“It’s hard to explain it,” I said, “but I could show you, if you want. What if—what if I came over after my parents go to sleep tonight? I’ll bring the stuff we need, and we can make a fire.”

Jasper raised an eyebrow at me. “How about we don’t set a fire at the abandoned house where I’m sleeping.”

“What if we don’t do it at the house?” I said. “What if we go over to the farm? There’s a fire pit there. Totally safe.” I couldn’t believe what I was suggesting. I’d never even thought about sneaking out before. But it was exciting, having something I knew about and Jasper didn’t.

“Sure,” said Jasper with a shrug. “It’s not like I’ve got other plans.”

That afternoon, before Mom and Dad came home, I assembled my supplies. We didn’t have all the stuff for s’mores, but I found a bag of marshmallows and a stack of newspaper. I grabbed a thick old quilt to sit on, and a big box of matches. Then I rummaged in the closet under the stairs until I found the camping lantern. But just as I was fitting everything into a mesh beach bag, I heard a clap of thunder.

I ran to the window as the storm swept in. The sky was suddenly dark as dusk, and rain spattered the porch. Not a crazy summer storm that might be over soon. The kind of heavy, steady rain that goes on for days sometimes. Soaks everything, ruins entire weekends.

“Perfect,” I said out loud. “Just perfect.” There was no way we could start a fire in the storm, and I’d be soaked by the time I got to Jasper’s if I tried to walk.

That’s when Mom’s car pulled into the drive, and I had to scurry to my room, to stash my supplies in the closet.

It rained all through dinner. It rained as I loaded the dishwasher. It rained as Mom and Dad silently watched some boring documentary on the TV, and I hid in my room, trying to decide whether to sneak out after all. It would definitely be better to wait until another night, but now Jasper was expecting me, and I didn’t want to let her down.

Then, just as Mom and Dad were doing their nightly routine of locking the doors and turning out the lights in the house, the rain suddenly stopped. At first I thought it was my imagination, but when I raised the window above my bed to check, all that met my face was cool night air.

“Good night!” I sang out more cheerfully than usual, as Mom walked past my door.

“Leah!” said Mom. Like she was remembering me. She stopped for a minute in the doorway, turned to look at me, standing there beside my bed.