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SEVEN

Grace
    It took Hannah forever to get back from the campfire. When she did, I was waiting for her right inside the Flowerpot Cabin door. “What did Lance say?”
    â€œGrace!” Hannah jumped. “You startled me!”
    â€œSorry,” I said. “What did Lance say? Where’s Vivek?”
    Hannah took a breath. “He said there’s nothing to worry about. He said there was some kind of a, uh . . . delay. Vivek will be here soon.”
    If you ask me, this sounded suspicious, and I was ready with another question . . . but stopped. Hannah was giving me a certain look I knew well. It was the same look my teacher Mrs. Keeran gave me the time I went up to her desk after school to argue about getting a ninety-nine instead of one hundred on the “Rip Van Winkle” book report.
    The look meant: “Further discussion will not be productive.”
    â€œYour turn, Grace!” Emma came out of the bathroom.
    â€œOkay, Emma, thanks,” I said, and five minutes later I was climbing into my nice clean bed and hoping the other girls would not be noisy and keep me awake.
    Don’t get me wrong, I love Emma, Olivia, and Lucy.
    Along with Shoshi Rubinstein at home in Massachusetts, they are my best friends in the whole world.
    But a person doesn’t always want to stay up talking. A person sometimes is tired.
    My bunkmates must have been tired too, because I heard very little giggling before the sounds of evenbreathing won out. Still, I could not allow myself to fall asleep immediately. I had worrying to do.
    First, there was Vivek. I do not have a crush on him the way the other girls think I do. I do not! Vivek is just a nice, handsome boy like any other nice, handsome boy who is also polite and smart and funny. Also, I think he is actually my friend. I don’t have that many friends who are boys. In fact, he is the only one. I would like to keep him.
    Also, I won’t lie. I had been very surprised when Lucy said that she had talked to Vivek on the phone. Why would Vivek have called Lucy?
    I mean, it is perfectly okay that he called Lucy. It is a free country. Vivek may call anyone he wants. But why would he call Lucy? He has never called me.
    I had asked Lucy this question earlier that evening, when we were walking to dinner. I had chosen a moment when no one else could hear, so no one else (Olivia) would tease me. I was pretty sure Lucy would not tease me. I was pretty sure I could have a crush on SpongeBob, or Oz the great and powerful, or a giraffe at the zoo, and Lucy would not tease me. She would not even notice.
    Apparently, Lucy notices wild animals that threaten triplets. Other than that, she mostly sees what is going on in her own head.
    â€œHe called to ask if I had sent him cookies,” Lucy said.
    â€œ Did you send him cookies?” I asked.
    â€œYes,” said Lucy. “Did you?”
    â€œYes,” I said.
    â€œMe too,” said Emma, coming up behind us.
    â€œSo did O,” said Lucy. “At least, I think she did, because Vivek said he got four boxes of cookies, each at a different time, and one was from Kansas City.” Lucy giggled. “He sounded pretty confused.”
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    There are several things you have to get used to if you are going to be happy at Moonlight Ranch. One is heat. One is your sore thighs and rear end from riding a horse every day. And one is the sound of the bell.
    The bell I mean is not electronic. It is a real bell attached to a rope and hanging at the top of a wood tower in front of the dining hall. A live personrings it. The sound is clear and musical and loud.
    The bell rings to announce the start of activities. It rings to announce meals. It rings to say lights-out, and most importantly, it rings to announce wake-up, which is at six forty-five.
    Some people (Olivia) complain all summer long that this is too early, but I am used to getting up early. If you do