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Beth’s voice. She sounded out of breath, and spoke in a barely audible murmur.
    â€œWhat’s done is done, Craig. It was an accident. I’m just as freaked out about this as you are, so just get a grip!”
    â€œI can’t believe this is happening. Oh my god! What do we do now?”
    â€œNothing! Just pretend like everything’s normal. It’s the only way.”
    â€œAre you out of your mind?”
    I crouched lower under my blanket. Every hair on my body was standing on end. Whatever Craig and Beth were arguing about, I didn’t want to know. But to exit the car or let them know I was in the backseat now seemed monumentally unwise.
    â€œYou need to just chill out, Craig!”
    â€œHow can you say that? We’re talking about a life here, and I’m responsible.”
    â€œI know, sweetie. We both are. But don’t worry. We’ll figure something out.”
    A life? Why was Craig so freaked out? My heart sickened at what I inferred: Beth was pregnant. Didn’t Craig say she’d thrown up at school a few weeks ago? Morning sickness, of course! For a second, I myself felt a bit nauseous at the discovery of Craig and Beth’s secret.
    â€œWhat you need to do right now is calm down so we can figure out what to do,” I heard Beth continue.
    â€œWhat to do?” Craig said. “Don’t you understand? This is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.” He was right on that account. Fatherhood, I was certain, did not play into the highly orchestrated master plan that Craig’s dad had mapped out for him. A baby would unalterably change his life. I swallowed hard to try to clear the lump that was forming in my throat.
    â€œIt was an accident, baby. Don’t make this worse than it already is. We can’t go back and change what happened. It’s just got to be our little secret.”
    They were quiet for another ten seconds or so. I prayed that they didn’t decide to get in the car. I didn’t move a muscle. I could hear the scream of girls being chased back to home base, and their stampede put an abrupt end to the conversation, apart from one last hurried remark.
    â€œMy god, Craig, you’re shaking. Let’s get back to the fire. Pull yourself together! And don’t breathe
a word
of this to
anyone!
”
    My heart was pounding a mile a minute. I must have sat in the car for five minutes or so mulling over what I’d heard. As more groups of out-of-breath asylum-seekers returned from hiding, I quietly crept out of the car, making sure to exit on the far side so that no one would see me, and only barely closing the car door with a soft click. Ambling in a roundabout path back to the warmth of the bonfire, I found Craig staring blankly at the flames while Beth hugged him from behind, her cheek resting against his broad back.
    â€œHey Craig, looks like your third wheel made it back alive,” said Brett Sanders, nodding in my direction as he took a swig from his beer can.
    Craig glanced at me vacantly, then returned his gaze to the fire, which lit his face a shade of deep red.
    Back up on the banks of the ravine, I saw the glare of five more flashlights heading toward us, looking almost like distant medieval torches weaving in and out among the birches. They’d all be back in from the game of tag, soon. Only it didn’t seem much like childish fun and games anymore.

CHAPTER EIGHT
Nothing in His Life Became Him Like the Leaving It
    THE SCREECH OF THE INTERCOM cut through homeroom like a scythe, but the voice that coughed and cleared its throat anxiously wasn’t that of our perky senior class secretary with her usual Monday morning announcements. Instead it was a beleaguered Mr. Kirkpatrick, who had the unenviable task of explaining that one of East Anchorage High’s most popular and well-loved students would never again cross its threshold.
    â€œIt is with great sadness that I confirm the reports