Everything inside the restaurant looked like it had a golden filter on it. The booths were medium wood with intricate carvings in the sides, and the lighter wood tables and walls looked gold in the afternoon light. The smell of fried tortillas and taco meat hit me, making my stomach rumble. I hadn’t eaten much of my breakfast or lunch; it was hard to eat with a constant pit of nerves taking up all the room in my stomach.

Everyone was sorting into small groups and filling the booths, but I just stood in the center like the rock in a river my cousin thought I was.

Jasmine and Axl sat with two kids I hadn’t met yet.

Jake sat opposite Karly and the librarian, telling kids who walked over to find another table because he needed a side of the booth to himself.

“Izzy!” a girl called, waving at him. I hadn’t noticed her until then. She had long blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a tan made even tanner against her short white shorts and white crop top. I thought she looked like the daughter of Captain America.

That’s a Colette line, Mean Me pointed out. Get your own material.

“We have room!” the girl said to Izzy, poking her friend in the ribs so she’d scoot over.

“Thanks, Jackie,” Izzy said with a wave, but he didn’t join her. Instead, he scanned the room for Girl Sam and started walking toward the table where she and Boy Sam were sitting. “Come on,” he said, looking back at me. “Sit with us.”

I settled in next to Girl Sam, across from Izzy. They all started talking about the proper salt-to-grease ratio on chips, and I tried to listen and relax and just be in the moment and maybe even be open to making some new friends. But I couldn’t shake the tension; I still felt like I was being watched.

“I’m going to wash my hands,” I said.

“It’s back there,” Girl Sam said, pointing to the far corner of the restaurant.

“Thanks,” I said, scooting out of the booth. As I turned toward the restroom, I was startled by Jackie’s stare from her booth. She looked like a cat getting ready to pounce on its prey, eyes narrowed and piercing.

Not knowing what to do, I smiled at Jackie, but she didn’t smile back—and that’s when I knew. The watchful eyes I’d been feeling all afternoon, walking next to and talking with Izzy, weren’t what I’d thought at all.

It’d been her.

chapter 6

Somehow, I’d made it through the first week of camp. Now it was Saturday and I was heading to a ghost town, which would have been cool if anything felt cool right then.