My head slammed into the window as we drove down the road to Beaver Lake. Having taken the maximum dose of motion sickness pills, I didn’t feel nauseous, but the massive bruise forming on the side of my head was making up for it. Looking out the window, I spotted the specks of blue between the trees. 

“Thank god,” I breathed. 

“I thought you said you were feeling alright?”

“I am, besides being thrown into the windshield.”

My dad flashed me a grin and continued down the hole-ridden road. He pulled up next to the shed. I hopped out and walked around to his side. 

He handed me the keys through the window. “I’ll be back at four. Same thing as last time.”

“Sounds good.” I took a deep breath.

“Alright, be careful, Aden.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll stay away from the dogs.”

“That’s my boy,” he teased before putting the truck in gear and driving away.

I walked to the shed and unlocked the door. Grabbing my regular cleaning tools, I headed for the water pump. After filling my bucket, I went to the first bathroom and pulled back the door. I stood there for a moment and stared at the clean floor. Even the used toilet rolls had been removed. 

“You’re here!” 

I didn’t even have time to respond before being attacked from behind. The absence of a shirt told me exactly who had me trapped in a bear hug. 

“Titus, we went over this.” I tugged on his arms.

He finally let go but kept an arm around my shoulders. “Do you like it? I cleaned it for you.”

Staring at the floor, I tried to hide my red face. I didn’t quite understand why I was blushing. Maybe it's because I judged Titus too quickly. He just needed a friend, and for the summer, I guess I’d be that friend. 

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to, so we’d have more time to hang out.” He took the bucket from me and dumped the water on the ground. “I even walked around and picked up all the garbage.”

“I still need to fill the toilet paper containers and check the fire pits.” I unlocked the box.

“I already did the fire pits.” He smiled. “And I can hurry and do all the other restrooms if you want?”

“That’s alright. I feel bad enough that I’m getting paid for something you did.”

“Then you’re going to have to make it up to me.” Titus raised an eyebrow with a smirk on his face.

I laughed hesitantly. “I guess so.” I looped the rolls onto the metal bar.

“You’re taking forever.” His hand slipped into my back pocket. Snatching my keys, he grabbed the bag of toilet paper and ran off.

“Titus!” 

He was already long gone. I didn’t know whether I was more mad about him stealing my keys or violating me. Either way, I wasn’t happy. After clicking the lock shut, I sat outside to wait for him to come back. 

About fifteen minutes later, Titus came jogging toward me with that smug grin on his face. “See, I’m a lot faster than you.”

“Whatever.” I snatched the keys out of his hand. “Give me that.” Taking the rest of the toilet paper from him, I marched back to the shed and tossed it inside. “So”—I turned to face him—“since you’ve done all my jobs for me, we can do whatever you have planned.”

“You’re going to love this.” Titus’s smile got even bigger. Grabbing my wrist, he led me into the forest.

***

I couldn’t breathe. I swear I was going to pass out if I had to take another step. We reached a fence, and Titus stopped. 

“Thank God.” Collapsing, I sprawled out across the ground and gasped for air. It had been confirmed: I needed to work out more. “This was fun.” I wiped the sweat off my forehead. “But I’m ready to go back.”

“We’re not there yet.” Titus walked over to the fence.

Sitting up, I glared at him. “What?”

“It’s about another mile or so before we get there.”

“Sorry to tell you, I’m done and ready for the downhill portion.” I glanced at the trail we had walked up.

He raised an eyebrow. “You’re tired from that?”

I wanted to throw a rock at his head. Unlike him, I wasn’t part mountain goat. “Well, sorry to disappoint you, but the sign says no trespassing.” I pointed to it. “Too bad.”

“It’s my territory. I can go wherever I want.” He helped me up. “And since you’re with me, it doesn’t apply to you, either.”

His family must be super rich or overly proud of their land to have fenced off the whole area. Going off the fact he didn’t have a shirt or shoes, I decided it was the second one. 

“Come here, and I’ll help you over.” He grabbed my hips.

I panicked. “Titus, stop!” My limbs flailed as I tried to escape. 

“Calm down and lift your legs. It’s not that big of a deal.” 

I did so, and he easily set me on the other side. Folding my arms, I couldn’t look at him. My face was bright red, which was the last thing I wanted him to see. 

“Is this one of those personal boundary things?” Titus used one of the posts to help him jump over.

I clenched my jaw and shook my head. “Let’s just go. I’d rather not talk about it.”

Titus leaned down to my level. “Aden?”

I pushed him away. “Knock it off.”

He laughed. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“I said I didn’t want to talk about it.” I started marching down the mountain.

“Aden,” Titus called. 

“What?!” 

“It’s this way.” He pointed to the nearby trees. 

I spun around and hurried off in that direction. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”

Laughing, Titus took the lead. I didn’t say anything more than an occasional ‘I’m fine’ as we walked along the mountainside. The sun was getting higher in the sky, and I was feeling the heat. When I thought of doing something fun today, it didn’t involve being dragged through the mountains. We skidded down a small embankment. I slipped and ended up sliding down on my butt.

“We’re here!” announced Titus.