Lighting the Flames by Sarah Wendell Read Free Book Online

wasn ’ t being creepy,
watching the lines of her movement in a tiny sliver of light, but
he made himself shut his eyes before her light went out.
    He was nearly asleep
when the door opened, and didn ’ t register that
she ’ d come into his room until her arm on his shoulder woke him
up with a start.
    “ Jeremy? ”
    “ What? ” Why was she here? Was something wrong? Did his
sleeping bag cover him enough?
    “ We ’ ve got three more nights, right? ”
    “ Here? ”
    “ Yeah. ”
    “ Um,
yeah. I think so. ” Math and date identification were not something
he could manage at that moment.
    “ Let ’ s do something. ”
    “ What now? ” Wide-awake, he leaned up on one arm. Gen sat down
on the edge of the bed frame at the same moment, and their
movements made the bedsprings squeal. They both held their breath
as Jeremy put his hand on her arm to still her, and they waited to
see if anyone else was awake. Her eyes were a gleam in the shadows,
but it sounded like she was frowning at him when she spoke. He
leaned closer to her.
    “ Say
that again? ”
    “ You
heard me. ” The gentle breeze of her whisper moved across his skin, and
it was nearly impossible to keep himself from moving even
closer.
    “ You
want to … do what? ”
    “ Do
something — do something big . ”
    “ Define, please. ” He tried to keep his voice level and
calm, like he was teaching kids how to climb to the treetops. If he
sounded relaxed and confident, they absorbed those same feelings to
help them climb. Of course, now he needed to convince himself he
was relaxed and confident.
    “ Let ’ s do something huge, something totally unexpected, and
surprise everyone. ”
    Jeremy leaned back
down slowly to keep his bedsprings quiet, folding his hands behind
his head. It would be freezing and awful to sneak out at night like
they usually did, but if she had a plan, he would follow
her. “ Like what? ”
    “ Not
sure — wait, what did you think I meant? ”
    “ Anything, really. Hiring a circus. Landing airplanes on the
lake ice …”
    “ Seriously, listen to me, ” she whispered, moving her face nearer
to his so he could hear her.
    “ I ’ m hanging on your every word. ”
    She jabbed him in the ribs with her fist.
    “ Ow.
Go back to your room, wench, ” he muttered, rubbing his
side.
    “ Listen. What if we did something so spectacular each day
for the rest of the week, Winter Camp is the only thing everyone
will talk about when they get home? ”
    “ It ’ ll get people excited for summer. ” He began to
understand what she was getting at, though logical thought was
nearly impossible with her hip pressing against
his.
    “ We
don ’ t have a lot of supplies, or time, and we ’ d have to do one
shopping trip on a serious budget — on our own dime, I
bet. And … yeah, Scott would never go for it. ” Gen stopped, her
shoulders slumping.
    “ No,
the two of us can pull something off. We ’ ve done it
before. ”
    “ Can
we get away with a trip to the Super Mart? ”
    “ Maybe. But we have plenty of supplies
here, ” Jeremy said. “ I just did inventory for this
week. ”
    “ When did you have time to do that? ”
    Jeremy shrugged, but
he didn ’ t answer.
    “ So
what can we do? Talent shows and stuff like that are already on the
schedule. We need something bigger. ” His eyes fully
adjusted to the darkness in his room, and he could see the
available light sliding over her skin. She gave him crap for
wearing short sleeves but then slept in a tank top? So not
fair.
    “ We
need something that makes people look forward to summer but is
totally unique to this week. If they start talking about next
year …” Jeremy trailed off, mentally thinking through every
all-camp activity he ’ d ever witnessed or run.
    Suddenly he leaned up on one elbow again. When the
bedsprings rudely announced his movement, he froze, then dropped
his voice to a bare whisper.
    “ Gen, a third of the board is here. If
they ’ re thinking of