigs sticking out all over the place.
âUh, we . . . uh,â stuttered Lance. His mouth hung open, and the light reflected off the lenses of his glasses. Now I felt bad for getting him into trouble.
âWe were just going for a walk,â I said. âLance was showing me the Camp Crockett sights.â I gave them both a big smile. No way could I tell them we were on our way to his cabin.
âNo, youâre not,â said Lydia. âYou guys know youâre not supposed to leave the dining hall. Get back to the dance.â
âAre we in big trouble? Please donât tell Eda,â I begged. Actually, I didnât care if she told Eda or not. The more people who knew about it, the better.
âJust get going.â Madison shone her flashlight at us one more time, so I couldnât see their expressions. Did they think it was funny theyâd caught us? Or were they mad? Their voices had been all stern-sounding. When we walked past them, I wanted to grab Lanceâs hand so it would look like we were up to something, but I didnât want to make the poor guy faint.
âUh,â said Lance. He was still speechless.
âHey, itâs okay. They wonât do anything to us,â I whispered to him. Madison and Lydia walked behind us, like they didnât trust us to find the dining hall on our own.
When we got back to the porch, it seemed like there were about twenty or thirty people watching us as we walked up. I bumped against Lance a couple of times to make it look like we were a real couple whoâd been caught making out in the dark. He scooted over each time I did it, though, so I stopped.
Maybe I shouldâve smeared my lip gloss before everybody saw us. Why didnât I think of that before? Chloe Carlson wouldâve thought of that. Wait a second, Chloe Carlson wouldnât need to smear her own lip gloss; the boy she was with wouldâve done it for her. But so what? Chloe wasnât the one who got caught this time. I was. And things couldnât have been more perfect. It was exactly like I thought it would be.
âLance! You da man!â a boy yelled from the porch. Somebody whistled as we walked up the steps. I had a little smile on my face as everyone watched us. Lance stared at his shoelaces the whole time.
When we walked into the dining hall, a Camp Crockett counselor gave us a long, intense look; then he walked toward us. I was afraid he was Lanceâs counselor, and now he was going to yell at us for leaving the dining hall. But for some reason, he was looking right at me. He didnât even notice Lance was there.
âHey, donât I know you?â he asked.
The second he said that, I recognized him. Brandon Matheson, a guy who used to play football at Central. A teammate of Justinâs!
What was he doing here? I did not want to be recognized by anyone from home! Especially not in front of Lance. If Lance hadnât been with me, I wouldâve taken off running in the opposite direction.
Brandon pointed at me. âI got it! Youâre a Duckworth, arenât you? Yeah! I remember you from all the practices!â
âOh, hi,â I said. Now, bye. See ya later. Adios, amigo. âYouâre Brandon, right?â I asked him through my clenched smile. His hair was longer than it used to be, and he looked a little older.
âYeah, thatâs right. So youâre going to Pine Haven,
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