Side Effects Read Free Page B

tent around.
    â€œI don’t think there are any directions on this thing, are there?” I ask sheepishly.
    Zak scratches his head. “You mean you guys don’t know how to put up a tent? I thought you went camping every summer?”
    â€œIt’s been a while.” I pull several different sized poles out of their compartment and look at them like they’re from a foreign planet. “We’ll figure it out, I’m sure.”
    Jason doesn’t look convinced and with good reason. We have no clue what we’re doing. We get the yellow old-school tent up in minutes. Lexi declares the boys can sleep in that one. But a half hour later, we look like we’re playing a game of Twister with the other tent. Lexi’s inside the friggin’ thing, on her hands and knees, trying to hold down the corners. Sam is doing the same from the outside. The poles are in, but every time Whitney and Jason try to bend them in place, they pop back. I’m messing with a jammed zipper on the mesh door and getting nowhere.
    â€œHere, maybe I can hold it with my foot,” Lexi says and spreads her legs out wide to stand on two corners. Zak does the same in the opposite corners.
    â€œAnd I’ll anchor it with my arm,” Sam suggests. He lies downand looks like he’s posing with his elbow, propping up his head and the tent.
    This does nothing because as soon as I push the tent poles back in on one side and Whitney does the same on the other, the whole thing starts to lean like the Tower of Pisa.
    â€œWhoa! It’s falling!” Zak yells. “It’s coming down.”
    â€œI got it! I got it!” Whitney says trying to hold up two poles while the tent crumbles around her. She can’t stop giggling.
    â€œNo, you don’t!” Jason is the only one being serious. “You have to put the poles into the holes and then clip the—”
    â€œClip the what?” I ask. “Do you mean the zipper?” I pull at the zipper again and realize I’m tearing the mesh. “Ah! Zipper stuck! Zipper stuck!” I yank harder and the tent falls farther. “Abandon ship!”
    From somewhere inside the tent, I hear Sam yell, “Save yourself!”
    â€œI’m not leaving you behind,” Lexi says with a laugh and pulls Sam out before the tent collapses on them both.
    The two of them are in hysterics and I start in as well. Whitney leans on me, she’s laughing so hard, and I put my arm around her. Zak has his head in his hands and he groans miserably, but I can tell he’s cracking up too. It feels good to not be screaming at each other for a change. Not to see everyone walking around like we’re at a daily funeral. For the moment,we’re happy to be around each other. Then I look at Jason. His face is made of stone. “Relax,” I say and put a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll try again.”
    Jason shrugs me off. “I don’t do tents. I was on campfire duty with Mom.”
    I run my hand through my hair. You can’t please everyone. “Okay then,” I say and can’t help but sigh. “Go set up the campfire.”
    â€œI will,” Jason huffs. “Anything to get away from you guys,” he says under his breath.
    Thankfully, the others don’t hear him. Sam is reenacting the tent falling by sticking his head inside and then collapsing to the floor.
    â€œExcuse me? Do you have a permit for the night?”
    When I turn around a girl in a park ranger jacket and hat is staring at me. The outfit may scare people off, but I know the girl underneath it. The brown eyes, long, straight blonde hair, the button nose. I couldn’t forget her face even if I tried. “Anna?”
    Her stern expression softens. I see her pink lips spread into a slow grin. “Keith? Oh my God! What are you doing here?” She jogs over and pulls me into a hug and I smell the welcome, familiar scent of lavender soap. She