Nerd Camp (21 page)

Zack joined Gabe and his dad in front of the mirror. “And when we walked to his other class, all these girls were saying hi to Gabe like he was a celebrity.”

Gabe blushed. “They just knew me from karaoke and the hairstyles activity.”

“And this girl Amanda kept telling everyone that she was the snake killer's best friend.”

Gabe shook his head. “Amanda Wisznewski.”

Zack went to stand behind his mom, who was putting on her lipstick. “And then, in his poetry class,” Zack said, “everyone read poems that they wrote, and Gabe's was the
best one! The rhymes were all really good, and it was all about camp, but he didn't have anything about the snake in it because he wrote it before we saw the snake.”

Carla smiled at the two boys with her newly red lips. “I'm so proud of you, Gabe,” she said. “Both of you, for being so brave.”

Gabe's dad bent down and touched Gabe's hair, which was gelled just like Zack's. “And I'm just as proud of you both as I was the first time I heard the story,” he said, giving Gabe a kiss on the forehead. “And the second. And the third.”

Carla laughed and took off the apron she was wearing over her wedding dress. Her sister, Zack's aunt, helped pin a short, white veil into her hair. “It is a great story,” said Carla. “I'm not tired of it yet.”

“You had to see this snake, Mom,” said Zack. “It had these red spots all over it.”

“Outlined in black,” said Gabe. “That's what made me sure it was an eastern milk snake.”

“He knew it from camp
Jeopardy!
” said Zack.

“I invited the snake to the wedding,” Gabe's dad said. “But he had a prior engagement.”

Gabe and Zack cracked up.

“But are my two best men ready?” Gabe's dad asked.

“Some people are waiting for us to get married.”

“Okay,” said Zack. “We'll tell you the rest later.”

The four of them held hands as they walked to line up for the wedding ceremony. Gabe knew that this was just the beginning.

Awake, with his eyes closed and the lights out, Gabe absorbed the night back in his own bed. School started in the morning, which meant the summer was officially coming to a close. What a summer it had been.

The sound of crickets coming through the open window was quieter than it was at camp, and despite the breeze the air was stickier. He smelled coffee rather than grease, and since his mom had already shut off the TV and gone up to her room, there were no distant voices like the counselors in the clearing.

Gabe put on his glasses to look at the time. 12:02 a.m. It
was later than when he'd snuck out of bed to kayak to Dead Man's Island, but not as late as when the UFO landed and broke Color War, or as late as he and Zack had stayed up the night of the wedding. He wondered if Wesley was talking in his sleep right then and if Nikhil was starting a new book at the end to make sure it worked out okay.

He took off his glasses and tried once again to fall asleep. But after a few minutes, he put them on again and got out of bed. He tiptoed downstairs and jiggled the mouse to wake up the computer. Pressing lightly on the keys so as not to make any noise, he started to type a letter that he'd print out and send to four people: Nikhil, Wesley, Amanda, and Zack.

I don't really have anything to write about yet because school only starts tomorrow. But I'll keep writing and telling you everything, especially the nerdy stuff! You have to write back!!

I was so busy with the wedding that I didn't get to send you a copy of my final poem like I promised. Here it is.

A Camp Sonnet

I know some people wouldn't think it's cool

To go to camp at the SCGE,

Because you're spending summertime in school

And learning logic proofs and poetry.

It's true that here we exercise our minds

And sing about the countries of the Earth

And learn past the 19
^th
digit of Pi

And build a lab to study lice's birth.

A rocket crashed our field day like a bird,

And Wesley did his math asleep at night.

Some people think these givens make us nerds.

At first I worried logic proved them right.

BUT

If NERD CAMP's what you call 6 weeks of fun,

That only proves that nerds are number one!