Total pages in book: 12
Estimated words: 11130 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 56(@200wpm)___ 45(@250wpm)___ 37(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 11130 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 56(@200wpm)___ 45(@250wpm)___ 37(@300wpm)
My mother’s words. She seemed truly worried that her nerdy, painfully shy daughter, the one who still wore a one-piece on the beach and barely bobbed her head at bar mitsvahs, was suddenly going to go full stripper at her first high school dance.
“We’ll take them with us,” Sam says, starting across the pine-needle-covered clearing, snagging a bag of marshmallows on the way.
“But we won’t be able to roast them away from the fire,” I say, even as I hop to my feet. The only thing sadder than moping with my best friend would be moping alone. “And it’s too late to go for a hike. We’ll get lost in the dark and eaten by Sasquatches.”
He grins at me over his shoulder, his dark eyes flashing with trouble. “No, we won’t. Sasquatches love virgins. We’ll be entirely safe.”
“I thought that was unicorns,” I say with a laugh as I start after him. “Hey, wait up. Your legs are too long.”
“Then get jogging, Cho,” he says, speeding his pace. “We have miles to go before we rest.”
“Miles?” I squeak, my throat tightening. All joking about Sasquatches aside, I’m not a fan of being in the woods in the daylight, let alone after dark. “Have you lost your mind? Do you have a fever? Should I get the nurse?”
“No, I have a surprise for you,” he calls as he disappears into the first stand of trees.
“I don’t like surprises,” I shout, but Sam only laughs because he knows darn well that I love surprises nearly as much as I love Super Mario Brothers games and orange-cheese-product-dusted popcorn.
Cursing my curious nature and tiny stub legs inherited from my equally petite parents, I hurry after him, wondering what Sam’s found in the woods that might appeal to indoorsy folk like us.
But I have no doubt, whatever it is, it’s going to be worth the hiking and sweating. Sam never lets me down. He’s an amazing, loyal-to-the-bone friend. If the girls at this camp knew what was good for them, they’d pull their heads out of their asses and fight each other to the death for the chance to date him. Sure, he might be skinny, and his teeth are a little crooked, but he’s so much fun and a fabulous human.
And not bad looking either. His eyes are a gorgeous shade of deep brown, his smile is infectious, and that beard is just plain sexy.
But maybe the other girls are intimidated by the manly, testosterone-fueled facial hair and feel safer sticking with their pimply-faced, two-chin-pube-having boyfriends instead.
I make a note to share this theory with Sam…as soon as I stop panting.
It might make him feel better about being in the Lonely Loser club with yours truly.
Sadly, I know it isn’t my intimidating lady bod that’s left the boys cold. I’m about as flat-chested as they come and the unfortunate bob haircut with blunt bangs I received before coming to camp makes me look like the Korean version of Dora the Explorer.
And no one wants to make out with Dora the Explorer.
No one.
Not even the fox bandit who keeps stealing her map.
And that, honest to God, is what I’m thinking as I circle the bend in the trail to find Sam has vanished, leaving nothing behind but a piece of paper on the dry pine needles. I pick it up, discovering a crude map with an “X marks the spot” drawn in red ballpoint pen and the words “Jess’s Journey: Follow the Map for Treasure” scrawled across the top.
CHAPTER TWO
Samuel Salvatore Burgos
A seventeen-year-old who’s positive
he’s already met the love of his life.
And that she’s never going to notice him
as anything but her best bud.
Not unless he does something drastic…
And romantic…
“Sam? Sam!” Jess spins in a circle, searching the woods, but doesn’t see me hiding in the trees. She props her hands on her hips and shouts, “This isn’t funny! I’m too sunburned to read a map. Sunburns siphon away all map-reading abilities. That’s been proven by science.”
She turns again, shaking her head in disgust, but I see the smile tugging at her lips.
The only thing Jess loves more than surprises is surprises with a hint of danger thrown in. Like the time I scored tickets to the sketchy carnival at the edge of town for her twelfth birthday and we rode the mini roller coaster ten times in a row. Bolts were literally popping off onto the asphalt every time we rumbled down the slope, but the coaster was only five or six feet off the ground. We would have survived a crash or collapse and the knowledge that we might be on the ride when it crumbled was part of the thrill.
It would have been a story to tell.
Like this will be a story to tell…one way or another.
Either tonight is the night my best friend finally realizes I’m crazy about her and agrees to date me…or the night I make an epic fool of myself and have to retreat to the woods, never to be seen again.