And that’s when Cassie comes running up from behind Luke, taking him by surprise as she wraps her arms around his waist and only letting go when Luke turns.
“Surprise!” she says, keeping one arm wrapped around his waist like he’s her boyfriend. Luke does the same, his hand resting on her hip.
Is this what Luke meant by Cassie being bold? I’m thankful I got a bit of a warning, at least, because Cassie is... a lot.
“How long have you been here?” Luke asks.
“Not too long. Maybe an hour?”
An hour? This girl is so desperate that she’s willing to wait around for Luke for an hour? What if we had changed our plans and never showed up? How long would she have stuckaround?
“Oh, you’ve probably already walked around then.” Luke drops his arm the tiniest bit.
“No, I was just cooking food in my van and cleaning up a bit. It was a mess since I’ve been living out of it for a while now.” She gestures to a van that’s been decked out. It’s a yellow mustard color with bright green trim and paintings of trees over the windows, which is funny since I haven’t seen one tree since we’ve gotten off the plane. She left the sliding door open, revealing bright green curtains and a small counter that’s just big enough to eat at.
“That’s cool,” I say, taking a few steps forward so I can get a better look inside the bus. It looks like there’s a couch in there too, which I assume folds down into a bed.
Cassie looks at me for the first time, and an annoyed look flashes across her face so quickly that I wonder if I’m just seeing things. A second later she gives me a big smile.
“Harper, right?”
“Yup.”
No one says anything, and it’s Luke who breaks the silence. “Well, let’s go check it out.”
He drops his arm from Cassie and starts walking forward. I follow close behind until Cassie skips forward and wedges herself between me and Luke, forcing me to hang back a little.
What’s her problem?
Luke doesn’t notice, so we make our way toward the viewing area. I pull my phone out and start taking photos. There’s a grassy area leading up to the waterfall itself, and the closer we get, the more I can’t believe I’m here seeing this inperson.
“Can you take my photo?” I ask Luke, handing him my phone. I take a few steps forward and let Luke tell me where to stand. I put my arms up over my head and give him a huge smile. He takes the picture and hands me my phone back.
I turn to Cassie and hold out my phone. “Can you take one of the two of us?”
She doesn’t respond, but it takes a second or two for her to take my phone. Luke comes to stand beside me. We each put an arm behind the other’s back like we’ve done a million other times we’ve posed for photos.
“Our turn!” Cassie says, handing me my phone back and passing me hers.
She’s possessive the way she grabs Luke’s hand and pulls him to her. I’m looking through the camera screen when I see Cassie stand up on her toes and kiss Luke on the cheek. A flush of surprise coats his face.
Bold indeed.
“Come on!” Cassie grabs Luke’s hand once I give her phone back. Luke gives me an apologetic look before he’s whisked away. I’m so stunned I don’t do anything.
I let a moment or two pass, trying to blink away the memory before I move to follow them.
Let Luke have fun, I tell myself. You can enjoy your trip without him.
The loud rush of water is enough to pull me back into the moment, and I take more photos as I walk. The path leads me closer to the waterfall until it bends to bring me behind it. I have no idea where Luke and Cassie went—maybe they are alreadybehind the waterfall.
I can feel my irritation building at how I’m suddenly the third wheel to a trip I planned, but I try to push the feelings away. So what if Luke is spending time with Cassie? Let him, though he looked just as shocked as I was when she started getting touchy.
Maybe when it’s just the two of us again, we can joke about how much of a handful Cassie is. Maybe Cassie won’t be the person to help Luke get over me, but she’ll at least give us a funny story to tell.
As I walk further to go behind the waterfall, I get a light misting of water. It all feels a little magical, like walking behind a waterfall is a special treat. I pause for a moment. I’m really here. I made it to Iceland, even if the situation is a little less than ideal socially.
I follow the path farther, taking my time, trying to soak it all in. There are plenty of other people visiting the waterfall, but if I just close my eyes and listen to the rush of water, I can pretend I’m the only person in the world who knows about this place.
