As soon as she’d said it, a very tall girl climbed the ladder to the top bunk closest to Summer’s and settled back against her pillows.

“Wrong choice,” she said as she picked up a book and began to read.

It was Sara. Her dad had built the swing in the rec room.

“I’ll take the top, then,” Summer said to Marcy, who winked at her. Later that night, after everyone had taken their showers and gotten into bed, Summer whispered across to Sara, “Why was it the wrong choice?”

Someone shushed her from across the room. “Lights out,” apparently, was taken seriously.

“Cockroaches, mice and spiders,” Sara said. And that was enough. Summer felt a wave of affection for the girl who had saved her from every grossness on the planet. Not four hours later, a girl named Lydia woke everyone up in the middle of the night, screaming, when she felt tickling on her cheek and reached up to find a cockroach. She was shushed by one of the adults who slept in the dorms with them at night and told not to be so weak-minded. Summer didn’t think Lydia weak-minded at all; she would have screamed louder and probably not stopped, even when told to. She made sure to smile at Lydia the next day as they made their way to the cafeteria for breakfast. The girl looked embarrassed to be noticed at all, but she raised a small hand in greeting before scurrying away to find her parents. Summer caught up to Sara near the buffet of scrambled eggs, fried ham and tomato. With her plate under her arm, she stood in line behind the girl, keeping an eye out for her mom, who should have been here by now. After a moment of contemplation, she elbowed Sara gently in the ribs to get her attention.

“Hey, thanks for warning me about the bugs.”

Sara shrugged like it was no problem and reached for the tongs in the tomato tray. The room was really starting to buzz now as people arrived for breakfast from the main building. Still no Mama, Summer thought. She redirected her gaze to her potential new friend. Sara had the palest skin. Summer could see her veins threading through her arms as she moved down the food line and dropped a scoop of eggs onto her plate. She offered the spoon to Summer. It was a small gesture, but a nice one. Summer took the spoon, smiling, and Sara smiled back.

“This is a really great breakfast,” Summer said, taking two spoonfuls of egg.

“Yeah,” Sara said. “It’s not always like this.” There was something in her voice that made Summer look up.

“What do you mean?”