Anything but Normal - Melody Carlson [5]
Sophie coughed. “I think I just swallowed a bug.”
“Nasty!” Carrie Anne made a face. “I have gum in my bag.” Sophie grabbed the bag and focused her attention on fishing out a rumpled pack of gum.
“So, did he?”
“Huh?” Sophie shoved a piece of fruit-flavored gum in her mouth and frowned. “What?”
“Did Dylan perform at Camp Calderwood?”
“Oh.” Sophie nodded. “Yeah. He was part of the worship team. And he did a few solos too.”
“So was he dreamy or not?”
Sophie just shrugged again. She realized she’d been shrugging a lot the past few days. Especially whenever Carrie Anne mentioned Dylan. She needed to be more careful.
“You’ve been acting so weird lately, Sophie.” Carrie Anne glanced her way. “You sure you’re okay?”
Sophie thought for a long moment. “No, actually, I’m not okay.”
“What?” Carrie Anne looked a little worried.
“I’ve been meaning to tell you something . . .” Sophie sighed. “You see, the mother ship landed in my backyard last week, and three purple aliens pulled me out of bed and took me aboard and—”
“Very funny.” Carrie Anne scowled. “I was trying to be serious.”
“Well, then don’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because . . . ,” Sophie threw her head back and let out a loud whoop just like Carrie Anne’s, “. . . this is our last day of freedom, and I think we should enjoy it!”
“Woo-hoo!” Carrie Anne nodded, then reached down and turned on the radio, which was tuned to the oldies rock station, her dad’s favorite. She cranked it up, and the two of them rocked out as she drove down the gravel road toward the lake.
At least Sophie pretended to be rocking out. It was easier than having a real conversation . . . and much easier than talking about Dylan. And it was better than totally freaking over whether or not he’d be at the lake. Although the truth was, she was freaking. What would she say to him if he was there? How would she act toward him? Nonchalant and slightly oblivious? Casually friendly but somewhat distant? Downright chilly and cold?
Dylan had promised to call her when they got back home from camp. But he hadn’t called. Not once. And she’d checked both the landline at home and her cell—numerous times. It was obvious that he’d forgotten all about her. That he didn’t really care. That what they’d had meant nothing to him. And that hurt. A lot.
If Carrie Anne didn’t still have such a ridiculous crush on Dylan, Sophie would talk to her about this whole thing. But as it was, Sophie didn’t dare mention a thing. She couldn’t imagine how Carrie Anne would react. In fact, she didn’t want to know. Maybe it was a relief that Dylan was dumping her after all—make that he’d already dumped her but just hadn’t bothered to send her the memo. Oh, why had she come up here today?
“It looks busy up here,” Carrie Anne said as she turned into the first parking area. “Good thing Dylan and his folks came up last week.”
“Last week?” Sophie’s voice came out sounding like a mouse squeak.
“Yeah. The Morrises have been camping up here for about a week. My mom said it was kind of their last family thing before Dylan heads off to college.”
Sophie felt a sudden jolt of hope. “Do cell phones work up here?”
Carrie Anne shrugged as she snagged a skinny parking spot, neatly wedging the Jeep between an SUV and a tree trunk. “I don’t know. Do you need to call someone?”
Sophie smiled faintly. “Not really . . . I just wondered.” She grabbed up her bag, digging around until she found her lip gloss and a hairbrush.
“Primping?” Carrie Anne peered curiously at Sophie.
Sophie felt her cheeks grow warm. “Hey, you’re the one who’s always nagging me to care about my appearance.”
Carrie Anne chuckled. “And I always figured when that happened, I’d start to care about my grades.”
“Maybe we’re changing places, kind of like that old movie— Freaky Friday.”
“No way.” Carrie Anne pulled out her makeup pouch. Tilting the rearview mirror her direction, she quickly made sure she was looking good. “I’m not ready to trade in my looks for brains just yet.”
Sophie tried not to take that as an insult,