Free Tent City by Kelly Van Hull Page B

really is hiding something. The feeling I had about being unsafe when we first got to camp is coming back.
     
    “What do you mean my brother too?”
     
    “Well, surely you can’t expect to free-load off the camp, can you?” he says with sudden ferocity, standing now in a defensive position.
     
    I don’t know how I fell for his charm in the first place. He’s acting like a real jerk right now. It wouldn’t be so annoying if he hadn’t been so charming five minutes ago. Talk about split personality. All because of a stupid question.
     
    “I don’t know what you expect a five-year-old to do, but what kinds of options are there anyway? Whatever he does, he has to be with Kit or me at all times,” I say, standing now too, eager to remove the sense of him towering over me.
     
    “You don’t expect someone to hurt him do you?”
     
    “I’m not taking any chances.”
     
    “You may change your mind about that someday. You’ll see we’re all good people around here. Hey, and sorry about the way I just came off. I do have to uphold the rules around here though. I can’t have people thinking things are different for you than anyone else.”
     
    “Why would they be different for me?” I ask.
     
    “Well, isn’t it obvious?” he asks with that grin again. This time I’m not so quick to fall for it.
     
    Instead of waiting for him to answer, I take off. I half hope he can’t keep up with me. I have a new energy in me now, and I just badly want to get back to Brody. I’m not worried about him, but I need to spend more time with him. I can’t imagine Kit likes having baby-sitting duty all the time, especially as she is starting to expand her social butterfly wings. Besides, I miss him.
     
    The rest of the way back we don’t talk. I’m annoyed that I can’t outrun him and he makes it look easy keeping pace with me. I’ll have to get used to not being the fastest kid around anymore. Not that it matters. I plan on running solo from now on. I get back, clean up, and find Kit and Brody playing a game of checkers.
     
    “Hey Brody, I was supposed to be the one to teach you how to play checkers,” I tease him.
     
    “Well, he hasn’t learned anything yet, if that makes you feel any better,” Kit says. “Did ya have a good run? I see you had some company.”
     
    “Don’t ask.”
     
    “Like that’s going to happen. Spill it, what happened?”
     
    “Well, I didn’t find out anything more about this place. It’s frustrating ya know, he acts all super nice and sweet one minute, and then the next, he treats you like you’ve got the plague.”
     
    “Well, I think he’s hot. You should give him another chance.”
     
    “Kit, that’s the last thing on my mind. I’m not even sure we should be here. There’s something going on here they’re not telling us. Do you even think it’s safe here? Honestly?”
     
    “You got a better plan?”
     
    “No, and that’s the problem,” I sigh. “And I don’t want to think about it right now. All I could think about on my run back was that the only thing I wanted was to just hang out with Brody, and try to remember why we’re doing this again.”
     
    “That sounds like a good idea,” she says, as she stands and runs a brush violently through her hair. “I’m going into camp. I’ve met some girls who are really nice and they’ve offered to show me around. You cool with that?”
     
    “Sure,” I respond and she’s out the door. I feel a twinge of jealousy. Obviously, she is going to make friends. Maybe I just thought she was going out and making new guy friends, which for some reason doesn’t bother me as much. I suppose I need to get used to being here. Before long, she’s never going to want to leave.
     
    After a few failed attempts at teaching Brody the game of checkers, we venture out to camp to get some lunch. It appears to be asparagus soup and some wild game. I can already see Brody turning his nose up in disgust. Maybe I could sneak