pg+7

obvious. “And, don’t you want to get out of that pond? You only got my back wet, and I’m shivering,” Rose said, obviously trying to lure me toward Shane. But the offer was very tempting considering how freezing I was. She offered me her hand and I took it. She pulled me out of the water, my hair, which was a little past my waist, looked black from being wet. Shane’s shirt was long enough to go a little ways past my upper thigh, making me a little more comfortable. “Here, take those pants off. If you wring them out, they’ll turn back to the color they were originally when they dry.” Rose said. I slipped the pants off, and handed them to her. She wrung them out really well then gave them back to me. “Well, at least you got the mud off of them.” She said while I slipped back into the damp kakis. We headed back toward where the food was, and somebody had started a fire while we had been arguing. As soon as Shane saw me, he turned toward me with a grin. “That shirt fits you well.” He said in a teasing voice. “Thanks.” Was my only response, or the only response I could get through my chattering teeth and then all the boys started laughing. I looked down to make sure the shirt covered me and saw a big, slimy snake, and screamed. I ran to hide behind Violet out of impulse. She was the only girl in my family that could handle reptiles. Shane, Jeff, and Jasper, who were sitting and eating, all fell over because they were laughing so hard. The snake had started winding it’s body around my good leg, and I was hopping around trying to shake it off of me, which got them laughing even harder. I was still screaming and hopping when I tripped over something, and fell. The snake started up my pant leg, but I grabbed it and flung it in some random direction. Then Shane’s laughter stopped, and the other boys were laughing even harder yet. Violet, Rose and my mom started laughing then. I sat up to see where it had gone, and apparently it had hit Shane in the face. Then he got the snake to unwind itself from his head, and set it back toward the trees, still laughing of course. “You never said you were scared of snakes, Molly,” he managed to say between howls of laughter. “It never came up.” Was the best comeback I had, or that would come through my chattering teeth. He got up and came over to pick me up. “Do you guys always have to carry me around?” I complained when he bent down to pick me up. He scooped me up, and then I couldn’t find any more reason to complain. He was really warm, and I was still half frozen. My hands found their way to his chest of their own accord, and my head to his shoulder. He sat down next to the fire, and had me in his lap, his arms around me to help thaw me. Or at least that was one reason. Either way I was much warmer. Then the look on Jaspers face woke me from the dazed state I was in. He was glowering at Shane with so much hatred and jealousy on his face that I looked down out of guilt. “Oh, knock it off, Jasper. She’s a frozen Popsicle.” Shane said when he noticed Jaspers reaction to his position at the moment. My legs were slowly defrosting next to the fire, my head drooping against his chest, finally making me realize how tired I was. “Do you always abandon groceries when you come try to save Jordan?” Violet said, with an air of contentment; at my position no doubt. “Yeah, pretty much.” I said drowsily then forced myself to look up. She apparently had salvaged the groceries from the sidewalk. “Thanks for grabbing them.” I said letting my head lazily fall back to Shane’s chest. “Let her sleep. She’s tired.” Shane said just as content as everybody else in my family. “Hey! What about our fight!” Joshua said