Kaiden walked me at a take no prisoners pace across the church lawn to where his usual crowd was gathered. As we hurried by I saw Toby stuffing his face full of brisket. He was sitting at a church table with his parents. One eyebrow quirked up as we went by and he gave a desultory wave before returning to his food. No rescue from that quarter. There was no sign of Harv, who flatly refused to set foot on anything like church grounds, or Gabby, who should have been there. No rescue at all, then.

"Hi Kaiden," Carly, Sam and Trae said in a repeat of their sickening chorus under the bleachers.

"Hey," Kaiden said, not releasing my hand. "This is Kelsey. That's Carly, Craig, Sam, Don, and Trae."

Craig had a possessive arm draped around Carly's neck. She looked at me with what appeared to be a friendly smile.

"Hey Kelsey," Carly said, then the other two girls echoed her. "Craig's the new captain of the football team since Kaiden wimped out."

I didn't know how to reply to that, so I flashed them all what I knew was a weak smile. Carly was dressed in a floral romper that barely covered her rump and cute gladiator sandals that laced all the way to the knee. Sam was wearing mint shorts that actually didn't cover her bottom with a white eyelet off the shoulder top. Trae was looking grumpy yet stunning in a full-on Sunday Go To Meeting outfit. Peach dress with matching sunhat and white shoes and tiny clutch purse on a gold chain.

"I'm glad someone else dressed up," Trae said. "These two look like they're going clubbing instead of to church."

"Give it a rest, Trae," Sam said as she self-consciously pulled down on the back of her short. "This isn't church."

"But it's by a church, isn't it?" Trae looked to me for confirmation and I nodded. "You bitches got no respect. Come on Kelsey, let's get a coke."

And once again I found myself being half-walked, half-dragged across the lawn. Trae's white pumps didn't slow her down at all on the uneven lawn. She fished around in a cooler and jammed a can of soda in my hand.

"In case you didn't notice, Carly's dating Craig now, since Kaiden lost his mind and demoted himself to second string," Trae said. "Don's off-limits because he and Sam have been dating since, I don't know, middle school?" Her expression turned slightly pitying. "And just warning you. Don't expect too much out of Kaiden. He likes to pretend to be the player, but what his game really is, nobody knows."

"You lost me at 'let's get a coke'," I said with too much honesty.

To my utter amazement, Trae threw back her head and roared with laughter. Several heads turned out way, and then she was dragging me across the lawn, back to the group again.

"You're going to be all right, Kel. I like you!" Trae said as she deposited me back beside Kaiden.

The conversation turned to the upcoming away game, which the pep band wasn't attending, and who'd be sharing a room and who thought that their roommate wouldn't snitch if they snuck out. The guys segued into a bunch of boring football talk of how they were going to kick the other school's ass while Sam and Carly went into a huddle and braided each other's hair. Impromptu grooming done, Carly turned to me.

"So you coming out to the lake tonight?"

"I can't," I stammered.

Kaiden broke off from the football circle jerk. "Aw, come on, Kel. It won't be the same without you."

"Just the same as the last ten times, Sam said in an undertone. Don swatted her rump and she giggled, but shut up.

"Mrs. Simmons would never let me go out at night."

"Sneak out," Carly suggested as she snuggled back into Craig's armpit. "Kaiden will pick you up, won't you, Kaid?"

"I really can't. Some other time, when I've had time to plan," I said.

The smell of Werewolf reached us before Kim did. I still had no idea why she insisted on wearing that stuff.

"Hey Kel. Want to introduce me to your friends?"

I bit back the comment about them not being my friends and did the introductions. Don checked Kim out enough that Sam elbowed him in the ribs, and Carly and Trae were polite but disinterested. Craig whispered something in Carly's ear and they turned toward the little clump of trees behind us. Carly let out a gasp, freezing in place and leaving Craig to stumble a few steps on without her.

"What's wrong, babe?" Craig asked.

"I saw a man. I think he's a Mexican. There's a Mexican lurking in the bushes!" Carly's voice went up to a near shriek.

"Great way to be a racist asshole, Carly," Trae said. "You wouldn't know a Mexican if one came up to you in a sombrero handing out free tacos. He probably looked darker than your lily ass because of the shade."

"The important thing," Sam broke in, "is that there is a strange adult in the bushes." She pointed dramatically. "Right there!"

We all looked. A midded-aged man, not too tall with black hair and one of those fancy short beards all shaved into a cool shape was indeed standing some distance away from the church grounds, deep in the copse of trees. His skin did look very dark, not as dark as Trae but definitely not a white guy. He noticed us noticing him and gave a wave and walked on.

Mr. Coach Marks, the football coach and husband to the female Coach Marks, chose that moment to come check on us. The group exploded into an excited frenzy as everyone (except me) tried to explain the appearance of the stranger at once.

"Okay, okay, settle down. There's a walking path back there. I'm sure it was nothing. He moved on, right?"

"But I think he was a Mexican!" Carly wailed. She buried her face on Craig's shoulder.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph," Trae yelled. "Will you shut the fuck up about Mexicans? Racist bitch!"

Trae stalked off, ignoring Mr. Coach Marks's admonition about swearing while Carly and Sam both burst into tears. Mr. Coach Marks solved the situation by herding the whole group of us away from the edge of the woods to the horseshoe pit. There he made the last hour of the church picnic a living hell by making us all play competitive horseshoes, coaching and correcting everything from our postures to our wrist flicks. Kaiden helpfully held my parasol over my head every time it was my turn.

Eventually, Trae came back to the group and there were more tears and apologies all round. As I stood there dry-eyed, I wondered if Kaiden liked girls who cried a lot. He seemed to be paying them no mind at all, instead focusing on something Mr. Coach Marks was saying about how to get the best sound out of a 'ringer'.

I wasn't getting any ringers. It was a wonder I hadn't killed someone with a horseshoe. But still, I had fun. Kaiden made it fun. Eventually, he dragged me over to introduce me to his mom. I dug my heels into the horseshoe sand.

"I already know your mom. She's my orthodontist, remember?"

"All the more reason why you should come say hello!"

So I said my lukewarm hellos to Dr. Preston, who insisted that I should call her Edith except when we were in the dental office. She and a couple of other women I didn't know were chatting and so it didn't take as long as I feared. She patted Kaiden on the back and told him to fetch me some food, but by that time, Ann Simmons was barreling down on me, rounding me up to head home.

"You know my foster Kelsey?" Ann asked Dr. Preston in a sticky voice.

"I do," Dr. Preston said. "If you'll excuse me." Dr. Preston and the other two women hurried off, leaving me alone with Ann and Kaiden.

Ann was strangely silent on the van ride home, an unexpected relief. It gave me time to think about the strange man in the woods. I was pretty sure that he was looking mostly at me and not the other kids, Carly's shrieking about Mexicans aside. Creepy.