We started talking about what there was to do again and they asked me what I had seen so far. I told them where I’d been — the Photo Hut, the library, up and down most of the streets; I thought about mentioning Donatello’s, but that made me nervous, so I left it out. “I couldn’t find the lake, though.”

Kirandra smiled as we approached her porch. “It’s far down Second past the bowling alley. The trees hide the sign.”

We sat on her porch a little while and when her mom turned out the lights on us, we knew that was our signal to go home. Kirandra promised to take me to the lake tomorrow. Cutler reminded her that she didn’t fish well. She opened the door and started flicking the lights on off really quickly, like some kind of horror movie. J fake-screamed like a girl and we both scattered for home.