"Good morning," Mom greeted me. Then she paused to give me an odd look and asked, "Are you all right?" Yeah," I responded. "Fine."Mom gave me a skepti...al look but set some pancakes in front of me without a word. I just dug in and ate, not looking at her since I was embarrassed about my problem and my mom was the absolute last person I'd want to talk to about it.Once I'd finished eating, I noticed that my mom was still watching me with a thoughtful look. "Eli," she said carefully. "We need to. Then the call I was expecting came in. I transferred it to the command center so I could have the ultimate privacy. I asked Vicky, Jenny, Marcy, Lorrie and Ching Lee to sit in on the call and discussions.President Martinez - with his cabinet - were on the VCATS system we had left there so we could easily communicate. The truth was I liked to read facial expressions and body language.The video meeting lasted two hours. They were not happy with my extra request. But after repeated points, counter. It was more fun, all of them thought, in spite of the need for the extra gear. So, after a lot of agonizing and thinking it out, they were loaded rather more like backpackers than campers.Among other things, Kevin and Emily were again going to use Duane's Appalachian Trail veteran tent and the ultralight down sleeping bag he'd carried. He hadn't taken the gear west with him in the Jeep when he'd headed to Arizona back in March. After more thinking about it than should have been necessary, Jason. "There was silence on the phone for a moment."Does that include me?" Michael asked with a tinge of disappointment in her voice.Jenny paused at the unexpected question. "I hadn't thought about that," she said. Then she thought of Erica. The issue suddenly became more complicated. "I don't know the answer to that question," she said honestly. "I guess it would be self-serving if I said that my relationship with you was different." It is different. You're not going to fall in love with me."Jenny.