Float by Laura Martin

Author:Laura Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2018-03-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

I inhaled in surprise and choked on the marshmallow I’d popped in my mouth seconds before. Had Hank really just said that? Coughing and gagging, I turned to Murphy, who looked just as shocked as I was. There was a moment of stunned silence before every guy in the Red Maple cabin started talking at once. Hank motioned for us to be quiet and walked over to throw an arm around a very angry Murphy’s shoulders.

“Sorry, man,” he said. “Had to be done. We are all your friends, and we all want to help. Emerson and I found out a few weeks ago,” he went on. “I thought maybe we could keep our promise and figure out a solution on our own, but so far all we’ve managed to do is come up with a bunch of ideas that haven’t worked. So we are bringing in the big guns. You guys. We need to prevent Murphy from time traveling, because sometime between now and the last day of camp he’s going to time travel and not come back. So start brainstorming, boys. We have a job to do.”

“Stop it,” Murphy snapped, shrugging out from under Hank’s arm. “I don’t want your help. Don’t you get that? If I wanted to sit around talking about dying, I would have stayed home with my parents.” Everyone stared at him. Soft-spoken Murphy had never yelled.

“We’re just trying to help,” Hank said, completely unfazed by Murphy’s outburst. “It’s what friends do. You don’t really have an option.”

Murphy sighed. “I get that, but you have to see this from my point of view. What you just did, Hank, could get all of you guys in serious trouble. And on top of that, what you are trying to do could potentially ruin the entire reason I came here. I don’t want to think about dying. I want to live . . . as much as I can before . . .” He swallowed hard and looked down. There was an awkward silence as everyone processed this. I remembered how I’d felt the day Murphy had told me his secret, like I’d just swallowed a poisonous snake, my stomach in knots as my brain tried to make sense of it all. Gary’s face in particular looked almost pained as he worked through what Murphy said.

“Am I the only one who’s confused?” Zeke finally said. “You’re telling us that you’ve known Murphy was doomed since almost the first week of camp?”

“Friends keep friends’ secrets,” Hank said.

“They are supposed to,” Murphy said with a look at Hank. “Traitor.”

“Why’d you tell them and not us?” Anthony asked, sounding more than a little hurt. “We’re your friends too.”

“In my defense,” Murphy said, “I really only told Emerson. I’d just come back from”—he swallowed hard and blinked—“well, from a really bad time-travel trip, and I told him. I shouldn’t have. Trust me. I regret it. But Mr. I’m-Invisible-When-Naked-and-I’m-Naked-All-the-Time over there overheard everything.”

“Wait a minute,” Anthony said with an accusing glare at Hank, “is that why you and Emerson have been acting so weird?”

“Acting weird?” Gary asked.

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