tool shed behind a clump of sagebrush that no one had hid in before. But
just as the kid who was It was finishing counting, the door opened and
someone else tried to get in. It was Billy Deel. He hadn't even been
playing with us.
"You can't hide with me," I hissed at him. "You're supposed to find your
own place."
"It's too late," he said. "He's almost done counting."
Billy crawled inside. The shed was tiny, with barely enough room for
one person to fit in crouched over. I wasn't about to say so, but being that
close to Billy scared me. "It's too crowded!" I whispered. "You gotta
leave."
"No," Billy said. "We can fit." He rearranged his legs so they were
pressed up against mine. We were so close I could feel his breath on my
face.
"It's too crowded," I said again. "And you're breathing on me."
He pretended not to hear me. "You know what they do in the Green
Lantern, don't you?" he asked.
I could hear the muffled shouts of the other kids being chased by the boy
who was It. I wished I hadn't chosen such a good hiding place. "Sure," I
said.
"What?"
"The women are nice to the men."
"But what do they do?" He paused. "See, you don't know."
"I do," I said.