Normally, on the first week of summer, Reese's father would take them on a camping trip. Of course, their first two weeks were spent in Florida, doing other such things. Alli suggested still going on the trip because it became a family tradition. Reese's mother, distraught with grief, would let them go by themselves.
Reese was a little upset that he thought Alli was going to act as if everything was going to be fine, but Alli assured him that she knew everything wasn't going to be the same.
Alli packed for about three days of camping, while Reese had to bring a second duffel bag. They loaded up for the next morning.
The drive started at around eight in the morning because it was going to be about two to three hours thanks to the campsite being upstate. Pop music echoes through the vehicle. Slowly, but surely, Alli and Reese began to slightly move, then hum, then sing, and, after five minutes, dance.
The music started to static in and out. They were getting close. Reese checked his phone, but his cell bars weren't wavering that much. They had been dipping up until ten minutes prior, where Reese saw a bar come back. A new station edged its way into the radio, starting with some podcast about the state of the economy and other political garbage.
They pulled up to their little area and saw an already-built firepit and grill.
"Authentic campfire cookin'." Alli scoffed in a faux southern accent.
Reese started setting up the main tent and asked Alli to grab the instruction manual. She dug through her bag and his. She shuffled through the sleeping bags and the snacks in the cooler. She then looked back at him in stark realization. She left back on the counter, half a state away.
"Ugh! How did you leave it!? We packed the night before! We have a total of four bags!"
"First of all," Alli argued, "It's three bags, and, second of all, it wasn't my responsibility to keep up with all the supplies! I packed the food and the sleeping bags, so we should be fine as long as it doesn't rain."
Reese and Alli weren't really arguing. A sort of pseudo-back-and-forth, if you will. They usually had softcore disagreements every other day, but none of which displayed any strain on the two.
Hours past, they snacked and swam in the river until the sun started to set. They thought of goofing off in the woods, leaving creepy things there to spook any natives or naive people.
They didn't mind laying under the stars. Laying their blankets on the freshly dewed grass, Reese wanted to text Greg.
"Hey. We got off on the wrong foot."
"I'm fucking sleeping."
Apparently, they were still on that wrong foot.
"I wanna have a chance to apologize properly."
"GOOD. NIGHT. REESE."
"Come by the downtown library this coming Monday and I'll let you in!"
About two minutes passed.
"In on what?"
Reese waited to see if he would take that bait.
"You woke me up so 'in on' what!?"
Hook, line, and Reese was sinking.
"A book club!"
"Yeah, no fucking thanks."
"See you there!"
"Go the hell to bed"
Reese turned off his phone and covered himself back up in his blankets, cocooning his body from the moonlight.
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