OMG, I miss u soooo much. come home! it's totally not the same without u here. Lara is soooo not u! she doesn't understand any of my jokes! and she has this, like, weird toe on her left foot that she never shows anyone-did u notice how she never wears sandals? but i saw the toe when we were getting into my hot tub yesterday. it's like, all bent. she really should get that fixed.

ANYWAY, i wanted to let u know i started this cla.s.s that's taught by that lady who led that modeling thing we went to? her name's Lulu, but i bet that isn't her real name. anyway, she called my house when i was in Florida and invited me to take it. i'm sure if i got invited to take it, that you would have, too. all of the B-cliquers are here and they're so obnoxious and I really, really need you! it's kind of expensive, but my mom said that she would pay for you to take it with me if your parents will let you. it's just for the summer and my mom said you could stay here for that long. so you have to say yes, say yes!! the cla.s.s is reeeaaallllly good!! let me know as soooon as possible!

Love your bestest ever buddy, Chocolate (egg)Claire My throat tightens when I finish the letter. I can hear Claire's voice so clearly and picture her at her laptop, probably out by the pool when she wrote this. And then she took the time to print and fax it, and that was really thoughtful. I feel bad for thinking it, but part of me is glad that Lara has a freaky toe. I fold the letter back up and head over to Melanie. She's standing in the center of the large sun dial, twisting left and right, trying to cast the strongest shadow. It's late morning though, so her shadow won't be very long. I don't even know how I know that. As much as I try, I can't seem to squash down that inner-geek again. It's threatening to take over. I shiver at the thought.

"Did Mom or Dad see this?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "It came in while I was helping Kenny with the flyers for the eclipse. Why?"

"No reason."

"You're not thinking of going, are you?"

"You read my letter?"

She hops out of the sun dial. "How could I not have read it?"

"Easy. You just . . . oh never mind, it doesn't matter."

"You think they'll let you go?" she asks.

I shrug. "Maybe. If it's just for a few weeks."

She looks down at her sneakers and doesn't say anything.

I sigh. "This could be a really good opportunity. Mom was worried it was a scam, but Claire says it's really good."

"I know," Melanie says. "It's just that, well, what if something happens and you're not here?"

"Something like what?"

"You know, during the night. While I'm sleeping."

"You haven't had any night terrors since we've been here. And if you do, Mom and Dad aren't going anywhere."

"I guess," she says, still not meeting my eyes.

"Don't worry, they'll probably say no. I'm not even sure I'll ask. C'mon, let's go have breakfast. Or lunch. Or whatever they're serving."

"I'll try to meet you there," she says, cheering up a bit. "I need to finish helping Kenny. You haven't seen Jack, have you?"

"Not since last night sometime. He was with that weird old lady in the Star Garden."

"What weird old lady?"

"The one who's always knitting that red scarf. You know, the really old one with the white hair?"

She shakes her head. "Nope. Well, if you see him, will you tell him the good news?" For a second I think she's talking about my modeling cla.s.s, and then I remember about the planet.

We're about to part ways at the path when she stops and says, "So you were in the Star Garden last night?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So what'd you see?"

"What do you mean?" I ask, knowing very well what she means.

She rolls her eyes. "Stars, planets, the moon, s.p.a.ce junk. You know, what did you see?"

"What's s.p.a.ce junk?"

"s.p.a.ce junk is junk in s.p.a.ce, like in orbit around the earth. Pieces that break off of satellites, or the s.p.a.ce Station, or rocket boosters. Nuts, bolts, astronauts' gloves."

Usually when Mel starts talking about anything science-related I tune her out, but this is actually interesting. "So these things are just floating around up there?"

"Not floating, more like zooming really really fast."

"Can any of it crash to Earth?"

"You mean like a meteorite? Like Ally has?"

"Huh? Ally has a meteorite?"

She tilts her head at me. "That thing she wears around her neck all the time? You never asked what it was?"

I shrug. I had figured that old pouch was some sad attempt at jewelry. When I don't answer, she sighs. "Why are you so interested in s.p.a.ce junk?"

"I don't know," I say honestly. "I just think it's cool, and kind of creepy."

"You should learn about it then."

I gaze at her blankly.

She gazes back with the same "I can't believe we're related" look I so often give her. "When you're interested in something," she says very slowly, "it can be fun to learn as much as you can about the subject. Whether or not a teacher a.s.signs it to you. You can learn about it on your own."

"That's okay," I a.s.sure her. "I'm not that interested."

She sighs again, then says, "You didn't look through the telescopes last night, right?"

I consider lying, but I'd probably mess up and name a planet that was destroyed by an asteroid or something. If that actually happens. "Right," I admit.

"Why?"

"I don't know," I tell her, starting to get annoyed. What business is it of hers?

She opens her mouth to say something but closes it again. "I'll see you later," she says instead. I watch her hurrying back toward the house that will soon be ours. I have a feeling she knew exactly why I didn't look.

Instead of heading to the pavilion to find something to eat, I go back to the cabins to find Mom and Dad. I knock and then go in, but they're not around. In only a week's time, they managed to turn their cabin into a duplicate of their office at home-books, papers, notes and computer equipment lay on every surface, including the floor. I pause before going back out, and consider actually picking up a notebook to see what they're working on.

But I can't do it. A lifetime of not caring is too powerful.

I hurry down the steps and almost walk right into Jack, who has his head down and is fishing something out of his backpack.

"Hey, did you hear the news?" I ask.

He shifts his backpack onto his shoulder, sticks a Twizzler in his mouth, and says, "What news?"

"Our data turned out to be right! They verified the planet! We're going to be in some science journal, all of us."

His face lights up. "That's great! How'd you find out? Is Mr. Silver back?"

I shake my head. "I don't think so. But he called or something."

"That's really great," he says. "Thanks for telling me. Does Ally know?"

"I think so."

"Good," he says, mostly to himself.

I see my parents coming around the bend and say, "I've gotta go, but I'll see you at the eclipse later. Ally's family reserved a spot for all of us."

"I'm not sure I'm going," he says softly.

I turn back around. "You're not going where?"

"The eclipse. I'm not sure I'm going to watch it."

Sure that I must still be hearing him wrong, I say, "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"I'm just not that into it. Don't tell Ally, okay? I don't want her to worry about anything today."

"But it's okay if I worry?"

"I think you can handle it."

"But why would you miss it? Isn't that why you came here?"

He shakes his head. "I came here to get out of summer school."

"Oh. But still. The way Ally talks about it, well, are you sure you want to miss it?"

"I have my reasons, okay? Just don't tell anyone. I'll see you when it's over."

I narrow my eyes at him. "You know, Jack, the eclipse is going to happen whether or not you're there to watch it."

He shrugs. "It doesn't matter."

"I think it does matter. Believe me, I know how fast everything's going to go afterward. Everyones going to leave, including Ally and her family, and it will just be me, Mel, and our parents. It's enough to freeze my blood."

He doesn't say anything, just kicks up some dust and pebbles with his toe.

I glance over at my parents, who are almost upon us. I really want to talk to them about Claire's letter. "Well, if you change your mind we'll be right next to the podium with the microphone on it."

"Thanks," he says, glancing toward the big field. It's already starting to fill with people.

My parents are next to us now. Jack says a quick h.e.l.lo and then takes off in the opposite direction of the field.

Dad takes my hand and swings my arm like he used to when I was little. "Are you excited, honey?"

"Um, sure, Dad." I'm very aware of the letter from Claire sticking out of my front pocket.

"We'd like to invite the Summers to stay here next August for the Star Party, what do you think of that idea?"

"What's a Star Party?" I get a crazy picture in my mind of flaming b.a.l.l.s of gas dancing the night away. Two weeks ago I would have been sure he was talking about movie stars.

"It's a big event the campground holds each August during the Perseid meteor shower. People bring their telescopes and camp out."

"So sort of like this?" I wave my arm around at the rows of people heading toward the field, carrying telescopes or wheeling them in wagons.

Mom laughs. "Not quite this many people."

"Not nearly," Dad adds.

"I think it would be great if Ally's family came back next summer. In fact . . ." I'm about to suggest Ally stay this summer in my place, but instead I push the note farther down in my pocket. I don't want to argue with them. Not today.

I arrive at the field with about forty-five minutes to go. Apparently we have to wait through a whole partial eclipse before the total eclipse, which is what everyone came for. If I had been warned I'd have to stand there for an hour before the main event, I'd have found something else to do. But I'm here now so I might as well make the best of it. That seems to be the story of my life lately.

I head for the podium, snaking through a sea of people with telescopes and video cameras and lawn chairs. Some are totally manic, jumping around, testing and retesting their equipment. And some are totally mellow, lounging on their chairs and drinking from plastic cups. I hear snippets of foreign languages and I look around for Bellana, the woman from the labyrinth, but I don't see her. I hope she's drinking a lot of water to keep hydrated under that robe. At one point I stop and buy a key chain for Claire from a woman wearing a hat in the shape of a big stuffed sun.

A throbbing sort of noise suddenly fills the air. It sounds like it's coming from the speakers. I figure Mr. Summers must be testing the sound system. But it's not stopping. Just this rhythmic pulsing sort of thing. Almost, but not quite, like a really annoying heartbeat.

I see Ally's bright yellow shirt a few feet ahead of me and stop her. "What's that horrible noise?" I shout.

She laughs and claims that it's a recording of the sun. She doesn't seem to be kidding, either. I reach for my iPod to blot out the sound, but figure what the heck, how often does someone get to hear the sun?

I follow Ally back to our area. The rest of my family is there already. Melanie is leading them in that sunny sky dance of hers. That woman Stella is here with Ryan's grandfather. I overhear Ally ask Stella if she's seen Jack. My mind races for a response in case she asks me too, since I had promised Jack I wouldn't tell. But she doesn't ask. Stella asks me about the labyrinth again. There's no way I can tell her I've tried twice more but couldn't do it. I just shake my head. She smiles and squeezes my hand as she goes back to join the others. For some reason that makes me feel a little better.

Mom hands me the gla.s.ses right as Ally's dad starts talking. They're flimsy paper things with shiny silver lenses. These are supposed to protect me from going blind? Ally is in a state of frenzy next to me. She probably doesn't even realize it, but she's sort of buzzing. I put the gla.s.ses on as the countdown begins. The sky looks totally normal. Well, the sun is a little orange-ish from the gla.s.ses, but isn't the moon supposed to be there, too? How else can it cover the sun? This is all very confusing. Then everyone shouts, "One!" And a few seconds later, out of nowhere, a black dot appears on the right side of the sun. This takes me utterly by surprise. Then the blackness grows slightly bigger and longer until it forms a crescent shape, like the sliver of moon I saw in the telescope. Except the rest of the moon is still invisible, and this crescent is black, instead of white. I can't tear my eyes away from the sun. It's disappearing right before my eyes. Ally asks me something, but I have no idea what she says.

I stand still and watch, turning away only briefly. As the moon creeps farther across the sun, the trees and gra.s.s turn a metallic color. It's like the life and color is being sucked right out of the world. Mom or Dad or Melanie comes to talk to me and I almost can't bear to look at them. The shadows on their faces are really strange and almost scary. I shiver, and not only because it's noticeably colder. Everything is a little scary, actually, and my heart is beating faster than when I ran all the way to Claire's. I feel something warm and soft over my shoulders and look down to find Stella's red scarf draped over me. Her eyes meet mine and she mouths, "Keep it."

I smile gratefully and turn back to the sky. The sun is almost completely gone now, leaving a deep blue-black sky behind. All around the far horizon I can see a yellow-orange glow where the eclipse doesn't reach. It's like a huge circle of sunset. Ally's back now. I glance over at her. She's in a daze, just staring, frozen. I almost laugh, hoping I don't look like that, too. I take a quick look out at the crowd, just in time to see a huge wall of darkness push toward us from the direction of the sun. "The moon's shadow!" I hear Ryan shout. "Here it comes!" It zooms through us like a wall of ghosts, faster than I've ever seen anything move. It's exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.

And then a few seconds later the sun completely disappears, leaving a hole in the sky. I feel its loss in the pit of my stomach. I hear myself scream in-voluntarily, but it gets lost among a thousand other screams.

And as streams of light fan out behind the darkened sun like the wings of a b.u.t.terfly, I realize that I never saw real beauty until now. And one thought fills my head: If this could be repeated every day for a year, I would never budge from where I stood.

JACK.