Stranded Read Online Free Page B

good-naturedly.
    â€œWe kept trying to catch up.” Jeremy laughed. “You girls should try out for the Olympics.”
    â€œIs canoeing even an Olympic sport?” Chloe asked, appreciating the compliment.
    â€œOh, it is, and I’m sure you’d make the team,” Wes said. “You sure you never did this before?”
    â€œPretty sure,” Chloe replied. “I must have a good partner.” She poked me in the arm, and I knew then if I’d met her as a kid, we would have been friends. Maybe we still could be.
    â€œAll right, who wants to go fishing with me?” Chris asked.
    â€œNot me,” Wes said. “I’m going swimming.”
    â€œMaybe Isaac will,” Jeremy offered, trying to be polite, but the look on Chris’s face made me believe I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like him. Strangely, this revelation didn’t make me feel better.
    â€œMaybe,” Chris said, and nodded. He looked like he was two seconds from deciding to go by himself, but then Oscar and Isaac paddled in. From Oscar’s expression I couldn’t tell if he was exhausted or pissed off. Maybe both. He pulled the canoe up on the sand in silence, grabbed his gear, and trudged up the beach to the campsite, only flicking his eyes at me once, sort of a look of shared commiseration.
    â€œOkay, campers,” Chris said. “Take a swim, cool off, settle down, and I’ll be back in a bit with some fish.” He pointed (more like jabbed) a finger at Isaac. “How about you come with me. I don’t like fishing alone.” The way Chris said it made it an order, not a question, and he put the tackle box and rods into the canoe before Isaac even had a chance to protest.
    â€œWhew,” I heard Wes mutter to Jeremy after Chris and Isaac had paddled back out. “Dodged a bullet.”
    They don’t like him either.
    â€œC’mon.” Chloe pulled me up the beach in the direction Oscar had gone. “Let’s go swimming.”
    *  *  *
    The waterfall beat down on my shoulders like a vigorous masseuse, working out the knots and stiffness in a few minutes. I gave my scalp a much-needed shampoo-free scrub, enjoying the feel of icy water coursing over my head.
    â€œAren’t you gonna rinse off?” I really wanted to wash my hair, but Chris said the BWCA had a rule against bathing within 150 feet of water.
    â€œNo. I’m good. I . . . ”
    â€œCannonball contest!” Wes shouted, interrupting Chloe. “Points for biggest splash! Bonus for creativity!” He jumped off the tallest boulder, tucked himself into a ball, and hit the water with a hollow plunk.
    â€œEmma?” Jeremy waved at me. “You in?”
    I shook my head and dismissed them with a wave and a smile. “No thanks!” A year ago I would have joined them, but now I waded onto the beach and sat down next to Chloe, who had climbed onto her beach towel and sprawled out to soak up the afternoon sunlight.
    â€œBoys.” Chloe raised her hand to shield her eyes. “They don’t change, do they?”
    â€œSome don’t.”
    Jeremy jumped off the boulder and opened up into something that looked like a belly flop. He hit the water with a painful crack, and Wes responded by laughing like an idiot.
    â€œYou got a boyfriend?”
    â€œNo. You?”
    Chloe sighed. “Not anymore.” She sat up suddenly and examined the tangerine polish on her toenails. “It’s probably for the best, though. Starting college in the fall. They say you should be single.”
    â€œI’ve heard that.” I suddenly did not want to have this conversation. I’ve never had a boyfriend, and I wasn’t going to college in the fall. I wasn’t going anywhere. I wanted tostand under the waterfall. I wanted to submerge myself and scream. I wanted to jump off those rocks like Jeremy and Wes and see how hard I could hit the