Free Never Cry Werewolf by Heather Davis Page B

back.
    Ariel slid her glasses back into place. “You sure you’re okay?” she asked.
    “Uh, yeah.” I recovered a smile. “My stepmom’s pretty bad. She sent me here.”
    “Uh-oh.” Ariel stopped on the path to the cabin, putting her hand on my arm. “That happened to a friend of mine. It’s a stepmother trick. Your dad totally fell for it.”
    “She sent me here to get rid of me. I guess I really am normal.”
    Ariel shrugged, and we started walking again. “You know, I don’t think anyone is normal anymore,” she said. “Everyone’s got something weird about them. Something they think they ought to hide.”
    I nodded.
    “Oh, look!” Ariel said, pointing at a squirrel skittering up a pine tree.
    I shook my head at her. “I thought you’d been to a lot of camps—didn’t you ever see a squirrel?”
    She blinked at me. “My dad’s apartment overlooks Central Park. I’ve seen squirrels before. Not that I’m a super nature girl like you. That stuff about living in Wisconsin is true, isn’t it?” She lowered her sunglasses, giving me an appraising look.
    “Like I’d make something like that up to impress the girls of Spotted Owl?”
    “You’d be surprised at some of the stuff campers lie about.” Ariel smiled. “Anyway, I like your style. What are you doing here at the ‘most exclusive teen therapy facility in the West’ anyway?”
    I laughed at the little quote marks she was making with her fingers and said, “I’m still trying to figure that one out.”
     
    “I can’t make it,” wailed Ariel two hours later.
    I glanced up at the massive rock wall in front of us. Handholds jutted out every few vertical feet, but even that wasn’t a comfort to Ariel, who was only partway up. I tightened my hold on the rope threaded through the harness and belay device I was strapped into. From me, the rope ran to stays at the top of the rock and then down to Ariel’s gear. By controlling the slack, I helped steady her while she climbed.
    “Come on! You’re doing really well!” I called out, trying to be a good partner. Actually, she was doing okay for someone who was afraid of heights. She’d begged the counselors to let her out of the activity, but they hadn’t budged. Everyone had to take on Crescent Rock, or so they said. Conquering a natural obstacle was part of our transformation stuff.
    From a platform at the top of the wall, Mr. Winters waved his hands. “You can do it, campers!
    Let’s go.”
    “You’re almost there, Ariel!” I yelled.
    “Oi!” Austin was at the top of the pack of ten campers on the wall. He must have worked Page 34
     
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    everything out with Mr. Winters from the look of things. So maybe he was doing fine all on his own. That was a relief. “Ease up on the rope, mate!”
    His partner, Charles, let out more of the rope from the belay device, easing it through his guide hand, and Austin reached for the next handholds.
    “Check out this fake,” Charles muttered. “He acts like he’s never been to a brat camp in his life.
    He’s probably been sent away every summer since he could walk.”
    “Dude, what is your problem?” I’d been listening to Charles babble ever since we harnessed up with our partners and walked to the wall.
    “I don’t have a problem, not compared to the loser on the wall.” Charles ran his free hand through his short hair. “Judging by the goods in his backpack he’s up to his father’s old tricks.”
    “Maybe you should mind your own business,” I said, stepping away from him.
    Charles shrugged. “Common knowledge is everyone’s business.”
    “Uh…Shelby?” shouted Ariel.
    I glanced up and realized she’d actually gone up a few feet. Her face was pale and she looked like she was about to cry. I released the rope a little through my guide hand. “Good job!” I yelled. “Climb on!” It felt better to focus on something other than Charles and his