"Hey, Adelaide!"

I jolted upright just as I was about to fall asleep, my eyes blinking open and shut. I stared at Amber in annoyance and confusion.

"Oh, sorry. Did I wake you?" I noticed Caroline and Natalie were up as well. They were all standing on the floor, staring at me in a way that sent a shiver down my spine. I had a brief thought that they had been watching me sleep.

"No. Not really," I said, shifting to avoid the moonlight streaming through the window.

"We couldn't get to sleep either," said Natalie.

"Is it that obvious I couldn't?" I asked, swinging my legs over the side of the bunk. I threw my baseball down to them. Caroline managed to catch it, beginning to bounce it from hand to hand.

"It's always hard to get to sleep on the first nights here," sympathized Amber. "It's hard for me, even after being at camp for so long."

"That's because you can't stand getting your hair messy in your sleep," said Natalie, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, Adelaide, maybe you'd like to do something if you can't sleep," suggested Caroline.

I was about to point out that I was just about to fall asleep, but Amber interrupted. "Yeah... if you dare." She winked at me.

I was curious now. I rested my feet on the top of the ladder. "Do what?"

I saw Natalie cringe and disappear under her bed. "Let's play truth or dare," Caroline suggested.

I wasn't expecting that. "Huh?"

"Aren't we a little old for that?" Natalie spoke up.

"It's an awesome game!" Caroline insisted. "It's a great way to pass the night if you can't sleep."

"It's been a while since I've played it," I admitted. The last of my sleep had disappeared from me as quickly as it had come now. "But I guess it could be fun."

"As long as you don't dare me to do anything that messes up my hair," Amber quipped, running a comb through her golden locks.

"Okay, I dare you..." Caroline started.

"Wait! What if I pick truth?" Amber interrupted.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Oh, fine. Truth. But everyone has to choose dare at least once. Especially you, Adelaide." She stared at me.

She asked Amber who she liked at camp. Amber blushed, running a hand through her hair.

"I like... Liam," she admitted.

"What?" Caroline groaned. "That immature, skinny red-haired boy? He looks like a carrot!"

"He's kind of cute." Amber giggled. "And he's nicer to me. I think he has a crush on me."

"Amber, everyone knows boys are meaner to the girls they like, not nicer," Natalie pointed out.

"He was one of the boys messing with me at the lake," I added.

"Maybe he has a crush on you, then," Caroline suggested. I rolled my eyes.

"I thought you liked that boy from the city," Natalie pointed out.

"Oh, I did," Amber said with a sigh. She actually looked sad, as if she hadn't seen him in a long time. "He was so nice. We spent ages talking over the phone. He let me copy his homework and do his hair."

"That's true love right there," Natalie quipped.

Amber ignored her. "I still have the necklace he gave me. I was so terrified when I thought I had lost it in the deep end of the lake. I found it, but it's ruined now."

"Hey, I lost the beads in my bracelet while swimming too," I spoke up, holding up my wrist. "Jade was so upset when she found out I lost them. She offered to give me another one, but I had grown too attached to this one."

Amber fished out her necklace from the bottom drawer. "He said he stayed up all night making it for me. I think about it whenever I see him." She sighed dreamily, but also sadly. The necklace was beautiful, I had to admit, if a little gaudy. It had huge, colorful beads that looked like they were losing their color lined with dull pearls. It looked fine to me, if a little run-down and discolored, but I could see why the vain Amber thought it was ruined.

Amber slipped it around her neck, fiddling with one of the pearls. "I don't wear it often, or even look at it often," she admitted. "I don't like remembering him. I start thinking about how I haven't seen him in so long, and then I get sad..."

I was a little alarmed by how emotional she was getting. You'd think she hadn't seen him for years, the way she was talking about him.

"I miss my friend Jade too," I spoke up, fiddling with my bracelet. "I think about her whenever I look at my bracelet."

Amber smiled at me. "It's good that you have something to remember her."

What did she mean by that? I thought. I'd see her again at the end of summer... wouldn't I?

"It's probably a good thing you don't wear that necklace," Natalie quipped. "It's the last thing you should be wearing at camp."

Caroline gave her a look before changing the subject. "Uh, anyway, Amber, I thought we were playing truth or dare."

As the game continued, I found myself thinking about Amber's words. They were a little odd. Why hadn't she seen him in so long? Maybe she just hadn't seen him all summer, but she acted as if she hadn't seen him for much longer than that. I was glad I didn't like any boys back at home.

"What's your biggest fear?" Amber asked Caroline.

Caroline blushed. "I don't have any fears." I was glad she hadn't asked me that. I hated admitting I was scared of the dark, even if it was just a slight fear.

"Come on, you can tell us," Amber assured. "I have a whole list of fears – spiders, snakes, extreme heat—"

"Getting your hair messy?" Natalie quipped. Amber glared at her.

"It's really dumb," Caroline insisted. "Please don't make fun of me."

"I won't... unless it's something really, really dumb," Amber promised. Caroline glared at her.

"I'm scared of... cockroaches," Caroline admitted.

"Huh?" I wasn't expecting to hear that.

"At least you can't find any at camp," Caroline admitted. "It's not my fault. When I was little, my sister put a cockroach in my pillow when I went to sleep. I woke up to see it crawling on my face, towards my mouth..." She shuddered, wringing her hands in her curly hair.

"That is horrifying!" Amber exclaimed.

"No way! I once did that to my brother as well," I spoke up, laughing. "Only with spiders instead of cockroaches. I still remember how he screamed."

"My sister was such a jerk," Caroline laughed. "But still, I miss her. I'd love to be hit or pranked by her one more time. I haven't seen her in so long."

Why hadn't they seen other people in so long? I wondered. Was camp really that long?

When it was my turn, I picked dare. This game was getting fun. It beat sleeping, that was for sure. But their dare sent a shiver down my spine.

"Adelaide, I dare you... to leave the cabin," said Amber. She didn't look happy saying it, and neither did Caroline. I heard Natalie wince and disappear under her covers again.

"What?" I gaped.

Amber smiled, but I could tell that it was forced. "Go on," she urged. "I can tell you're really brave, fighting off that snake and rescuing your brother from drowning. I bet you'd be daring enough to leave the cabin after lights out."

"Yeah, it'll be fun," Caroline added. I could tell even her smile was forced. "What about it, Adelaide?"

"I... I don't know," I spluttered. I remembered how the boys in David's cabin had pressured him to do the same thing. I wasn't a wuss like him, though. I could stand up for myself and tell them if I didn't want to.

"You're not still scared by that story, are you?" asked Amber.

"Of course not!" I insisted.

"It's all made up," Caroline insisted. "All of it. They're just trying to stop us from breaking the rules. But what's the harm in leaving the cabin for a little while? The camp is really beautiful late at night. Even more than at evening. You should see it."

"How do you know that?" I pointed out. "Have you left?"

Caroline blushed. "Well..."

"Yeah, we did," Amber interrupted. "And nothing happened. It was just the story that scared us. Don't be scared of the dumb story, Adelaide."

My first instinct was to refuse at all costs, but a part of me wanted to leave. I was supposed to be brave and tough, not a wuss like my brother. All the girls at my school were amazed by how daring I was, usually. Maybe it was the perfect way to help me get over my newfound fears of the camp. If I could walk through it in the dead of the night, I didn't have anything to fear in the daytime. That thought cheered me up.

"Maybe I will," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

"That's the spirit!" Caroline cheered.

"Go on, Adelaide," Amber encouraged. "We know you can do it! You're really brave."

I climbed down from the top bunk, more carefully than I usually would've done. As I hit the bottom, I jumped as I felt Natalie in the bunk under me grab my arm. I turned my head to see her staring at me, almost pleadingly.

"Don't do it," she urged, a pleading, almost scared look in her dark eyes. "Please don't."

"Hey, it's fine," I insisted. "I'm not scared." I didn't know whether that was a lie or not.

"Yeah, Adelaide isn't a scaredy cat," Amber agreed.

"Unlike you, Amber," Caroline teased.

As I walked up to the cabin door, I hesitated. "I... I don't know," I admitted. I could almost feel the chill from outside, even though I hadn't even opened the door yet.

"You can do it!" Amber encouraged, walking up to me. "Caroline and I will come with you."

That calmed me down a little. I smiled at my friends. "Okay, let's do it!"

"So you're just going to leave me in the cabin alone?" Natalie demanded.

"Of course not," said Caroline. "You can come with us if you want."

Natalie shook her head, burying herself under her covers.

"Ignore her," Amber told me. I was staring at Natalie, wondering if there was something she knew the others were hiding from me. "She didn't want to come to camp in the first place, remember."

"You'd think that'd make her more willing to do this." I thought I heard Caroline mutter that, but I wasn't sure. I must've misheard. It didn't make any sense.

I fiddled with my bracelet. I thought about Jade. I was usually the one pressuring her into doing exciting things like this. Now I was the one being pressured. But I wasn't weak, or a coward. If I didn't want to, I'd tell them, even if it made me look like a coward.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" I asked Amber and Caroline. They stared at me in surprise as I opened the cabin door, though I winced at the loud creak it made. We headed out into the cool, ominous night air.