Summer of Lost and Found by Rebecca Behrens

away. It was silly to think that. But when I sneaked another glance, he was still looking in my direction. He raised a hand for a tentative wave. I squinted for a closer look—he was wearing some of the colonial clothes. Maybe he was one of the reenactors? I waved back at him. A huge smile overtook his face.
    â€œNell? Whom are you waving at?”
    I dropped my hand to my side. “Wasn’t waving, just swatting a mosquito.”
    Mom came up behind me and put her hand on my shoulder. “Did you know they actually take this ship out on the ocean?” The boy moved back into the dense trees, probably onto the footpath.
    â€œSeriously? That’s pretty neat.”
    A big group of tourists was waiting to climb on board. “Are you ready to disembark? I’d love to see the museum,” Mom said. I looked at my mother, with her cargo shorts and frizzy hair and slightly too-large T-shirt. I wanted to go see the settlement, and maybe say hello to that boy. With a pang of guilt, I realized that I’d rather not try to talk to him with my mom there. Also because the settlement featured a set of armor for visitors to try, and I just knew my mom would force me to put it all on.
    â€œDid you say I could get in with this sticker tomorrow, too?”
    â€œYup, and that’s a good thing because we won’t have time to see everything today. Are you having fun?” Mom asked, with a hopeful smile.
    â€œMm-hmm. Let’s go to the museum now.” We clambered off the ship and onto the dock.
    â€œWonderful. I could use an hour of air-conditioning, before I melt. ‘Oh, what a world, what a world.’ ” Mom grinned at me. I knew I’d made the right call in terms of not venturing near that boy with my Wizard of Oz– quoting mom in tow.
    But as we walked toward the museum, I kept sneaking glances in the direction of the settlement area, to see if maybe he was still over there. Jade always talks about eye contact—most of her “relationships” so far have consisted of her staring at the boys she likes. She insists that she has amazing eye contact with them and it means that they like her back. I think it means that they probably think she has a major staring problem. But I started to understand what she was saying. There was something about the way in which that boy and I looked at each other; it wasn’t how you accidentally catch someone’s eye on the subway and then quickly glance away. It sounds super cheesy, but I felt like we made a connection. It made me want to talk to him, to see if we actually had. Or if the heat had simply melted my brain.
    Mom left early the next morning to spend quality time with her vine. As soon as the Jeep pulled out of the carport, I grabbed my bag and pedaled off on my bike, even though the park was close enough that I could have walked. This time, I went straight to the settlement village. I was nervous, but I kept thinking about Jade and Sofia hanging out with tennis boys, while I spent my whole summer with my mom and a grapevine. If I talked to the reenactor boy even just once, I could go home and tell Jade that I’d had more than eye contact. She and Sofia would be impressed.
    A grinning man in Elizabethan work clothes approached me as soon as I stepped onto the woodchips. “Care to try on a suit of armor, sweet maid?”
    â€œNo, thanks. Just looking around.” I slipped past him and headed behind the blacksmith’s building. Maybe I was foolish not to say hello to that boy yesterday. Maybe he doesn’t work every day, and I missed my chance. I walked the whole perimeter of the settlement, but I didn’t see him anywhere. As I was leaving for the American Indian village, though, I heard a voice behind me.
    â€œGood morrow.”
    I whirled around. It was him—same faded white colonial shirt, slightly baggy pants, and worn-out buckle shoes. His hair was dark brown and a little long and