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arm, she pulled me along. “Come on.”
    I complied, legs watery, climbing up the trail through yellow light and a hot breeze. I hid my face from Tommy. Valerie said bra ; she made him think about my . . . Oh, God.
    He called to her. “Where is it?”
    “Just ahead. My dad sets up targets out here.”
    We squeezed through a crack between boulders and came out on the side of a hill, overlooking a valley. The sky was blue glass. Sand gleamed in the sun. Below, an access road ran to a complex of cinder-block buildings where Jeeps were parked.
    Abbie put her hands on her hips. “We came all the way for this? That’s just, like, buildings. Where are the jets? There aren’t even targets set up.”
    Valerie scanned the horizon. “I thought for sure . . .”
    Soldiers in camouflage appeared outside the buildings. Some hopped into the Jeeps. One was talking on a radio. And one had a pair of binoculars to his eyes, sweeping the hills.
    He called to his comrades and pointed. At us.
    “Uh-oh,” I said.
    Heads swiveled to stare. They began pointing and shouting. There was a flurry of movement, men running toward the Jeeps or back to the buildings.
    “I don’t think we’re supposed to be here,” I said.
    The flash lit the desert floor. White light wound with orange, fireballs erupting from the buildings. The boom hit us and echoed off the rocks.
    Valerie clapped her hands over her ears. Tommy dropped to the ground with his arms over his head. Abbie shouted, “Oh, crap.”
    Flames poured into the sky. The buildings disappeared, billowing black smoke. One of the Jeeps lay flipped upside down like a turtle, burning.
    “I don’t think that was supposed to happen,” I said.
    Flames and smoke towered into the sky. After a second I caught an acrid whiff. Down on the valley floor, soldiers ran to and fro outside the ring of destruction.
    “Something’s wrong. Did they all get out okay?” I said.
    One of the Jeeps swung around and began driving toward us, flinging up dust. The voice inside my head said, This was secret. You weren’t supposed to see .
    “Oh, God.” Abbie sprinted away, back down the trail.
    Tommy jumped up and ran after her. The Jeep lurched over the sandy ground below us and began to climb the incline.
    I tugged on Valerie’s arm. “Come on.”
    I ran. After a few seconds I heard her running behind me.
    We pummeled back down the trail. The wind funneled between the rocks, blowing smoke over us. I breathed through my mouth to shut out the smell. The light smeared red, and I glanced up to see smoke dimming the sun. And then I saw something worse. Cruising overhead was a military helicopter.
    I was so dead. Ms. Shepard was going to haul me away by the ear. And she’d call my parents. I streaked down the trail into the canyon, and stopped cold.
    The helicopter sat on the ground, rotors blowing sand. Ms. Shepard was herding my classmates onto the bus. Soldiers in camouflage had pulled Abbie and Tommy off to one side. Abbie looked ashamed.
    Busted.
    Valerie pounded into me from behind. She gasped at the sight of the helo. A soldier walked toward us.
    We were totally busted. Unless I could talk us out of trouble. And man, was I good at talking.
    “I can explain. I . . .”
    I felt blood running down my nose and over my top lip. I wiped it off and my hand came away bright red. Valerie gulped, looked at Ms. Shepard herding kids onto the bus, and pointed at me.
    “Nosebleed said we’d see the best drawings if we followed her.”
    My mouth fell open.
    Heads turned. The soldier, Ms. Shepard, and my entire class stared at me. The rock in my stomach began to burn. Valerie hugged herself and started to cry.
    “It’s not my fault.” She turned to me, lips quivering. “Why did you make me do it?”
    My fist went into her face.
     
I swirled the wine in my glass. “Valerie blamed me for the face she grew into.” The one that ended up carrying so much weight. “Did I tell you she threatened to get a nose job and sue