“It’ll be fun,” Marty said. “I’m pretty sure we’ll do the climbing wall first, before we actually, you know, do some bouldering.”

“Do some bouldering,” Ford said very slowly. “You are really weird.”

“I’ve been told.”

Ford huffed. “Oh, not because of that. I’m not meaning sex or whatever.”

Ford shifted and her knee lightly brushed Marty’s. That felt weird, and Marty slowly eased away until the contact broke.

“So why then?” Marty couldn’t seem to stop asking questions they knew they’d regret. But Ford was actually talking to them, and that made the risk worth it.

“You’re all over this outdoorsy stuff. Do you want to be a ranger or something?”

“I’m not really into the law enforcement part of rangering,” Marty said, “but I’ve been wilderness hiking and camping for as long as I can remember. With my dad.”

“That’s cool, I guess,” Ford said, sounding like nothing could be less cool.

Marty laughed. “You’d rather be sailing, right?”

“How do you know that?”

Even in the moonlight, Marty could tell Ford regarded them suspiciously.

“I heard you talking to Shannon. I wasn’t trying to.”

“Huh. Yeah. I’ve been sailing since forever. I just never figured my summer would be anything else.”

Marty nodded. “I guess maybe we love what we learn to love, you know, when we’re little.”

“You’re being weird again, Marty,” Ford said.

“Right.”

“So how come you’re not off somewhere, you know, doing wilderness stuff with him?”

“He’s active duty,” Marty said flatly. “Right now he’s in Africa.”

“Oh. He’s a soldier.”

“Army.”

“So you live with your mom when he’s not around?”

“No, my grandmother. She lives in Huntington, so that works out for the school year. But I wouldn’t want to spend the summer there.”

“Boy, we couldn’t be more different.”

“I noticed,” Marty said flatly.

Ford laughed again. “True—”

Alisha emerged from the trailhead and ambled over to them. “Late night. What are you two doing up still?”

“Sharing our life stories,” Ford said sarcastically.

Alisha looked between the two of them. “Everyone else bedded down in there?”

“Yeah,” Ford said quickly.

Marty tensed. Shannon’s bunk was empty.

Alisha said, “Probably a good idea to get some sleep. Busy day tomorrow.”

Marty stood up quickly. “I’m headed inside.”

Alisha moved off to the next cabin, and Ford stood up and looked at Marty. “What?”

“Why do you cover for her?” Marty asked softly.

“Because she’s my friend,” Ford said sharply. “Something you might not understand.”

“No,” Marty said, “I guess not.”

Ford didn’t follow them inside, but a few minutes later Shannon and Ford came in together and went to their bunks.