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  Chapter Eight

  Later that night, after lights-out, I was lying on my bed staring into the darkness. I kept hearing Sean’s annoying humming in my head. It gets really, really dark in the woods. Living in the city, before I started coming to summer camp, I never realized how much of the darkness is really light—light from the streetlights, the traffic lights, and nearby stores. But out here in the wilderness, it’s totally dark.

  And quiet. No cars rushing past. No honks. No sirens.

  There’s a peacefulness. A calmness. An eeriness. It’s not scary. It’s just very, very different.

  I heard a noise off to my right. The creak of a bed. Bare feet slapping on the floor.

  “Jess?” Liz whispered. “Are you ready?”

  “For what?”

  “Oh, gosh, I forgot to tell you. We’re meeting up with some other CITs down by the lake.”

  I sat up. “When did you decide to do this?”

  “When you had kitchen duty. Then you came in all wet, and by the time you finished explaining that story…”

  Her voice trailed off. Without me there, I wondered who’d talked Liz into doing something we weren’t supposed to be doing. But someone had, because she was totally up for it, no doubt in her voice at all. Then I felt a pang—it wasn’t often that Liz made plans without me. But I pushed the feeling away.

  I tossed back the sheet. I was ready for an adventure. I threw on some jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt.

  We all dug our flashlights out of our footlockers. That was one piece of equipment we were required to bring. That and lots of batteries. Did I mention the camp has no stores?

  I mean the staff has supplies delivered daily so we aren’t in danger of starving or anything. Plus a small town is nearby in case we get into any kind of real trouble or need help in an emergency. But other than that, not much out here resembles civilization.

  Now, Liz, Caryn, Torie, and I were shuffling toward the door without turning on our flashlights, going slowly so we didn’t make any noise. Edna and Ed were probably already in bed. Asleep. They looked like the early-to-bed, early-to-rise types. But why take a chance on disturbing them?

  Our late-night mischief was incredibly exciting. As a camper, we’d never been able to sneak out at night because our counselors had always been light sleepers. Not that we would have been that adventurous. But this summer was different.

  This summer we were all about adventure, being bold, taking risks.

  We crept to the door.

  “Look outside,” Liz ordered in a whisper.

  “Who are you talking to?” I asked.

  “You.”

  I was quickly discovering that CITs all had one thing in common: Each wanted to be the boss. Each thought her way was the best way.

  “Who made you boss?” Caryn asked.

  “We don’t have time for this,” Torie said. “The guys are waiting. You know what I’m saying?”

  “No, I don’t. What guys?” I asked.

  I really felt like I was in the dark—figuratively as well as literally.

  “The guys we’re meeting,” Caryn said.

  “You said we were meeting the other CITs.”

  “And the other CITs are guys.”

  “Not all of them.”

  “All the ones we’re meeting are.”

  Suddenly, I had an uneasy feeling. “Are we meeting up with our partners?”

  As though tired of the inquisition, Caryn opened the door and peered out. I know it was her because the porch light washed over her face. The camp kept porch lights on all night. As a matter of fact, they were light sensitive: They turned on with the arrival of twilight; they turned off with the arrival of dawn. No one had to think about them.

  “All clear,” Caryn said.

  Then the others were rushing out the door, giving me no choice except to follow. No way was I staying in the dormitory alone, while they were out flirting with some guys. Besides, maybe I could get close enough to another guy that we could convince Edna and Ed to swap out our partners.

  I couldn’t be the only person unhappy with the way that we’d all been paired up.

  Because of the various porch lights on the different buildings we were able to make our way to the woods without any mishaps. Once we were hidden behind some trees, Liz turned on her flashlight. She released a tiny squeal and pointed to a low-hanging branch on a nearby tree.

  A length of toilet paper was draped over it.

  How totally romantic. Not!

  She reached for it—

  “We should probably leave it,” Caryn said. “So we can find our way back.”

  “Right,” Liz said. “First rule of survival: Leave bread crumbs.”

  “Yeah, like they ever do that on Survivor,” Torie said.

  “I wish we could vote a CIT out of leadership boot camp,” I muttered as Liz headed for the next dangling bit of white.

  “Maybe you should report that he sprayed water on you,” she said.

  So he could report that I fired back? Besides, the kitchen guy saw us. Geez, I hoped Jackson wasn’t going to report us. It hadn’t occurred to me that he might. After all, we cleaned up our mess. And we didn’t argue about it. We just did it.

  I shrugged, even though no one could see me since it was fairly dark, even with the flashlights—we’d all turned ours on now. “It was just water. It wasn’t like he took the butcher knife after me.”

  “He may have been thinking it, though,” Liz said.

  “Liz!”

  “What? I don’t think he likes you any more than you like him.”

  “But he does trust her,” Caryn said. “Otherwise he wouldn’t have fallen into her arms like he did.”

  “You know, not only do I feel like we’re walking in circles, but we’re talking in circles. Haven’t we covered this ground before?” I asked.

  “You mean the path or the topic?” Torie asked.

  “Both.”

  Everyone came to a stop.

  “You don’t think the guys are messing with us, do you?” Caryn asked. “I mean, are they like hanging around to jump out at us or something? To scare us, to make us scream? You know, like they did last summer?”

  “Of course not,” Liz said. “They’re not kids anymore.”

  “Did you not see me when I came back from kitchen duty?” I asked.

  “That’s different. That was Sean. Trent is so not like Sean.”

  “And you know that because you looked into his eyes for two minutes?”

  “We connected.” She turned around and pointed the light so it chased away the darkness—

  And we all screamed because someone dark and mysterious was standing there!

  Chapter Nine

  “Quiet!” the guy said, using the kind of voice you use when you’re trying to be quiet but be heard at the same time.

  “Oh, Trent,” Liz said and laughed. “You scared us.”

  Three guys were behind him and I recognized one—Sean.

  “We came looking for you because it was taking so long. Come on.” He took her hand—took her hand!—and led her through the woods.

  Caryn and Torie fell into step beside two guys, which left me with Sean. Traitors!

  I thought about turning around and heading back to the dormitory, but I didn’t for two reasons:

  1. I refused to let Sean dictate what I would or wouldn’t do.

  2. I didn’t want to be alone and possibly miss out on some fun. Wandering through the woods at night could prove to be exciting. At least it would be different from the adventures we’d had during previous summers.

  Suddenly, Sean stopped. “Hey, guys, sshh!”

  Everyone stopped.

  “What is it?” Trent whispered.

  “Thought I heard something.”

  “A bear?” I asked sarcastically.

  “No. There are no bears in these woods,” Sean said. “Remember?”

  I remember.

  “What is it then?” Trent asked.