12. Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Max
Y odel-Ay! Tubing time! Nick, Ashima, Peyton, and I have piled in together for a trip to the mountains. From the license plates and traffic jam, it looks like half of Atlanta came along. We creep through the town of Helen, a slice of Bavaria in the Appalachians. The buildings all have wooden beams crisscrossing their exteriors and cutesy painted signs. Unfortunately, I spot not one woman in a beer-wench outfit. There also aren’t any guys in nut-hugger shorts and suspenders, so I guess it all balances out.
After crawling through the town center, we make it to the tubing place. We buy our tickets and hang out by the ticket shack to wait for the rest of our party. Peyton and I are hugging on each other when Holly walks up, sporting a bald head tinted in a ghostly hue of mineral sunscreen. She really lathered that stuff on. It’s caked up in the stubble. Peyton and I made the right call by bringing hats.
Holly hugs Ashima, then says to Peyton and me, “See, I knew you two were an item.”
Things have been great between us the past few weeks, but we haven’t landed on what we are. I’m standing strong on not STIMP and boyfriend doesn’t work for her. An item works. But I’m saved from discussing it by Kennedy’s big blue head.
“Hey man, the deal was work.” I slap his back. I’m just giving him a hard time. I’ve already seen the photographic evidence that he’s met his side of the bet.
“They’re sick of it at work. It was time to take the show on the road.”
“That you have.”
Holly hugs Ashima. “Your hair is so cute.”
In a sort of sign of solidarity with the group, Ashima chopped her hair into a lopsided, chin-length style and dyed in some blue strips around her face. It’s not the same as shaving your head, but it’s a pretty cool haircut.
To finish her round of greetings, Holly rubs the top of Nick’s bald head. “Welcome to the club!” Then she grabs his hand and puts it on her own head. “I’ve been keeping my hair at about the one-week growth length because it’s so soft. Doesn’t it feel great?”
He plays along and rubs Holly’s head. I grin at him because the poor schmuck’s in a no-win situation. Ashima’s eyes keep getting bigger and bigger until she snaps, “Okay, we get it.” She drags him off toward the tube pickup area.
Kennedy busts out laughing, and I join him. Watching Nick get whipped back in line was pretty classic. Holly’s face is bright red.
Then Grace and Shayna arrive. After I told them how the croquet game went down, they couldn’t wait to see the results. And since they’re here, I plan on feeling out their living situation to find out if they’re in need of an additional roommate. Now that Peyton and I are dating, I think it’s best for everyone’s sanity to get some space from Nick and Ashima. And I’m overdue on moving on to whatever will be my next crash pad.
The easiest solution would be for me to get my own place, but I prefer living with people. I like being surrounded by the noise of people and having someone to talk to at night. And I’m not a planner, so it’s good to have roommates to drag out for a drink. I know Shayna and Grace are easy to live with, so it’d be cool to move in with them. There is the chance that Tris could visit, but since she’s in DC, I’ll have advanced warning to take shelter at Peyton’s.
I introduce Shayna and Grace to Holly and Kennedy. Shayna taps her pointer to her chin. “All these shaved heads. Very interesting. I thought the bet was only between Max and Peyton.”
Holly pats her hair. “You know about the bet? You should’ve played with us too.”
“Seeing how many people lost, I’m glad I skipped out.”
I put my arm around Peyton’s shoulders and she slides her arm around my waist. “You’re missing out. All the cool kids shaved their heads.”
But Shayna ignores my jest and instead exchanges knowing glances with Grace at how snuggled up Peyton and I are.
“So it’s like that now?” Grace asks.
“You could say.” I squeeze Peyton closer. “I guess we’re now an item.”
“Item of what?” Peyton looks up at me with her eyebrows raised. “This is the beauty of STIMP. It makes everything completely clear.”
Maybe a little too much, but I keep this argument to myself. “Look—the tubes,” I say.
“STIMP?” Shayna asks, ignoring my obvious signal that I’m exiting us from the conversation. We stay and I listen to Peyton’s whole spiel about STIMP, and how does Shayna respond? Not like a normal person who would give an awkward interesting or never thought of that before . Nope. She says she likes it. She likes it!
Grace has my back on this, because she gives Shayna side-eye. “What’s wrong with partner?” Grace asks.
“Nothing. I think it’s an acceptable term, as is boyfriend-girlfriend, but personally prefer to remove any ambiguity,” Peyton replies. “There are so many different types of partners—business partner, sexual partner, life partner. The word itself doesn’t tell the level of commitment, and I often find I assume it means life partner. I’m not interested in a life partner, so isn’t it better to have clarity so that no one is confused about where things stand?”
Shayna gives a thumbs-up. “Clarity’s not such a bad idea. Maybe we—”
“Hold up. Stop right there.” I grab Shayna’s hand and Peyton’s hand and pull them both toward the tubes. “We can talk when we’re floating, but I’m getting hot.” And I know when a conversation is about to turn south. “The bus is filling up. Let’s get our tubes.”
I dare to release Shayna’s hand, and she follows along all on her own. There’s a tense moment as Grace stays put, but when I sneak a look back, she’s trudging behind Shayna. Dodged that brawl!
After we pick out our tubes, we hustle to the entry point. Escaping the heat of the city to drift through a Bavarian town is a great way to spend a free Saturday, but I always forget how damn cold the water is. It’s like it’s been imported from the Alps. The tube looks so innocent, like an oversized donut, but really it’s a torture device with a hole sized so that your boys get a cold shock.
No surprise, Holly and Kennedy plunge right in and take off while the rest of us are still bitchin’ about the frigid water. Nick and Ashima get to business and head after them, followed quickly by Grace and Shayna, but Peyton takes her sweet time.
“I’m not much of a swimmer,” she says as she settles into her tube.
“As in you can’t swim?” I ask as I settle into my own.
“No, as in I don’t do it in water this cold.”
“Give it time. Your butt will go numb.” I grab onto her handle as she floats closer. “Plus, aren’t your Yankee beaches colder than this?”
“My mother wasn’t into family vacations. My swimming experience is limited to the indoor pool of the local Y, where my nanny would take me for swim lessons. And the pool was nowhere near this temperature.”
We float downstream and catch up to Grace and Shayna, who’re waiting for us by holding on to a tree branch overhanging the river. The rest of the crew is still visible, but none of us seem to be in a rush to catch them.
As we continue, Peyton stiffens into a plank so that no part of her touches the water.
“Are you afraid there’s something in the water?” Grace asks.
“Nothing to worry about, just leeches and snapping turtles,” I say. “And see how many people are out here. Your odds are good that someone else will be the turtle food.”
“The wildlife is fine. The water temperature is a different story,” Peyton replies.
“You look like a corpse,” Shayna says. Grace frowns at this, but Shayna continues, “Dearly beloved, we’re gathered today to celebrate the life of Peyton, who passed out from the shock of cold and then was eaten alive by leeches and snapping turtles.”
I put my hand over my heart. “But those who knew her best all say this is how she wanted to go, to be eaten alive by nature, to become one with the ecosystem.”
“That does sound rather nice.” Peyton relaxes into the tube. “Plus, my glutes are on fire.”
“Love ya quirky ways,” I say as I grab her hand, which stiffens as I take it. Okay, we haven’t reached the point where we can use the word love in a passing sense. Note taken.
A sense of déjà vu creeps over me, but I push it away. Peyton isn’t Tris. Then her hand relaxes in mine and we let the river direct our path. It bounces us into rock outcrops where we have to scooch ourselves free, and then on to the slow-moving edges where we almost come to a stop, but none of us care. Grace and Shayna move along the same general route, at points whisking away from us, but then the river spins us forward to land right behind them.
We lose sight of the other four, even with Kennedy’s big blue noggin. But I’m right where I want to be, especially with the good news that Peyton will be staying in Atlanta. Which reminds me—it’s time to get a little space from Ashima and Nick.
“Grace. Shayna. How’s the new place?” I ask.
“Okay,” Shayna says. “It’s kinda tight having four people sharing one bathroom. But we’re making it work.”
“That answers that—I ain’t living there.”
“Ah, that’s so sweet.” Shayna bats her eyes at me. “You miss us, don’t you?”
“Sure. Y’all were good roommates.”
“Getting your own place is always an option,” Peyton says. I guess she’s directing this to me, though she’s looking off at the side of the creek bed.
“I guess, but I don’t have any furniture.” My roommates have always had the couch, kitchen table, and all that stuff. I used to have some crappy bedroom furniture, but I gave it away when I moved into Nick’s. “And I like living with people. But it’s probably time to get my own place and my own stuff.”
“Something to consider,” Peyton says.
And I guess it is. Tons of people do it. Tons of people like living by themselves. I could always go into the office more to make sure I don’t turn into a hermit.
The river widens, leaving a long expanse where we’re no longer shaded from the sun, and it’s not joking around today. A minute in and I’m in full-on sweat mode.
Shayna fans herself with her hand. Then she dips her hand in the water and flicks herself with droplets. “That feels good.” She scoops a handful, splashing the chilly river water on Grace.
“Cut it out, Shayna,” Grace snaps.
“Okay, Ms. Grouch. What has your swimsuit in a bunch?”
Peyton and I make a face at each other and wordlessly agree to separate ourselves from Shayna and Grace for the moment, but the river isn’t in on the plan and we bob along with the front-row seats to their argument.
“Nothing.” Grace rakes her hands over her torso, flinging the water off her. “I just don’t want freezing cold water on me.”
“Is this about earlier?” Shayna asks. “We don’t have to agree on everything.”
“No, it’s not that. Just don’t splash me. I don’t want to get wet.”
Then we enter a narrower point in the river and the shade returns, but the cooler air doesn’t stop Shayna’s water play.
“Come on, play with me. We’re tubing. The whole point is to get wet.” Shayna kicks her feet, spraying water onto Grace’s legs.
“Shayna, I already told you I don’t want to be splashed.”
“Then splash me.” She flings her arms open.
Grace brushes water droplets from the side of her tube. “No, thank you.”
“See! You’re still mad about before. And it’s not like I was really going to use it. Do you really think I was going to call you my STIMP?”
“You keep pushing me away every chance you get,” Grace says. “How quickly you latched on to STIMP is proof that you’re not invested in us.”
“That’s not true. You’re the one pushing me away. I’m just trying to enjoy myself.”
Peyton is sitting straighter in her tube, not looking too pleased to have her acronym tossed into Shayna and Grace’s tiff. Me, I’m biting my lip to keep from laughing. I don’t know why, but this strikes me as pretty damn funny. But the joke’s on me, because out of nowhere I’m being flipped from my tube like I’m a Krispy Kreme donut in an icing tub. When I come up, I see Kennedy’s blue head pop from the water, and in one fluid motion, he grabs the handle and drags Peyton and her tube over.
“Oh, that’s cold!” she yells.
Forget leeches and snapping turtles—the only thing attacking today is the blue-headed man. By the time he makes it to Grace, Shayna has abandoned her tube and is after him, but she isn’t fast enough and Grace goes down.
I guess none of the four of us had noticed that we’d floated into a swimming hole. Ashima, Nick, and Holly watch from the safety of a rock to the side as they cheer on Kennedy.
They’ve picked their side. They must be punished, especially Nick.
“Payback time!” I yell out.
“We’re taking Kennedy down,” Grace yells. She grabs Shayna’s hand and the two of them dive into the water after Kennedy.
An epic battle rages and by the end, I’m one dunk up on Nick, but really the only losers are Grace and Shayna who’re slashed with smears of Kennedy’s oily blue paint. Even so, good came from the water war—a common enemy pulled them back together, because they’re both finally laughing.
When we climb back into our tubes, Peyton joins me in mine. She lays her head on my chest. We continue on as a flotilla, everyone boasting and disagreeing about who was the champion of the dunk fight. Ashima keeps smiling at Peyton and me.
“What?” I ask her.
She points at us. “I did good. Yes, I did. Who’s the most awesome matchmaker in the entire world?”
“I won’t argue the finer points on this one.” Peyton points back at her. “You are.”
And I couldn’t agree more.
While Peyton and I snuggle in the back seat, Ashima keeps sneaking glances at us, looking all smug. I’m surprised she doesn’t pat herself on the back as well. But let her gloat—she was right that I needed to get out of my funk.
Time to head home, but first we stop to pick up some fudge. And I wouldn’t mind some chocolate-covered pretzels. Sugar and salt—what’s not to love?
As I get out of the car, Nick grabs my arm and whispers, “Hold up.”
“We’re going to hit the restroom,” Nick says, pointing to the sign on the side of the building. “We’ll see you in there.”
“I’m good. I peed in the river,” I say.
Ashima and Peyton both give me a disgusted look as they walk off to the store entrance.
“Oh, like you didn’t,” I call out to them. “I don’t see you heading to the bathroom.” Neither of them responds as they go into the store.
Nick drags me toward the side of the building. “Are you staying at Peyton’s tonight?”
“Probably.”
“Can you make it a definitely and then stay there tomorrow too?”
“Why? What’s up?”
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to do.”
“Like what?”
“Nothing.”
He’s all worked up. How can I not push his buttons? “I don’t know. Tubing has me pretty worn out. I might crash in my own bed tonight.”
He steps closer and looks from side to side. “I’m not telling you, because you’ll slip up and tell Peyton and things could get messed up.”
“Hey, if anybody’s messing anything up, it’s you acting all sus. Spill it, so I can buy some chocolate pretzels.”
“I’m going to propose. I was thinking about doing it tomorrow. Making her breakfast in bed and surprising her.”
“Damn, man, that’s awesome.” I hug him. I didn’t see that one coming. “Congratulations! But you’re going to need a different plan. How are you going to beat the rooster out of bed?”
He chuckles because he knows it’s true that Ashima’s up at the crack of dawn, crowing and ready to go. “As a backup, I was thinking I’d take her to a nice restaurant tomorrow night.”
“Sure, that works. But if you decide to hold off and you need help making it a surprise or anything, let me know.” I clap him on the back. “But I’ll stay away for the weekend. It’s time I look at apartments with Peyton.”
“Really?”
The surprise in his voice makes me realize my mistake. “Nah, not like that. I mean checking out complexes while she’s apartment shopping. Things aren’t working out with finding a friend to rent with, so maybe it’s time to get my own place.”
“Got it. Well, I’m glad you’re back on your feet.”
That I am. Things are looking up.