Strawberry Summer Read Online Free PDF Page A

the back of the house. It offered an unparalleled view of Lake Majestic. It was a clear night, and the moonlight reflecting off the waves was magnificent. Susan felt as if she had stepped into a picture postcard.
    Chris, meanwhile, had been taken under Linda’s wings. As a much more seasoned counselor, she already knew a lot of the other Camp Pinewood regulars. She introduced her around, and while Chris found it difficult to remember everyone’s name, she could already tell that they were a great bunch. Before long, they were all talking and laughing together as a group, each one trying to outdo the others with humorous recollections of things that had happened in past years. The time that some of the kids put salt in all the sugar bowls, for example, and the annual water sports competition between the campers and the counselors.
    After a while, Chris began to get the feeling that someone was staring at her. Her eyes automatically traveled to the door that led into the Reeds’ kitchen. Alan Reed was standing there, looking as if he wanted to join the crowd but hesitating, probably out of shyness. But it was Chris he was watching.
    She blushed, wondering why it was that he had singled her out. She had to admit that as uncomfortable as the boy made her feel, with his cold green staring eyes and stony silences, there was something intriguing about him. As she sat with the group of counselors, aware of his eyes upon her, she tried to tell herself that she simply felt sorry for him, since he seemed to be kind of a loner. But she couldn’t help wondering if there was more to it.
    Suddenly, she stood up and walked over to the refreshment table, pretending to want another cold drink. But the table also happened to be located right next to the kitchen door. As she casually poured herself a second glass of lemonade, she glanced over at Alan and smiled.
    “Hello again,” she said, trying to sound friendly.
    “Hello.”
    The tall, lean boy looked a lot less forbidding than he had the first time she’d seen him. His straight black hair had been combed, and he was dressed in the same kind of T-shirt and khaki pants that most of the other boys were wearing. Most of all, the look in his eyes was much more open, without the guardedness she had seen in them the day before, when he had picked her up on the driveway.
    He hesitated, then came over and helped himself to some lemonade. “It looks like everybody is having a good time.” He gestured toward the crowd in the living room, still laughing together about the funnier moments in Camp Pinewood’s history. Chris noticed that Richard and Susan had just come in from outside to join them.
    “Yes,” she agreed. “And from what I can tell, it also looks like everybody really enjoys working here at Camp Pinewood. Listening to them makes me glad that I’m here. I feel as if I’m lucky to be part of all this.”
    “That’s a shame.” Alan’s voice had become bitter, and that same icy look she had seen before had come into his eyes again. “I hate to disappoint you and everybody else, but I’m afraid that at the moment the future of Camp Pinewood looks kind of dismal.”
    “So I’ve heard.”
    “I wish I could be as carefree as they all are tonight,” he went on, staring off at the crowd of counselors but seeming not to really see them.
    There was an awkward silence. Chris broke it, her voice strangely high-pitched from its forced cheerfulness. “Well, I guess I’ll go back to the others. I see my sister just reappeared. I thought she’d gotten lost....”
    “I’m sorry,” Alan said suddenly, his voice softer. “I didn’t mean to sound so angry. Or to lay my family’s problems on you. Please don’t just walk away.”
    “O-okay.” Chris was surprised by this sudden change. She was also surprised to see this other side of Alan Reed that was suddenly emerging. And curious to know more about it.
    “Why don’t we go outside on the porch?” he suggested. “It’ll be