Free Lights Out! by Laura Dower Page B

blinked at the Tower and tried to memorize the ropes and pulleys. She’d need the help of every haunted cabin ghost in Jasper Woods to help her climb that thing.
    But she couldn’t let the Tower distract her. That was for tomorrow.

Chapter 9
    I woke up in the morning and glanced upon the wall.
    The roaches and the bedbugs were having a game of ball.
    The score was six to nothing!
    The roaches were ahead.
    A bedbug hit a home run and knocked me out of bed.
    Oh, it ain’t gonna rain no more, it ain’t gonna rain no more.
    It rained this week and the week before—
    it ain’t gonna rain no more!
    Aimee’s head bobbed up and down, up and down as she sang along with the rest of the room. Everyone tried to wish away the rain—again.
    Madison was amazed how many camp songs were devoted to rain.
    However, the anti-rain chanting was working. Skies were cloudy, but there was no rain yet. Mrs. Goode led the room through verse seven of the song.
    Madison glanced across the dinner table at Hart, who sat directly in front of her tonight. Her stomach flip-flopped, but she didn’t know why. Was it nerves about the talent show, she wondered, or was it Hart’s face? Madison fixated on Hart’s left dimple, tracing it down his chin and back up in a circle around his lips.
    Pitter-pat, pitter-pat, pitter-pat.
    She’d replayed the scenario in her head a thousand times. Madison’s dream kiss involved lots of rain. She imagined walking along, thinking about Hart. He takes her hand and they walk on together. As they walk along, it begins to rain, so Hart pulls Madison underneath an enormous tree. He takes Madison’s face into his hands and—
    “MADDIE, PASS THE KETCHUP!” Egg screamed.
    Madison shot Egg a look that nearly knocked him off the bench. “What?” she snarled.
    Fiona reached halfway across the table, got up, and brought the ketchup to Egg. “Here you go,” she said sweetly.
    Egg grabbed it and thanked her, but he hardly looked up. He was too busy eating his drippy macaroni and cheese—with ketchup.
    Fiona sat back down again without another word.
    “What’s with Fiona?” Aimee whispered to Madison.
    Madison shrugged. “I have no clue. I think Egg is ignoring her again.”
    “So what?” Aimee asked. “He ignores everyone. Doesn’t she know that by now?”
    Madison shrugged again and picked at the little macaroni pieces on her plate. She felt like she was eating lunch at FHJH. The food tasted exactly the same and everyone had the exact same problems they had back in Far Hills.
    “Hey, Maddie, are you going to eat that roll?” Dan said.
    Madison passed the roll over to him. “No, but you are,” she said.
    Across the room, Ivy and her drones ate their dinners. Madison hadn’t seen Ivy since their cabin confrontation. She wondered why Ivy hadn’t blabbed to Mrs. Goode about finding Madison alone in the cabin, away from the scheduled activities. Usually Ivy would seize on any opportunity to tattle on the enemy, but not this time. Was she being nice —or did Ivy have other things on her mind …like winning the talent show—and winning Hart?
    “Maddie, Aimee and I are going to run to the bathroom and go through the song one more time,” Fiona said quietly. They needed to work on some last-minute dance steps they’d invented a few minutes before dinner began.
    “Okay,” Madison said.
    Egg, Drew, Dan, Hart, and Chet were playing spit-ball hockey and singing at the same time. Madison and Lindsay kept score.
    The camp staffers came into the snack shack carrying trays of ice cream sandwiches and Popsicles.
    Egg stopped playing immediately. He had instant dessert radar—and he was UP! He grabbed Madison’s arm.
    “Let’s go, Maddie,” he said, tugging on her sleeve. “I’ll get ’em for the guys and you get ’em for the girls.”
    “Huh?” Madison asked.
    “I need to ask you something,” Egg whispered. “Something serious. But I don’t want them to hear me. Come on.”
    Madison was intrigued. She