Right now she and Dirk are splashing around the lake together, Gordy thought. I wish I’d paid more attention to her when she checked in last Saturday morning. It was so early and I was tired and talking on the phone. Then one of the groundskeepers had taken her in the golf cart up to her cabin and that’s the last I saw of her. To the best of Gordy’s knowledge, Miss Long had hardly emerged since. Except of course when I try and do a good deed and hope to see her. It’s then she’s out for a jog.

Gordy had peeked out the window when Dirk and Miss Long headed across the parking lot together. She sure was cute. And closer to my age than Dirk’s, Gordy thought. She can’t be more than twenty-two or twenty-three. I’m seventeen and Dirk is already thirty-two. He’s too old for her! Gordy had worked at the resort all summer. It didn’t seem like his boss dated much, but he sure seems to have taken a shine to Miss Long.

I could kick myself, Gordy thought. When I went up there this morning, she didn’t open the door because she wasn’t dressed, but she sounded so sweet. Then I had to joke that it reminded me of when my mother had curlers in her hair and didn’t want to be seen. How dumb was that! She must think I’m a complete nerd.

Sighing, Gordy looked up at the clock. He realized that it was almost time to leave. On Thursday afternoons, he volunteered at a day camp for underprivileged kids. The camp had a special program where teenaged volunteers like Gordy showed up once a week, played baseball with the boys and girls, had dinner with them, followed by a campfire where they all sang and told stories. Everyone went home by nine. Thursday was the only late night at the camp and the kids loved it. Sometimes Gordy would bring his computer and give lessons on how to use search engines for schoolwork. Gordy willingly admitted he was a techno geek. His mother always teased him about it. Gordy, she’d say, when I was growing up we had one phone—a landline—and no call-waiting or caller ID. If Aunt Jessie sat on the phone all night, blabbing with her boyfriend, no one could get through. We didn’t have computers, or cell phones … It was a different world.

It must have been horrible, Gordy thought. If there was a new gadget on the market, he would buy it the day it came out. With his own hard-earned money.

I’ve really got to go soon, Gordy realized. But Dirk wasn’t back yet and Gordy always talked to him before he left for the day. Dirk was funny like that. If you left without saying goodbye, he’d get insulted.