Chapter Seventeen #2
“And now we wait.” He clears away some twigs and rocks, making a space for us to sit. He sinks down and pats the ground beside him. As I lower myself, I let my hip graze his.
“Patience isn’t my strong suit.”
“I’ve gathered that.” He leans into me, showing me he’s just teasing.
“Let’s do a lightning round,” I say, leaning back into him. “To pass the time. I’ll ask you five questions, and then you get to do the same for me. Alright?”
“I’m in.”
“Okay, question number one: what’s your longest relationship?”
“Two years.”
“Wow,” I say. So, he was with her for two years, and they’ve just broken up. “Okay, pet peeve in a partner?”
“Cheating,” he replies quickly. So that must have been the catastrophic part of the breakup.
“Body count?” I smile slyly.
“More than one, less than one hundred. Next question!”
“Okay, best day ever?”
“Like, hypothetical, or a day that actually happened?”
“Hypothetical.”
He scratches his chin. “I’d start by waking up next to someone I love.
Then I’d go for a surf or a hike, and then I’d work on some songs for a while.
I’d make dinner with my special person, something like spaghetti carbonara and shortbread cookies.
” He shoots me a glance. “And then, yeah, just hanging out with my person, doing all the stuff that couples do. What about you?”
“Is this your first lightning round question?”
“Sure.”
“Okay, let me think.” What’s weird is that what immediately comes to mind is Kei’s perfect day, but with me inserted into it. Him waking up next to me. Me kissing his salty lips when he gets home from surfing. Cooking dinner with him, doing all of the things that couples do.
Teddy, the cameraman, coughs, jolting me out of my reverie. Ugh, when did I get so pathetic?
I give another version of a perfect day.
“I guess it would just be a normal day, but one where I don’t have anything to worry about.
Like, I don’t have to worry about my card declining if I buy a coffee, and I can go have fun with my friends without feeling guilty about leaving my mom.
Just a day to be carefree—that would be a perfect day. ”
He puts his hand on my knee and gives it a little squeeze. And then he leaves it there, heavy and warm. “What’s going on with your mom?”
“Is that your second question?”
“Yes.”
Teddy draws closer.
I sigh. Reality TV stars are famous for airing their trauma to gain the sympathy of viewers, but I can’t do that to my mom. “She’s just having a rough time. Since my dad left.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thanks.”
“How long ago was that?”
“He ran away with his secretary when I was thirteen.” Kei squeezes my leg, but he doesn’t say anything else. I feel a lump rising in my throat. “Look, these questions are killing me. You owe me a few softballs.”
He looks at me, searching my eyes. I have the feeling he wants to push me further, but he relents. “Okay, question number three: sweet or salty?”
“Salty.”
“Because you’re already sweet enough?”
I groan. “Stop!”
“Okay. Chocolate or vanilla?”
“Chocolate.”
“Last question, and this is an important one. You ready?” I nod. “Pineapple on pizza, yes or no?”
“You’re dead to me,” I say, holding my hand up to his face. He throws his head back and laughs, a deep, belly laugh. I feel a warmth spread through me.
“Hey, check it out, our shadow’s moved,” I say, pointing to our stick.
Kei stands to inspect, leaving my side feeling cold in his absence.
“Not much, but it’s enough. Come here,” he says, waving me over.
“Okay, put your left foot where our first rock is. Good. Now, put your right foot right here, where the end of the shadow is now. Okay, now raise your left arm and point straight out from your body.”
“Is that west?”
“That’s west.”
“That’s incredible! How do you know how to do that?”
He takes my hand as we start to head west, Teddy stumbling to get in front of us. “I did a lot of hiking and camping with my dad when we were kids. He’s a military guy, so he taught me lots of survival stuff.”
“That’s sweet. You guys are close?”
“We used to be. Not so much anymore.” I peer at him, trying to get a read on his face.
“You want to talk about it.”
He shrugs. “Not much to say. He just doesn’t get the whole music thing. He thinks I should re-enlist, have a traditional life, like his.”
“What does he think about you doing this show?”
“He wasn’t too happy about it. He’s worried I’ll bring shame to the family.”
“Woof.”
“Yeah. I just want to prove to him that there’s more than one way to have a life, you know?”
I squeeze his hand. “I know.”
“Oop, watch out,” he says, pulling my arm to guide me away from a pile of brown sludge that can only be one thing.
“Oh my god, do you think there are animals in these woods?”
“Definitely.”
“What? How? We’re on an island!”
“Sure, but we’re pretty far north. I bet the lake freezes in the winter.”
“Like what kind of animals?”
“I don’t know, probably deer, moose, coyotes…”
“Bears?”
“Probably.”
I stop. “There are bears in these woods?”
He laughs. “Yes, there are likely bears.”
“Was that bear shit I almost stepped in?”
“Maybe.”
I whip around, peering between the trees for a glimpse of fur, a snout, a pair of beady black eyes. But there is nothing.
Kei squeezes my hand. “Don’t worry about it. They’re more scared of you than you are of them.”
“I highly doubt that.”
After a few more minutes of trudging through the trees, the light in the forest starts to get brighter. The buildings that make up the camp loom behind the trees.
We break through the tree line to find that Sue-Ellen and Isa have beaten us back. They’re standing at the flagpole with Gabby, holding a bucket full of clear amber syrup. What the hell?
Kei and I look at one another. “Where’d you get the syrup?” I call.
Sue-Ellen laughs. “From a tree, Cleo,” she says, as if I’m a total imbecile.
“Maple trees don’t produce sap in the summer,” Kei says. I admire his ability to state facts plainly, without any of the whininess that sneaks into my voice.
Isa shrugs. “Maybe you just tried the wrong tree.”
“No,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “I know how to identify a sugar maple.”
Gabby shrugs. “Don’t know what to tell you! In any case, we can have it on our pancakes tomorrow.”
It takes everything I have to not argue, not to accuse them of being big dirty cheaters, because I know that’s exactly what they are. But the Girl Next Door keeps her cool and doesn’t make unprovable accusations.
Kei takes my hand. I look at him, and he gives his head a little shake, confirming that I need to leave it alone. “Come on, let’s go have a hammock nap.”
I think about lying next to Kei in the hammock, our bodies pressing together as we sway gently in the breeze. My shoulders soften.
“I’d love to,” I tell him, fighting back the grin that’s threatening to overtake my face.
And the thing is, I mean it.