I jump awake, clutching the thin blanket to my chest.
What was that?
There was a crash. I’m sure I wasn’t dreaming.
I throw the blanket off and climb down the ladder. Kayla is still asleep—she wouldn’t wake if there were an atomic bomb. Surely I can’t be the only one who heard the crash.
The girls are also asleep. But the noise was too real to just be my imagination.
Frowning, I pad toward the cabin door and slide the dead bolt open. The metal scrapes and I clench my teeth. Shh.
When I get the lock off, I pull the door open.
Be brave.
Stepping onto the porch, I glance around. It’s early; the sun is still a while off from rising.
I look to my left. Olly is outside his cabin. Are we the only light sleepers?
“You heard that too?” he asks.
“Yeah, it woke me up. What was it?”
“I don’t know. I think it came from your direction.”
I glance the other way. Nothing looks off.
“Do you think something fell?” I ask.
Olly walks toward me. “Maybe. The thud sounded like something against wood, right?”
“Look,” I say, as my eyes land on the food hall. Its door is wide open. “The door wasn’t open when we went to bed.”
Olly’s eyes narrow. “Great.”
What has Lillian done this time?
Olly stops when he reaches the steps of my cabin. “Okay. You wait here, and I’ll go check it out.”
“Wait, what?” I jog down the steps and grab his wrist. “You can’t go in there alone. We don’t know what’s happening!”
“Esme, you can’t go in there at all. Just wait until I’ve seen if it’s safe.”
My back stiffens. “Yes, I can go in there.”
“I love that you have this super-chick thing going on and you don’t need saving, but right now can you please stay here?”
I cross my arms. He’s right about one thing. I don’t need saving.
I watch him walk toward the food hall. Then I follow because there’s no way I’m going to stay put. This is my mess.
Creeping closer, I try to look around the door as Olly opens it.
He looks over his shoulder and lifts his eyebrows like he knew I wouldn’t do as I was told. “I mean it, Esme, wait until I’ve gone in.”
“What if that’s what they want to happen, huh?” I whisper, wrapping my arms around my stomach as I look back toward the lake.
“Don’t be an ass,” he hisses.
A smile touches my lips as I follow closely behind him.
Groaning my name this time, like he’s beyond frustrated, he tilts his head back. “Can you not just do as you’re told?”
“No. It’s a curse.”
He turns around and I follow close behind him.
Lifting his hand, he flicks on the light and we both gasp.