Eternal Spring A Young Adult Short Story Collection Read Online Free

motion with my hands.
    “Now we all know your weaknesses,” Ian said. “We can control
you to our own ends.”
    “Right,” I said. “I've always been in demand with the
villainous set.”
    Mrs. Laverdiere motioned for us to pass out the
snacks—popcorn balls and juice boxes.
    The girls sang all the way back to our cabin, and I was sure
they'd fall asleep quickly.
    I was wrong.

 
 
    On Monday morning, our cabin arrived at breakfast twenty
minutes late. Sophie and I hadn't had time to wash our hair. Mine smelled like
smoke from the campfire, and hers looked a little greasy. I had no doubt mine
did too.
    “Good morning,” Ian said, sliding up behind me in the line.
    “Not so sure about that,” I answered.
    “Rough night?”
    “The girls didn't sleep. Did you know girls giggle?” I took
a tray and grabbed some silverware and napkins. “Like for hours at a time?”
    Ian's lips curved into a grin. “I probably shouldn't point
this out, but, Emma, you are a girl.”
    “Not like them. I never—" Actually, I couldn't
count the number of times my mother and Sophie's mother had yelled for us to
stop giggling and go to sleep. “It was a nightmare,” I said.
    “I guess none of us got any sleep.”
    “Oh no.” Owen. “Did Owen snore?” I'd been whining about
giggling for crying out loud.
    “Unfortunately, yes.”
    “The ear plugs?”
    “Couldn't begin to help.”
    “How bad was it?”
    “You wouldn't believe it. We were up until three.”
    “Did he stop at three?” I grabbed some toast and scooped a
serving of eggs on to two plates.
    “No. At three, I finally figured out which charm would work.
I didn't want to stop the snoring because I might interfere with his breathing,
and I didn't want to alter everyone's hearing in case of an emergency. I
finally used a charm to put up an invisible sound-muffling wall three feet from
his bed in every direction.” Ian used tongs to grab a biscuit and a sausage
patty.
    “Wow.” I wouldn't have been able to do anything. I couldn't
have helped Owen. “Are the kids being mean to him?”
    “No. They thought it was hilarious until about one. Then
they pretty much begged for death.” He smiled. “I considered granting some of their
wishes.”
    “You would never!” I reached for two orange juices and added
them to the tray. “You're really good at this. How many times have you been a
counselor here?”
    “This is my first. I had to wait until I turned fourteen.”
    “Ian!” One of the boys called.
    “Come here!” Another said.
    “Duty calls,” he said, and he carried his tray over to his
campers.
    I walked to our table and handed Sophie her food.
    “I need Starbucks,” she hissed. “Not just a latte, the whole
Starbucks.”
    “Will you share?”
    “I can't make any promises,” she said.
    I glanced down the table at five tired, miserable girls.
“We're doing a double hike today,” I told them. “And if this happens again,
we'll do three hikes.”
    “What?” Britney squeaked.
    “Seriously?” Stephanie moaned.
    Sophie grinned at me over her egg sandwich. “You can have
half the Starbucks. Definitely.”

 
 
    On Tuesday, as I passed out the marshmallows and chocolate
bars for s'mores, I glanced over at the counselors for the other girls' cabin,
the two J's. I didn't envy them. They'd woken to a camper with a giant frog's
head. I had to make a serious effort not to stare. The head attached directly
to her shoulders, and she had no neck at all. Somehow, her counselors had cut
the neck out of her yellow Camp Cauldron t-shirt to make it fit.
    Instead of being upset, the girl, Maggie, seemed to enjoy
being different. I turned to check on her. Scott had both of her counselors
wrapped around his finger, and neither was watching their campers. As I
watched, Maggie used her giant frog's tongue to swipe another camper's
marshmallow.
    My line never ended as the kids went through their
marshmallows and chocolate quickly. I knew better than to leave the