Page 95 of Drama Queen

I get it, you know, I’m a lot. I always have been, but I do really try to be grateful when my friends do things for me because I never want them to feel like I’m taking advantage of them. Of course I knew Kara was going to put chocolate in my bag, she always does, but it didn’t stop me from worrying about it when we left the house. Then I couldn’t bring myself to look for the first twenty minutes of the drive. Sometimes I worry they’ll get sick of me, but they never do, so I’m not changing a damn thing.

That’s probably why I surprise both myself and Kara when I surge forward in her truck and plant a kiss on her cheek. She always gives me a stash of chocolate on road trips, and while we’re not normally a super touchy-feely group, it felt right to thank her like that. She’s always willing to go with the flow and entertain my quirks. The kiss itself didn’t really surprise me. The fact that I did it without thinking, whispered in her ear, then wondered what else I could whisperdidsurprise me.

Kara is gorgeous. She’s tall, is not afraid of her bigger body, has naturally gorgeous blond hair, and brown eyes that one could drown in. She’s just… everything. This whole group almostrevolves around her, and I don’t think she has any idea. Maybe I’ll talk to a couple of the guys this week about changing that. I’ll start with Danny boy; he’s always willing to do something nice. He might also punch you with a smile on his face, but I think I’m safe at this point. It’s been a few years, and he hasn’t taken a swing… yet.

The rest of the drive goes without incident and soon enough, we’re pulling into the campgrounds. Kara nudged Zeke awake when we got close, and now that we’re at the gate, he’s hopping out of the truck to get us all checked in. Thankfully, the line is small, and we get registered and to our site quickly. Once parked, I all but jump out of the backseat, walking around the site to determine the best spot for our tent. There is a nice, shady spot, but there are roots all over the place.

“How long do you think it will take him this time?” Flynn asks.

“I give him five minutes,” I hear Dan chime in.

“I vote ten,” Zeke adds.

“Definitely seven,” Kara bets.

“You’re all assholes,” I say, not looking at them.

A round of laughter follows, but finding the right spot is an art. If we have a site with no shade, I have to consider where the sun will rise. When there are a ton of trees, we don’t want to lay on roots. Once I find what I think is the perfect spot, I do another walk around it to be sure. It’s nice and flat, not a ton of roots nearby, and close to the firepit. I turn around with my arms wide and a grin on my face.

“Ta-Da! This is the spot!” I announce.

Kara holds out her hand. “Pay up, bitches.”

She snickers while the guys grumble and slap some cash into her open hand before hauling out the tent. We use the term tent, but if I’m being honest, it’s basically a blow-up cabin. I help the guys get it positioned while Kara sets up the portable air pumpto blow it up. It inflates in all its beige glory, twelve feet deep, eight feet wide, and seven feet tall. For a couple of years we did separate tents, but we were always switching who slept where based on who was up late, so one year I splurged on this baby.

Of course I got teased for being high maintenance and dramatic about how badly we needed this thing, but it’s been absolutely perfect and nobody’s complained about it once since. How’s that for dramatic? I reach into the back of a truck to grab our tatami sleep mats, an upgrade that Kara found. They’re softer than air mattresses and are super comfortable. I lay out the mats toward the back of the tent, making a large sleeping area where we can just grab a sleeping bag or blankets and lay down when we get tired.

Kara helps Dan haul in our totes of supplies which include fairy lights to string up and a couple of small plush chairs to chill in if we want to be inside. They especially come in handy on rainy days. Zeke assembles the small bookshelf and adds the books we bring each year. It’s always a different supply, but it’s nice to have them handy for a lazy day. Suitcases get lined up near the sleeping mats and before you know it, our cozy cabin/”tent” is ready to go. Zeke makes the first ice run, and while he’s doing that, I sneak out my special surprise.

We’ve been doing this camping trip for five years this year, and it felt right to do something a little special. So, I grab the plastic champagne glasses and pull out a bottle of bubbly. I think I’m the only one who actually kind of likes the stuff, but it’s the principle of the thing. I had it pre-chilled and popped it in an insulated container before leaving, so it’s still nice and cool. All the other cooler items are safe, but there’s no way this bottle would have stayed nice and chilled rolling around with the food. When Zeke gets back with the ice, I’ll just pop the rest of the bottle in the cooler with everything else. It won’t matter if it gets warm after this.

Placing the glasses on the picnic table, I pour four sips and one full glass as Zeke walks back up to our site. Kara’s the first to notice, and she smiles at me before rounding up Dan and Flynn. She goes with the flow for just about anything we do, and it always makes my heart feel lighter when she supports my over-the-top touches. Zeke joins us a moment later, having seen us gather.

“Everyone take a glass! We need a toast to five years of camping together,” I proclaim.

“Hear, hear!” Kara shouts.

The guys all smile and knock back their glasses. Here’s to a week of fun.

Two

ZEKE

The group isfull of chatter as I continue to collect paper plates and close up containers. We made pie iron sandwiches for dinner, so everything needs to get put away before we all get too tired to clean up. Everyone jokes that I’m the group “dad” and I suppose that’s true to a degree. I’ve always felt a need to be in control, in charge, and I honestly don’t mind it most of the time. Once in a while it gets old, like someone else can order the damn pizza sometimes, but usually it’s fine.

I’m putting the last jar of peanut butter away when I hear Kara laugh extra loud at something. I’m sure Flynn is making raunchy jokes again; those always seem to get her laughing. Smiling to myself, I close the lid on the storage container and look over at her relaxing by the fire. She’s gorgeous and my stomach never fails to fill with butterflies when I see her. It would be easy to drown in her deep, chocolate eyes and never come up for air. At some point I’m going to cave, I just know it, but I haven’t wanted to attempt anything and ruin our friendship.

With the food safely stored in the truck, I make my way over to the fire, grabbing a beer from the cooler as I go. Kara’s facelights up as she sees me, and she pats the seat next to her on the camping bench she’s sitting at. Happily obliging, I settle in next to her and try to pay attention to the conversation around me. As I crack my beer open, Flynn tees up another raunchy joke.

“Hey, did you guys hear about the new camo print condoms?” he asks.

“Oh god, do they really make those?” Kara exclaims.

“Nah, they tried, but it was a total flop. Nobody could ever see the guys coming.”

Kara cracks up while Dan chuckles in good humor. I find myself chuckling along, not necessarily because I thought it was funny, but because Dan and Kara enjoyed it. The evening is spent sharing jokes and reminiscing about past events. Most of them involve Dan misunderstanding something or Troy making a big deal over nothing.

“Look, you guys didn’t see what I saw, okay?” Troy yells good-naturedly.

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