Overnight Read online

  THE OVERNIGHT

  CHAPTER 1

  Della O’Connor tugged the combination lock, wondering why she could never get it to open on the first try. All the way down the long hall, locker doors slammed and kids laughed and shouted to each other, the daily celebration of school letting out.

  The lock pulled open on the third try. She removed it and swung open the locker door, groaning as the heart on the inside of the door came into view. Last September someone had scratched the heart, and the words DELLA & GARY inside it, into the gray paint.

  For the hundredth time Della told herself to find something to cover it up. She didn’t want to be reminded of Gary every time she opened her locker.

  She had angrily broken up with him three weeks ago, never dreaming that he would take her seriously, that they wouldn’t make up in time for the spring prom. But the prom had come and gone—and Gary was just gone! He hadn’t called her since their fight. And whenever she ran into him in the halls at school, he passed right by without giving her a chance to say anything.

  Della was looking forward to the Outdoors Club overnight. Gary would be there, and she would be able to apologize to him then. She pictured him smiling at her. Staring at the heart on the locker door, she pictured his wavy blond hair, his lively brown eyes, the way they crinkled when he smiled at her, the tiny freckles on his cheeks. The overnight will be so romantic, she thought. Camping out all night under the stars. Just the two of us…

  Of course, the other members of the Outdoors Club would be there too—including Suki Thomas, who had obviously joined just to be close to Gary. But Della wasn’t worried about Suki. She was confident she could get Gary back if she could talk with him. Well… fairly confident.

  She tossed her books to the floor of the locker and fixed her hair, peering into the small, square mirror she had attached to the locker door above the heart. With her pale skin, her bright, green eyes, her long, straight black hair, Della was very pretty. She always looked calm, cool, and together, even when she didn’t feel that way.

  Slamming the locker shut, she was surprised to see her friend Maia Franklin standing beside her. “Maia—how long have you been standing there?”

  “Not long. How do you get your hair to do that?” Maia asked.

  “Do what?”

  “Be straight.”

  They both laughed. Maia had short, auburn hair, the curliest hair anyone had ever seen, probably curly enough to make the Guinness Book of World Records! With her round eyeglasses and her short, boyish figure, she reminded Della of Orphan Annie.

  “Are you going to the Outdoors Club meeting?” Maia asked.

  “Of course.” Della jammed the combination lock shut. “Hey—did your parents give you permission to go on the overnight?”

  “Yeah. Finally. After calling Mr. Abner five times and making him reassure them that it was going to be properly chaperoned and making him promise he’d keep his eye especially on me at all times.”

  Maia’s parents were so strict with her. They treated her like a ten-year-old. “What’s their problem, anyway?” Della asked, shaking her head.

  “I don’t know. I guess they think if I spend the night camping out on an island where there are boys, I’m going to behave like a rabbit in heat.”

  “And what’s wrong with that?” Della asked.

  Both girls entered Mr. Abner’s classroom laughing. Three other members of the Outdoors Club were already there, sitting together in the front row. Gary was talking to Suki Thomas. He looked up for a split second, and when he saw that it was Della, he quickly turned his attention back to Suki.

  Suki seemed very pleased to have his attention. She was smiling at him and resting a hand on his arm. At first glance, Suki seemed an unlikely candidate for the Outdoors Club. She was very punky looking, with spiky platinum hair and four earrings in each ear. She was wearing a tight black sweater with a long, deliberate tear in one sleeve, and a very short black leather skirt over dark purple tights. The purple of the tights matched her lipstick perfectly.

  Look at Gary making goo-goo eyes at Suki, pretending he doesn’t see me, Della told herself. What do boys see in her anyway? She didn’t have to ask that question. Everyone in school knew the answer. Suki had quite a reputation.

  Pete Goodwin said hi and flashed Della a smile as she and Maia headed to join everyone in the front row. He’s kind of good-looking, Della thought, sitting down next to him, even though he’s so basic. Pete had short brown hair and serious brown eyes. He was very preppy looking. Some of his friends even called him “The Prep,” which he didn’t seem to mind.

  “Where’s Abner?” Della asked him, lowering herself into the seat, resting her arms on the flip-down desk. She watched Suki patting Gary’s arm.

  “He was called to the office, said he’d be right back,” Pete said. “How’s it going, Della?”

  “Fine, I guess.”

  The windows were open. A soft spring breeze floated in. The sweet smell of fresh-cut grass blew into the room. Della could hear the thwack thwack of tennis balls being hit from the tennis courts beyond the teachers’ parking lot.

  “Guess we’ll be planning the overnight today,” Pete said awkwardly.

  “Guess so,” Della replied just as awkwardly.

  Della cleared her throat loudly and scooted her chair forward, trying to get Gary’s attention. But he refused to turn around, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on Suki, who was pulling at the threads of his sweater sleeve as she talked to him.

  “Uh-oh. Look what just climbed out from behind his rock,” Maia warned Della in a loud whisper.

  Everyone looked up as Ricky Schorr bounced into the room. Ricky was wearing an oversized white T-shirt with big black letters across the front that read: NOTHING TO SAY. This pretty much summed up Ricky’s sense of humor, in the opinion of most Shadyside High students. Ricky tried so hard to be funny all the time, and the fact that he tried so hard was the only funny thing about him.

  He was short and thick. His clothes always seemed to be a size or two too big for him, and his black hair, which was never combed, fell down in tangles over his forehead. He was always pushing it back with his hand.

  Walking quickly, Ricky headed to the front of the room. “Don’t applaud. Just throw money,” he said, and laughed an exaggeratedly loud laugh.

  The other five members of the Outdoors Club groaned in unison. It was a response Ricky was accustomed to. The smile didn’t drop from his face.

  “Okay. Quiz time,” he announced. “Take out a sheet of paper and number from one to two thousand. No—only kidding,” he added quickly. “Here. Take a look at this.” He held up a sprig of leaves, which he dropped onto Gary’s desk.

  “What’s this supposed to be?” Gary asked, looking away from Suki for the first time.

  “This is the Outdoors Club, right?” Ricky asked, grinning. He pointed at the leaves on Gary’s desk. “Identify those. I bet you can’t.”

  Gary looked confused. He picked up the leaves. “You want me to identify these?”

  “Yeah. You’re the club president. Identify them.”

  Gary held the leaves up close to his face and turned them over and over in his hands, studying them.

  “Come on, Gary. You can do it,” Pete urged.

  “No, he can’t,” Ricky said, leaning over Gary’s desk.

  “Uh… it’s from some kind of tree, right?” Gary asked. “Beech tree? Sassafras?”

  Ricky shook his head, very pleased with himself.

  Gary hated to be wrong. He slapped the narrow leaves against his hand. “Aw, who cares?” he said grumpily.

  “You should care,” Ricky told him. “It’s poison ivy!” He burst out laughing.

  “Huh?” Gary angrily jumped up from the chair, the leaves still gripped tightly
in his hand. Ricky tried to get away, but Gary was too fast for him. He wrestled Ricky down to the floor and started rubbing the leaves on Ricky’s face and forehead.

  Ricky was laughing and screaming at the same time, struggling helplessly to get away. Della, Suki, Pete, and Maia were loudly cheering Gary on.

  “What’s going on here?” a voice called loudly from the doorway.

  Everyone turned to see Mr. Abner stride into the room, his long legs bringing him quickly to the scene of the wrestling match. “Gary, get off him. What are you doing?”

  Gary, breathing heavily, backed away. “Just getting ready for the overnight,” he told the tall, lanky teacher. “We’re having a little poison-ivy identification here.”

  Ricky groaned, rolled over, and slowly struggled to his feet. His T-shirt had rolled up and white belly protruded.

  “Poison ivy?” Mr. Abner looked confused. He reached out and took the leaves from Gary’s hand. “These are from a house plant—grape ivy,” he said, looking quizzically at Gary, then at Ricky.

  “April Fools,” Ricky told Gary, a wide grin spreading across his face. He shoved his hair back out of his eyes.

  Everyone laughed, mainly because of the shocked look on Gary’s face. “He got you,” Suki told Gary, pulling him back to his seat. “He got you that time.” Gary forced a smile to his face, more for Suki’s sake than anyone else’s.

  “Take your seats. Afraid this is going to be a short meeting,” Mr. Abner said, walking over to the window and looking out at the parking lot.

  Everyone became silent. What did he mean? He had a very serious look on his normally cheerful face.

  “I have a personal emergency back home in Nashville,” he told them, still looking out the window. “I have to go home this weekend. So I won’t be able to take you on the overnight Saturday.”

  Suki and Ricky groaned out loud. No one else made a sound. Della looked at Gary, then down at the floor, disappointed.

  “We’ll have to postpone it,” Mr. Abner said, turning around and sitting on the window ledge. “But there’ll still be time. It’s only May. We’ll reschedule it when I get back. Okay?”

  Everyone muttered agreement.

  “I’ve got to run,” Mr. Abner said, glancing up at the wall clock over his desk. “Sorry about this. See you guys next week.” He hurried out the door with even longer strides than usual, a worried, preoccupied look on his face.

  Della and her friends sat in silence until he was gone. “What a shame,” Della said, starting to get up.

  “Saturday’s supposed to be a beautiful day too,” Pete said. “At least, that’s what they said on the radio.”

  They all started to get up.

  “Hey—wait. I’ve got an idea,” Suki said, motioning for the others to come back. “Listen. Really. I’ve got a good idea. Let’s go on the overnight.”

  “What?” Maia cried. “Suki, what do you mean?”

  “Let’s go on the overnight anyway. You know. Without Abner.”

  “Go without an advisor?” Maia seemed to be appalled by the idea. “My parents would kill me! I’d be grounded for life. For two lifetimes!”

  “They’ll never know,” Suki said.

  “Yeah. Right,” Ricky cried enthusiastically. “Neat idea! We’ll go by ourselves. It’ll be terrific. No one to bother us or tell us what to do.” He stared at Suki. “Who wants to share my tent?”

  “Get real, Schorr,” Suki said, rolling her eyes. “You won’t get mosquitoes to share your tent!”

  Everyone else laughed. Ricky looked really hurt.

  “Our parents will think we’re being chaperoned. They’ll think Abner is with us,” Suki said, lowering her voice even though there was no one around to overhear. “And what they don’t know won’t hurt ’em.” She put a hand on Gary’s arm. “What do you think? You’re the club president.”

  “Well—” Gary started.

  “But my parents will kill me!” Maia protested.

  “I think it’s a good idea,” Pete said, looking at Della. “After all, we’re very responsible. We’re not going to do anything crazy, right?”

  Suki grinned up at Gary. “Not if we can help it,” she said meaningfully.

  “What do you think, Della?” Pete asked.

  Della was eager to go. “It could be fun,” she said. “We really don’t need Abner.” It could be a lot of fun, she thought. Especially if I can pry Gary away from Suki long enough to make up with him.

  “What do you say, Gary?” Suki demanded.

  “Well… okay.” He grinned at her. “Let’s do it. Let’s go Saturday morning, just as we planned.”

  That brought a cheer—from everyone except Maia.

  “I can’t,” she said unhappily. “If my parents ever found out…”

  “They won’t find out, Maia,” Della said. “Really. Everything will be fine. We’ll have a great time, even better than if we had a chaperone. We’ll come home Sunday morning as scheduled. And none of our parents will ever know.”

  “You promise?” Maia asked Della, her voice filled with doubt.

  “I promise,” Della told her. “Trust me, Maia. Nothing bad will happen.”

  CHAPTER 2

  “Did you pack a toothbrush? What about your toothbrush?”

  Della silently counted to three. Then, in a controlled voice, she said, “Yes, Mom. I packed my toothbrush. Do you think I should take my hair dryer too? And another three or four changes of clothing? It is overnight, after all.”

  “No need to be sarcastic,” Mrs. O’Connor said, squeezing Della’s rolled-up sleeping bag. “Is this rolled tightly enough? Will you be able to carry it, do you think?” Della’s mother was short and very thin—she weighed just under one hundred pounds—and she always moved and talked quickly, asking ten questions in the time it took most people to ask one. She reminded Della of a butterfly fluttering from flower to flower without ever resting. Now, Saturday morning, she was busily fluttering around Della’s room as Della prepared for the overnight.

  “Mom, what are you so uptight about?” Della asked. “We used to camp out a lot when Dad was still here.” She felt a sudden pang of regret. Maybe she shouldn’t have mentioned her father so casually. Her parents had divorced two years before, and her father had immediately remarried.

  Her mother didn’t react. She was too busy squeezing the sleeping bag. “This Mr. Abner,” she said. “You never talk much about him.”

  “That’s because I don’t have him for any classes. He’s just our club advisor. He’s great. Really. You shouldn’t worry, Mom.”

  “But why Fear Island?” Mrs. O’Connor asked. “It’s such a creepy place.”

  “Well, that’s the point,” Della said, walking over to the mirror and pulling the hairbrush down through her long, straight hair even though it didn’t need it. “It’s supposed to be exciting, see.”

  “But Fear Island… There’ve been such awful stories.” Her mother straightened some books on a shelf and then fluffed the pillow on Della’s bed.

  Fear Island was a small, uninhabited island, covered with pine trees, in the center of the lake behind the Fear Street woods. Even though it was a perfect spot for picnics and camping, and only a few minutes’ boat ride across the lake, few people ventured there because of the dreadful stories about it.

  Some said that strange animal mutations, hideous, dangerous creatures that didn’t exist anywhere else, roamed the woods. Others said the island was infected with poisonous snakes. And there were stories that the island had been used long ago as an Native American burial ground, and that ghosts walked the woods at night, seeking revenge for their fate.

  Della didn’t really believe any of the stories. She was sure they were made up by campers to discourage others from crowding onto the island. But they certainly added an air of adventure to an overnight there.

  “We didn’t want to camp in a boring state park,” Della told her mother. “We wanted to be somewhere more exciting.”

  “Well, I
hope it isn’t too exciting,” her mother said, walking up behind her and straightening the bottom of her sweatshirt. “If anything bad happens, you’ll call me right away, right?”

  Della spun around, laughing. “Call you? On what? I’ll tell you what—I’ll send up a smoke signal, okay?”

  “You’re not funny,” Mrs. O’Connor said. But she was laughing too.

  The honking of a car horn from the driveway ended their conversation. “That’s Pete,” Della told her mother. She lifted her backpack onto her shoulders and picked up the blue sleeping bag.

  “Who’s Pete?” her mother asked suspiciously. She wasn’t used to the fact that Gary wasn’t always hanging around.

  “A boy from the club.” Della leaned over, kissed her mother on the cheek, and lumbered out the door under the weight of the bulging backpack.

  She waved to Pete, who climbed out of the blue Subaru station wagon to help her with her stuff. He was wearing tan chinos and a plaid flannel pullover shirt. “Hi,” he said, pulling up the rear door. “Nice day.” The sun was high in a solid blue sky.

  “Yeah. It’s so peaceful out here.”

  “Peaceful?” He looked confused.

  “My mother isn’t out here asking a million questions.”

  He laughed. He has such perfect teeth, she thought. Too perfect.

  Then she scolded herself for being so hard on him. He was a nice guy, after all. It was nice of him to offer her a ride to the lake. He couldn’t help it if his teeth were too straight, and his nose was too straight and perfect, and his hair was too smooth, and he dressed better than anyone else.

  He really seemed to like her. Maybe, she thought as she climbed into the front seat beside him, she should try to like him too.

  But their conversation as they headed to the lake was awkward. Pete was telling her about some camping trip he had gone on with his family, but she couldn’t concentrate. His voice kept drifting in and out of her consciousness. She was thinking about Gary. She kept thinking of what she would say to him, how she would start to make up with him when they were alone together in the woods.

  “Did you?” Pete asked.