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  “Ah, young love,” Sean said in a low voice near my ear.

  I jerked back and glared at him. “Like you’d know anything about love.”

  “I’ve heard rumors.”

  Was he trying to be funny?

  I shook my head slightly. That was so not what I’d expected him to say. I was sure he’d think he was a love god or something. I really didn’t know Sean at all. Which was fine. Because I really didn’t want to know him.

  “What about you, Jessica?” he said, stunning me by actually using my real name. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

  “I am so not discussing my love life with you.”

  “Is that because you don’t have one to discuss?”

  His stupid question didn’t even deserve an answer. I turned on my heel and headed toward the dormitory.

  It was none of his business that I did not, in fact, have a love life. That I’d never had a love life. Or that I’d never even been kissed. Hadn’t even come close.

  Chapter Six

  As it turned out, Liz, Torie, Caryn, and I were sharing the dormitory. Torie and Caryn had arrived earlier and had been out scouting the area. That’s the reason we hadn’t met up until the first meeting of the morning.

  I was excited that we would all be sharing space, because we’d gotten along great last year. It was reassuring that at least one aspect of the camp was going right! As I got settled in, I tried really hard not to think about everything that had gone wrong so far.

  On the wall above my bed I hung a dream catcher that I’d made last summer. According to Lakota legend, the web captures the good parts of dreams, while the bad parts slip through the hole in the center. I wasn’t sure that I really believed in the power of the legend, but I liked the story. And I definitely needed something to hold on to the good. To ward off the evil of Sean.

  At the foot of my bed, I placed an afghan that my grandma had crocheted for me when I started kindergarten, so I would have something to snuggle against during nap time. I didn’t take naps anymore, but I liked to wrap up in it whenever I read. It reminded me of snuggling against my grandma. Not that we had a lot of spare time at camp, but I was hoping to finish rereading my Harry Potter books before the final one came out. I was halfway finished with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Two summers ago, I’d made the beaded bookmark that I used to mark my place.

  On the nightstand beside my bed, I put a picture of my family—Mom, Dad, Alex, and me—all bundled up. A ski slope was in the background. We’d gone to Telluride, Colorado, during the holidays. I also had a photo of Liz and me, hamming it up the last day of school. We were grinning, giving each other a big thumbs-up. We had made it. We were on our way to high school.

  If we could get through the summer.

  By the time Liz, Caryn, Torie, and I had everything in place, Ed was clanging the triangle to signal that supper was ready. I wasn’t thrilled that the afternoon had drifted away. Nor was I exactly thrilled with the supper menu. Not only were there separate plates for the corn bread and chocolate cake but bowls for the stew. Way too many dishes to wash.

  Just like lunch, the tables were divided by gender. A table of girls, a table of boys.

  “So did we not get the cutest guys as partners?” Torie asked after we all sat down at our table.

  “We did not,” I said.

  “Oh, come on,” Caryn said. “You might not like Sean, but you have to admit that he is cute.”

  I didn’t have to admit anything.

  “I wouldn’t have minded staring into his eyes for a couple of minutes,” Liz said.

  Traitor.

  “Did you want to switch partners?” I asked.

  “No way. But I agree with Caryn that Sean is cute.”

  “I think he’s a perfect example of not judging a book by its cover,” I said.

  “The guys are staring at us,” Caryn whispered, ducking her head down slightly, staring into her bowl of stew. “Do you think they’re as interested in us as we are in them?”

  “I’m not interested,” I said.

  “Come on, Jess, you might not be interested in Sean, but there are plenty of other guys. So who do you wish you’d been partnered with?” Liz asked.

  Hmmm. Good question.

  Very subtly, I slid my gaze over so I could examine the guys at the first table. I was surprised to see Sean looking at me. Or at least I thought he was. It was like our eyes met for a split second. Then, like Caryn, he was suddenly very interested in his stew. Maybe he was wondering how much work it would be to wash all these dishes.

  Some of the other guys at the table were definitely cute, especially the guy in a green shirt, sitting near the end of the table. I didn’t know him. But my gaze kept wandering back to Sean. Obnoxious Sean. Cheating Sean. I needed the refrain to keep cycling through my head so I wouldn’t forget.

  “If I was only about looks, I’d have to admit that Sean would definitely be boyfriend material,” I said, somewhat reluctantly. Then I realized something else. Sean was wearing a black T-shirt that fit him way better than his camp shirt. “Why are the guys not in their uniforms?”

  “Excellent question,” Liz said.

  Everyone at our table was suddenly seriously looking around. We were the only ones still dressed in brown.

  Liz leaned over to the girls at the far end of our table. “Why aren’t you still in uniform?”

  “Pul-ease!” the girl said. She was blond. I think her name was Kimo.

  “Don’t we have to wear them?” Liz asked.

  “Only when we’re officially ‘on duty.’” She tapped her bowl. “We’re not on duty.”

  “Oh, cool. We must have missed that announcement.” Liz straightened and grinned at us. “I say we head back to the dormitory as soon as we’re finished eating and change.”

  “Can’t,” I said.

  “Why not?” Liz asked.

  I grimaced. I’d somehow thought that not discussing my kitchen duty might make it go away, but the way Edna kept looking at me from her place at the head table, I knew I was doomed.

  “I have to wash the dishes tonight.” I looked down at my plate.

  Liz gasped as though I’d just told her that she could no longer be my best friend.

  “What are you talking about?”

  I repeated my earlier conversation with Edna word for word. It was emblazoned on my brain, forever burning its way into my most undesirable memories.

  “That’s so not fair!” Liz announced.

  Although I agreed with her, I was trying really hard not to prove that I’d answered question ten on the application wrong: Do you have a positive outlook? Yes.

  I shrugged. “Could be worse. She could have us cleaning the toilets.”

  Although a half hour later when I was standing in the kitchen with Sean, I was thinking that maybe cleaning toilets wouldn’t be so bad.

  Jackson was the guy in charge of the kitchen. I didn’t know if that was his first name or his last. He didn’t have anything embroidered on his apron. He was a pretty large man—maybe he believed in sampling the food as he cooked it. He had a small staff of three people who helped him cook and clean. They were thrilled—doing the happy dance around the kitchen—because tonight, at least, they didn’t have to wash dishes.

  Needless to say, I was less than thrilled. But apparently Sean was digging it.

  He stood beside me in front of the side-by-side stainless-steel sinks. Each had a long-hosed nozzle. We simply rinsed off the plates or bowls, watched the food circle the drain and go down the disposal, and placed the dishes in the large dishwasher beside us. Each machine was about three times bigger than the one in my kitchen at home. I guess they needed extra dishwashing power to handle all the dishes they had to deal with once camp got underway. I’d never really given it any thought. Just assumed some dishwashing fairy came in every night and took care of things. Silly me.

  Sean was humming a song and squirting the plates in rhythm to his humming. Da-squirt-da-squirt-dada-squir