Day 46—Tuesday

Cheers of “We’ve got spirit, yes we do” rang out behind me as I walked down the hill from the dining hall to Yarrow. Brenda and Earl were passing a tray of Steven’s homemade pizza around their table when I slipped out of dinner, complaining again of an emergency bathroom issue.

Jordana was definitely suspicious.

“Maybe I should go with you,” she said, “in case you’re sick or something. Maybe you shouldn’t be alone.”

“You’re staying here,” Chieko ordered. “And you”—she looked dead at me—“this is the last time.”

I clutched my stomach, pushed in my chair, and ducked out. I knew Jordana would be able to see me if she looked out the windows on the back wall of the dining hall, so I had to pretend I really was going to the bathroom. I walked through the front door of Yarrow and then straight out the back so I could loop around behind senior camp and get back to the main office without being seen. I knew there was a back-door entrance to the office because I had seen Earl use it plenty of times when we were gardening.

I recited Angel’s phone number in my head as I stepped over roots and rocks and moved quickly through any shadows I could find. I wasn’t nervous at all this time. I almost felt like the stealthy rogue Angel had described.

By the time I reached Brenda and Earl’s cabin, the only sounds in the air were the distant murmurs of campers talking and laughing in the dining hall. I walked by the garden and opened the cabin door to the office so I could surprise Angel with another phone call.

But the phone was gone.

The clunky old black phone wasn’t sitting on the desk where it usually was. I scanned the shelves and looked high and low in the room but couldn’t find it anywhere.

“Looking for something?”

I jumped at the sound of Earl’s voice.

He stepped into the office from the short hallway beyond, his arms crossed over his white T-shirt, his blue bandanna hanging out of his front pocket.

My eyes shot right back to the empty space on the desk at his question.

“Aha,” he said, then disappeared into the hallway and came back a second later with the phone in his arms. “That’s what I thought.”

There was no way out of this. I was definitely not a stealthy rogue.

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and found my voice.

“How did you know?”

“I was born on a Sunday, but it wasn’t last Sunday,” Earl answered.

“I don’t know what that means.”

“It means I’ve got eyes, Vic. And I was young once, hard as that might be to believe. I know what’s going on.”

I stared at him and said nothing.

“You were gonna call Angel.”

I didn’t even blink.

“Again.” He tilted his chin down and raised his eyebrows at me.

“Fine,” I admitted. “Maybe. Yes.”

Earl walked the phone back to the desk and plugged in the cord. He lifted the receiver to his ear to make sure it was working. We both heard the dial tone fill the room. Then he hung up and said, “Angel’s a good kid, comes from a nice family.”

“You know his family?”

“’Course I do, known them for years. Think I’d let you go off with a stranger all these Saturdays? I’m responsible for you at the market. And where do you think Brenda’s birthday flowers come from every July?”

My mouth dropped open.

“I wish I had a mirror—you should see the look on your face right now.” Earl laughed to himself. He was truly enjoying this moment.

“All right. I’m busted. You busted me.” Then I asked, “Any chance you’ll still let me use the phone? Just for a few minutes?”

“Can’t, you know that,” he answered right away. “You’ll make it till Saturday, Vic. I know you don’t think you will, but you will. Trust me.”

I sighed and accepted defeat.

Then I said, “I do trust you, Earl. Like, I trust that you won’t tell anyone about me sneaking in here?” I crossed my fingers and held them up so he could see.

“I don’t keep secrets from Brenda. But I won’t tell anyone else. Just don’t give me anything else to hide this summer. Deal?”

That seemed more than fair to me.

“Deal,” I said.