1.
“ON THE OTHER SIDE OF A STORM IS THE STRENGTH THAT COMES FROM HAVING NAVIGATED THROUGH IT.” — GREGORY S. WILLIAMS
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this fucking trip!” I huff, glaring up into the sky above us at the thick, dense snow clouds forming.
“It’s Cal’s birthday. Rain or shine, baby.” My best friend Ryan nudges my arm, smirking in response.
I point to the biggest, darkest cloud in the sky. “That’s not rain, dumbass. I know a blizzard when I see one.”
“Nah. That’ll pass.”
Just then, his phone starts to ring.
“What’s up?” he answers.
A few seconds later, his facial expression changes. He looks…disappointed.
“Man. That fucking sucks. Everybody’s okay though? Let me know when you get home…yeah…alright…I think we’ll still stay. I booked the time off anyway. Might as well enjoy it.”
He lets out a sigh and ends the call. “Cal’s transmission blew. I guess it’ll just be the two of us, bestie.”
“Oh yay.” I roll my eyes and cross my arms over my chest. “Stuck with you the entire weekend? Fuck me.”
“I mean, I didn’t think you felt that way about me, Lyla. We can give it a go, though. If you really want to.” He grins, winking at me before turning to walk toward his truck.
“As if. You’re not my type…”
“What exactly is your type, Lyla? Am I not pretty enough for you?” He laughs, batting his eyelashes at me.
“Not even close. I’m not a fan of blondes…” I tease.
“Are you even into men?” he asks, leaning against his truck.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I fire back.
“Let me put it this way—your Insta feed is filled with a plethora of women, you haven’t had a boyfriend in several years, and let’s not forget how long it’s been since you?—”
“Watch yourself…” I interrupt, overcome with annoyance.
“I’m just sayin’. It’s okay if you prefer pussy, ya’ know. The heart wants what the heart wants.”
“You’re a fucking idiot, Ryan. I don’t even know why you’re my best friend…” I laugh. “How about you shut up and help me set up the tent?”
“Seriously though…” He grabs the tent from inside his truck and motions for me to follow him to a section of flat, dry ground. “We gotta get you out there more. Maybe try out a dating app or something?”
“Fuck that. Why are you so dead set on me getting laid? I hate commitment, you know that. The feelings and all that are too much for me to handle…”
“Yeah…commitment…” he chuckles. “That’s why we haven’t hung out in months.”
“There’s this thing called a job, Ryan.”
“I know. I have one too, but I’m my own boss. I guess I don’t know what it’s like to be someone else’s bitch.”
What the fuck is with him? If this is the way he’s going to be all weekend, I’m doomed. I’m not in the mood to listen to his smart mouth. That’s part of the reason why we haven’t hung out in so long.
I shrug off his arrogant comment and grab a corner of the tent, holding it still while he guides the poles through. In a matter of a few minutes, the entire tent is set up, and we start to load our supplies into it.
Once we have everything unloaded, I grab the air mattresses from the back of the truck and fill them, sighing when I notice that one of them has a small tear on the side, which is letting air out just as fast as I’m putting it in.
“Fuck. We’re down to one air mattress,” I mention.
“We can share it. I don’t bite.” Ryan smirks. “Unless you want me to.”
“I can sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag. I always get too hot at night anyway.”
“You’re not sleeping on the damn floor, Lyla. That’s ridiculous.”
“I’ll be fine! I’ve done it before,” I insist.
“Stubborn as hell. Nothing new…” he murmurs as he picks up the filled air mattress and starts to shove it into the tent.
“Should I start a fire? It’ll be dark before we know it.”
The second the words leave my mouth, small flakes of snow start to fall over us, confirming my suspicion about the gloomy clouds.
“You can, if you want. We don’t have wood to burn yet though. I’ll go grab some now. I’m sure there’s some dead-fall around.”
I watch as he grabs the ax from the truck and walks off into the woods. I have a feeling that this weekend is going to be memorable for all the wrong reasons. A hiking trip during a storm is risky enough, let alone the fact that there’s just the two of us out here.
Ryan’s survival skills are questionable. Especially when he’s drinking, and I know he has a full case of beer in the cooler.
“Happy Birthday to Cal…” Ryan laughs as he cracks open a bottle of beer and sits down on the stump by the fire.
“I bet they’re warm…” I say, brushing the growing pile of snow off the spot beside me on the log I’m sitting on.
“Oh, come on. It’s not that bad…” he grins.
“Oh, come on. Yes it is. The snow is coming down thicker. Just imagine how much might be on the ground in the morning.”
“You’re such a buzz-kill.”
“We’ll see how much of a buzz-kill I am when we can’t get out of the tent. Or when we fucking freeze to death.”
“Buzz-kill…” he repeats in a singsong tone.
“Whatever. I think I’ll go lay down. I have a chapter in my book to finish reading.”
“Seriously?”
“I’m tired. Enjoy your solo party,” I scoff.
“Lyla…”
“Good night.” I completely ignore him and head off toward the tent.
As much as I want to lie down on a comfortable air mattress, I unzip a sleeping bag and line the floor with it, then grab another sleeping bag to snuggle into. I refuse to choose comfort over Ryan’s cocky attitude.
He wasn’t always like this. I swear, his ex-girlfriend really fucked him up. She was extremely overbearing, mouthy and materialistic. We all called her “the princess” because she had such a holier-than-thou personality and none of us could stand being around her.
I don’t know if her pussy was made of gold or something, but he stayed with her for three fucking years. If it wasn’t for her fucking his cousin, he would probably still be with her.
Ever since the break up, Ryan’s become…a dick. He’s always been a little sarcastic, but he knew when to stop. Now, he just keeps going and can’t read the room.