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The trees and brush had overgrown the path down to the T-shaped wooden dock, and where there weren’t plants in n that warned DO NOT ENTER

I slipped under it and kept heading down, not stopping until I sat on the edge of the old sun-bleached dock and put hing and yelling in the distance, wondering when the feeling would return to h for me to stand, and when the iht, lying down on the old wood Finally alone

Dinner was served at exactly seven that night There was no intercom or alarm system in the camp, but there were cowbells Apparently that was a universal call for food, because once the first bell rang, others echoed back, spreading the noise through the cabins and trails, all the way down to where I sat studying h to find the action--two hundred–odd kids gathered around a raging bonfire to eat wasn’t exactly subtle My feet slowed the closer I cas into the fire’s grasping fingers Rings of old logs provided makeshift seats for those who already had their food and didn’t want to eat alone in their cabins

The kids we had seen in the kitchen had set up a table full of what looked like slow cookers and wereand the fire to replenish them Dozens of kids waited in line for their turn at the pots, their plastic bowls pressed against their chests in anticipation

I spotted Lias He had a bowl of chili in each hand and was scanning the area Chubs would have walked right by hied hiht only part of his response

"Uh, no thanks I read Lord of the Flies I kno this works--everyone starts dancing around the fire and painting their faces and worshipping a decapitated pig head and then soets hit by a boulder and plulasses" Lia, but even I could see how unco to play it safe and go read--and, hey, there’s Ruby! You two can enjoy the degeneration of human decency withoutslipped, and he ca both bowls on the bushy-haired girls sitting beside him

"Have fun," Chubs said as he hurried pasthied, a sad s the ends of his lips "I’ After it being just the four of us alone for so long, suddenly being around so many people, even if they were kids like us, was a little stressful If he hadn’t liked it when one new person--ine what this was doing to his nerves "Well, if you change your mind, we’ll be here"

Chubs patted my head fondly and continued up the dirt trail, back to our assigned cabin

"What’s gotten into hi bowl of food

"I think he’s just tired," I said, and left it at that "Where’s Zu?"

He nodded to the left, where, sure enough, Zu’s sroup of boys and girls her age When she saw me, she waved I wondered hoas possible for her face to be so vibrant The Asian girl sitting next to her nodded as Zu gestured to her, as if knowing her every thought without her having to whisper a word When Zu reached over to knock back the hood of the girl’s "Virginia Is for Lovers" sweatshirt, she revealed a long, glossy black braid

"Ohthe connection instantly

"What wrong?"