“Uh huh,” her mother said with a smirk. She leaned down and kissed Grace on top of her red curls. “Have fun, honey. And study hard!”
“I will!” Grace said, running for the door again.
She rushed outside, closed the door behind her, and lifted her sleeping bag to wave awkwardly at the car. Alyssa waved back excitedly before jumping out of the backseat to help Grace with her things. Grace tucked her history book under her jacket as her friend ran up to her. The last thing she wanted to do was explain its presence to Alyssa. She wanted to forget all about the thing—for now.
“Hey, Grace!” Alyssa cried.
“Hey yourself!”
Alyssa looked amazing. She had grown out her dark brown hair to below her shoulders, and had worked one small braid into the front with a colorful ribbon woven through it. She wore a beaded tank top and long denim skirt, and her flip-flops had hand-painted flowers all over them.
“It’s so good to see you!” Alyssa said, grabbing Grace up in a hug. Grace dropped her sleeping bag, and the book, of course, stabbed right into Alyssa’s stomach through the jacket. “Ow,” she said, rubbing at her tummy. “What was that?”
“Oh, nothing,” Grace said. “Just a little light reading.”
Alyssa looked at Grace like she was nuts, but didn’t question her. “Let me get your bag. I’m dying to get up there already! We’ve been on the road ever since school let out. Sometimes I think South Jersey is just too far from everything.”
“Except the shore,” Grace pointed out.
Alyssa grinned. “Yes. I love that.”
Grace smiled and picked up her sleeping bag again before following Alyssa back to her mom’s station wagon. The book felt as if it was burning a hole through her New Jersey Devils T-shirt. She just couldn’t imagine three whole days at Greenwood Lake with this thing taunting her the whole time, reminding her of what was at stake. Maybe she could “accidentally” drop it out the window somewhere along the drive.
Then she could actually have some fun this weekend.
Table of Contents
Copyright Page
Title Page
chapter ONE
chapter THREE
chapter FOUR
chapter FIVE
chapter SIX
chapter SEVEN
chapter EIGHT
chapter NINE
chapter TEN
chapter ELEVEN
chapter TWELVE
Teaser chapter