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ChapterThirteen
BERNIE
Spring isin full force in the city. We’ve had a string of unseasonably warm days for May, and it looks like sun is in our future for the next several days. The past week has been nothing but rain, so the sunny warmth is a welcome reprieve. But with warmth and sun comes big ideas after being stuck in a Chicago winter for the past five months. Which is why I’m sitting here in the game room, with my headphones on, listening to nothing but creating the illusion that I am.
I’m doing this because the guys are currently talking about taking the weekend off to go camping. We have a tournament coming up in two weeks, so we really don’t need to be taking off a whole weekend for them to go camping.
Camping!
I’m not a camper. I went once with a group friends in high school. I got lost in the middle of the night on my way back to our tents when I needed to pee. It was scary and embarrassing. I ended up wandering onto a campsite with some college kids who happened to be sitting around their campfire at two in the morning. They took pity on me and helped me find my way back to our site.
I will never camp again.
Never. One time was enough.
So here I sit, ignoring the conversation behind me. I need to be legit here, so I switch over to Spotify and start my gaming playlist and slide the volume toggle up.
Lizzo blares in my ears, and I sigh with relief that I’m officially out of the camping conversation.
Dang it. I spoke too soon.
A hand clasps my shoulder, and I close my eyes in defeat before I turn.
Ruby is staring down at me, grinning from ear to ear. She motions for me to remove my headphones.
I don’t wanna. But I do. “What’s up?”
“So the guys were talking, and since it’s gonna be warm and sunny for the next two days, they want to go camping. You want to go with?”
“Are you going?” I ask. Surely, I won’t have to go if she isn’t. I know for a fact that she hates camping—unless it’s glamping, and I know that’s not what the guys are into.
“Of course I’m going, silly.” She smiles, but her confusion is clear.
I swivel my chair toward her, and with my voice low, I say, “But you hate camping.”
Her brow furrows. “Why does everyone think I hate camping?” She huffs and crosses her arms over her chest.
Link chuckles from across the room. “Babe, because you hate camping.”
She looks over her shoulder. “I do not.”
“You do too,” Link, Simon, and myself all reply.
She huffs again, rolling her eyes. “Do I love sleeping on the ground? No. Do I love having a thin sheet of plastic between me and the open sky… and wildlife? No. Do I love the idea of squatting next to a tree to pee? No. But I don’t hate camping.”
“You just don’t like it?” I offer. Simon snickers.
“Look, Gia and Morgan are going. So am I. It will be so much fun. Please come.”
“Unlike you, Ruby, I hate camping. So, I’ll pass.” I move to put my headphones back on, and she reaches out to stop me.
“Please.” She draws out the word like a child begging for a candy bar at the store.
“I told you she would say no,” Link says from the kitchen now.
I lift my shoulder. He knows me.
She pouts. “It won’t be fun without you.”
