Lights Out! by Laura Dower Read Free Book Online

go to the bathroom in this ,” Ivy said, pointing outside. “I’ll get wet.”
    Madison nodded. “Yes, that’s what rain does, Ivy.”
    Almost as quickly as it started, the rain began to slow down again. The breeze was cooler now. The storm had swept through in mere minutes. Everyone in the cabin watched through the screens as the showers stopped.
    Whoo, whoo.
    “What was that ?” Rose asked.
    Everyone was getting jumpy.
    “Is it darker out there now or is it my imagination?” Stacey asked.
    “Definitely darker. Pitch-black,” Aimee said. “But now that the rain has stopped, you can go to the bathroom, Ivy.”
    Ivy made a face. “Excuse me?”
    “Yeah. Have fun,” Madison said.
    Ivy looked angrier than angry. Her bottom lip stuck out like she wanted to yell, but nothing came out. For the first time in a long time she was totally speechless. It was certainly the first time on the trip that something had shut her up.
    Madison listened for sounds from outside. Was there a giant owl lurking out there? Had the rain really stopped? What other creatures lived outside the door of their cabin in the middle of the woods?
    “I don’t have to go anymore,” Ivy said. “Isn’t that funny?”
    Aimee laughed out loud.
    “Don’t be rude,” Joan snapped.
    Aimee laughed again.
    Ivy said she would rather wait until sunrise than risk walking through the dark, wet woods to use the bathroom.
    “Why doesn’t one of your friends just go with you?” Madison asked.
    Rose and Joan looked over at Ivy and then back at Madison. This was getting interesting.
    “Hey, I don’t have to go,” Rose said quickly.
    “Me neither,” Joan said.
    Aimee laughed again. “This is perfect.” She sat on her bed, leaned back, and crossed her ankles.
    Ivy rifled through her bag, acting distracted. But everyone’s eyes stayed right on her. Madison could hear the sound of heavy breathing. It was the sound of a crowd watching the enemy on the edge of…embarrassment.
    Madison loved every moment. She knew something had to be done.
    “If you really have to go, Ivy,” Madison said suggestively, “don’t wait. I’ll go with you.”
    Aimee shot Madison an evil stare. Fiona even gasped a little.
    “Excuse me?” Ivy said.
    “Let’s go,” Madison said, pulling on her sneakers and grabbing her flashlight and toothbrush. She strolled over to the cabin screen door. “I’m not afraid to go, are you?”
    Ivy shook her head. “Of course I’m not afraid. Duh!” She grabbed Rose’s wrist. “And neither are they.”
    “But we don’t need to go… We told you….”
    “You know what? I’m going, too,” Aimee said, joining in on the fun. She leaped off the bed where she was sitting and pulled on her rain jacket.
    Fiona, Lindsay, and Stacey grabbed their stuff, too.
    Whoo, whoo.
    “Did you hear that ?” Ivy asked.
    Madison shrugged. “An owl,” she said plainly.
    “Oh yeah, of course,” Ivy said. “Fine. We’ll go.”
    Madison stepped out into the damp woods first. Everyone else followed closely behind. The owl hooted again. Half the girls screamed.
    “Shhhhh!” Madison cautioned. “Mrs. Wing will come back if we don’t keep quiet.”
    “Who put you in charge?” Joan said in a gruff voice.
    “OUCH!” Lindsay cried. She’d stepped on a rock.
    Slowly the members of Maple cabin shuffled through wet leaves and pine needles down toward the outdoor facilities a few hundred yards away.
    Madison could see the one bare light bulb in the bathroom swinging in the wind.
    “How far is it?” Aimee whispered, shivering a little.
    “Yeah,” Ivy barked. “How far, Maddie?”
    Madison looked around. Trees groaned around them like dark monsters. She wondered how she got here—and why she was leading the pack.
    But it was definitely too late to turn back.

Chapter 6
    “W OW,” FIONA SAID. “LOOK UP.”
    The group stopped momentarily to gaze at the speckles of white and yellow in the night sky. The stars were bright, even through clouds.