A Bet Turned Deadly. Alice Zogg

to work for Todd and Marcelo,” I said.

      “I can understand it in Todd’s case, but what could a brain like Marcelo and her possibly talk about?”

      I said, “Get real! He may be majoring in physics, but I doubt he’d be interested in discussing the quantum theory.”

      “The attraction must be strictly physical.”

      “Good guess, Tala, considering that he is a 21-year-old male with hormones at their peak.”

      She ignored my sarcasm and continued, “And did you see what Candie was wearing?”

      As a writer I try to notice detail, but, like most men, fail to pay attention to clothing. I admitted, “No.”

      “Well, let’s just say that her outfit was by no means appropriate for camping.”

      I changed the subject and remarked, “I had an interesting talk with London. I never gave much thought to ghostwriting, but she made me aware that the job can be interesting and fulfilling.”

      Tala remarked, “Hannah sure is protective of her. Did you see how she pounced on Curtis when he made that silly comment to London?”

      “I would react the same way if he’d try to hit on you.”

      “I can take care of myself, thank you! And what he said can hardly be called ‘hitting on her.’ He just tried to be funny.”

      “He’d better watch his mouth in the future, though.”

      There was a long stillness again, then she suddenly said, “You never told me that you were a Boy Scout nor the rest of that episode.”

      “Oh, I wasn’t a Boy Scout and the peeing in my bed thing never happened. I made it all up since I’m better at telling fiction than true stories.”

      Tala giggled and said, “You were the real prankster tonight, fooling everyone!” Then she said, “It’s been a long day. I’m bushed,” kissed me good night, zipped her sleeping bag up to her neck, and was gone in a matter of seconds.

      I wished that sleep could have come that easy to me. It may have been the heavy meal, or the way fragments of the day’s events popped into my mind, it certainly was not the distant sound of the creek - - after all, I had made the running water thing up - - but I spent another sleep-deprived night for the second time in a row.