"Like on TV," Adam said.
"They didn't have TV in the compound, so I was teaching him how to channel surf," Max explained.
"What a mentor," Isabel said, smiling.
"I don't know if the exchange student thing would really work. I mean, where would we say he was from?" Max said.
"Delaware?" Alex joked. Isabel flashed him an annoyed look. "Just kidding. You know, kidding," Alex said.
"We could always take him to the cave," Max offered.
"I don't want him so far away. Not all alone," Isabel answered, her voice rough with emotion.
"We have this little shed out in the backyard that he could stay in until we figure out something better," Liz told them. "It has electricity and everything because once for two seconds my dad thought he wanted to do carpentry and he bought all these electric tools."
"What do you think, Adam? Would you mind living there?" Max asked. "You'd have to stay out of sight when Liz's parents are around."
Adam looked over at Liz. "I would be close to you?"
"Totally close. I could be out to the shed in three seconds if you needed me," she promised him.
"That sounds good," he answered, a slow smile spreading across his face.
Max had felt that same kind of goofy smile on his own face when he looked at Liz. He tried to imagine what it would be like to go sixteen years without ever seeing a girl your own age and then to suddenly be surrounded by them. It might be kind of scary, but fun scary. At least Adam had Liz, Maria, and Izzy to be his training-wheel girls.
"I'm starving. Does anyone actually work here, or are we supposed to take our own order and then make ourselves a pizza?" Alex asked.
"Lucinda Baker is working today. One of you guys take off your shirt. That will get her back here fast enough," Isabel said.
Adam started to tug off his sweatshirt. "No, no. I was just kidding, Adam," Isabel said, stopping him midstrip. The entire table broke into laughter. "Lucinda! If you want anything approaching a tip, get back here," she yelled. Lucinda appeared almost immediately.
"So what do we want?" Alex asked. "Adam, what's your favorite?"
"I don't know," Adam answered, tensing up a little.
"They never let him choose his food," Max told Alex. The second the words were out of his mouth, he realized it was a stupid thing to say.
"He just got out of one of those really strict boarding schools," Liz jumped in.
"Oooh, you must have been a bad boy," Lucinda teased. "I like bad boys."
Uh-oh. Now, Lucinda, she definitely wasn't a training-wheels girl. She had a whole home page on the web describing the kissing technique of the guys at school that made it very clear she had some pretty high standards. She'd eat little Adam alive.
Before Max had a chance to decide what he should be doing about this Lucinda-Adam situation, Lucinda reached out and ran her fingers down Adam's cheek, her screaming red nails looking even brighter against his pale skin. By the enthralled look on Adam's face, Max knew he had connected with her. He's got to get out of that habit, Max thought.
Adam gave a little jerk. "I like that underwear you have," he told Lucinda. "The brown ones with the white squiggly lines. It reminds me of a cupcake."
Max covered his face with his hands. Isabel laughed out loud.
"Hey, how did you know about my underwear?" Lucinda demanded.
Okay, think fast, Max ordered himself. You don't want Adam ending up in the circus. Or with his own nine hundred number.
"Oh, Lucinda, come on," Isabel answered, before Max could formulate some kind of excuse. "You have shown way too many guys your underwear to ask that question. You know how guys like to brag."
"You know what? Could we get that pizza to go?" Max asked.
"So, do you want to play truth or dare?" Cameron asked. She leaned back against the glass wall of his cell.
"Do I look like a junior high school girl to you?" Michael answered, although he was already thinking of some pretty interesting ways the game could go.
"Oh, come on," Cameron begged, bouncing her head against the glass. "I'm so bored."
"If you keep doing that, you'll give yourself enough brain damage that you'll never be bored again," he answered. She shot him an annoyed look. "Okay, okay," he relented. "What's the most embarrassing thing that you've ever done? Truth or dare."
"You're supposed to ask if I'm a virgin. That's always the first question," Cameron teased.
"So are you?" Michael asked. Yeah, it was definitely going to be an interesting game.
"Too late," she said. "You already asked something. Most embarrassing, most embarrassing. Let's see."
"Too many to pick from, huh?" Michael asked. He stretched out on the floor, propping himself up with his elbow.
"Okay, I got it. I was at this party. I was about twelve, I think. And I don't know why, but we ended up doing this thing where we got in pairs and had to look into the other person's eyes for a full minute without talking." Cameron took a deep breath and rushed on. "So anyway, my partner was Sean Wentworth, this guy I had a total crush on. We started looking at each other, and I don't know exactly what happened, I guess I just got nervous, because I barfed and some of it splattered on him."
Michael cracked up. He could totally picture it.
"It wasn't funny," Cameron said. "I'd been pigging out at the party, and there were these lumps of half-digested pizza and chicken wings and stuff in there. It wasn't one of those nice, all-liquid deals."
Michael laughed harder. The story seemed like something Maria might tell him. Not Isabel, though. No way. If Isabel ever had a most embarrassing moment, she definitely wouldn't describe it down to the lumps of half-digested pizza.
"If you could manage to stop laughing at me, it's my turn," Cameron told him.
"Go ahead," he said, struggling to control himself.
"So are you a virgin? Truth or dare," Cameron asked.
"Dare," Michael answered without hesitation.
"You realize you answered the question, whether you think you did or not?" Cameron informed him. "Any guy who wasn't a virgin would be totally bragging about it."
He felt his face getting warm. If I'm blushing, then I know for sure what my most embarrassing moment is, he thought.
"I'm one of those sensitive kind of guys who respects women way too much to ever do anything as crude as bragging," Michael said quickly. "Not that I don't have things I could brag about."
"Ooohh. I'll bet you have all kinds of stories about lusty hookups, adoring female fans, and championship football games," Cameron snapped. "Am I right there, cowboy?"
"My turn. What's the worst thing you've ever done? Truth or dare," Michael asked.
Cameron pulled in a sharp breath, and her entire body tensed up.
Way to break the mood, Guerin. Michael shoved his hands through his spiky black hair.
"I'll take a dare," Cameron said.
This didn't seem like the moment to ask to see her tattoos. "Uh, all right, you have to look into my eyes for one minute without puking," Michael told her.
"You like to live dangerously, don't you?"
Michael was happy to see that the tightness in Cameron's body was already starting to go away. He sat up and moved closer until his knees were almost touching hers, then they locked eyes.