Page 82 of Promise Me Sunshine

Miles:Yeah, perfect. I was thinking Blue Creek Campground. It’s only three hours from the city and there’s a river where we can swim if it’s warm enough. I saw their best campsite is open Friday around lunch until Saturday afternoon. Does that work for everyone?

Lenny:Hey, Miles, can you check and see if there are anyaxe murderers at that campsite? Because if there are, then I’m gonna change my rsvp to maybe.

Rica:I can handle axe murderers but I’m a hard no on skunks. Miles, check for skunks.

Jeffy:Ignoring these two. Miles, do we need any of these things? (list attached)

Jericho:Good lord, Jeffy. I’ve been scrolling for two and a half minutes and I’m still not to the bottom of that list.

Miles:Good list, Jeffy! You obviously did some research. I have all the camping equipment we’ll need for cooking and relaxing. You will need to get your hands on a tent and sleeping bags.

Jericho:I can borrow a tent for us. It fits three in a pinch.

Miles:I’ve got a two-man. So someone can share with me.

Lenny:What do people eat in the wilderness? I’m thinking wings. Let’s bring buffalo wings.

Jericho:Ooh! And donuts for dessert. And we should have quiche for breakfast in the morning.

Rica:Isn’t camping food made when you add hot water to powder and call it scrambled eggs?

Jeffy:They definitely sell that at REI.

Miles:Just double checking here: have any of you ever actually been camping?

Lenny:Nope.

Jericho:Nah.

Jeffy:No.

Rica:What part of this conversation makes you think I have?

Miles:Cool. I’ll take care of food.

It only deteriorated from there, but Miles has since somehow cobbled together a camping trip for us. Jeffy is driving him and Rica from Queens, and Miles is driving Jericho and me from uptown.

“You can drive this?” I demand when he walks me to the long-term parking lot where he rents a space and reveals a ten-year-old Jeep.

“Yes, Lenny.”

“What?”

“It’s just a car.”

“Jeeps are alifestyle.For people who ford rivers, et cetera! You should know this! You own one!”

Jericho and I flip a coin, ensuring him the front seat. Setting off at ninea.m., we play Twenty Questions and listen to 5Night for three hours straight. I would have assumed Miles would have demanded we play the silent game by now, but there’s a little smile in his eyes when our gazes clash in the rearview mirror.

He pulls up to the campsite and five minutes later, Jeffy and Rica arrive as well. We all stand outside the cars, absorbing our surroundings.

“Haaaaa­aaaaa­aaahhhhh­hhhhh­. Smell that nature?” I ask, throwing my arms wide.

“Haaaaa­aaaaa­aahhhhhhh.” Jericho immediately imitates both my stance and my smelling vigor. “Smells like an Old Spice commercial out here.”

“Oh, you poor deprived city kid.” Rica pats Jericho on one shoulder. “But yeah. Dang. These trees are really tree-ing.”

“Cardinal! Cardinal, right, Miles? Ooh! Squirrel!” Jeffy is frenetically snapping photos on his iPhone and has been since the second we got out of the car. He’s wearing a beanie, dungarees, and a button-down flannel, even though it’s seventy-five degrees outside. As jaded as he seems when he’s in the city, put this kid in the wilderness and suddenly he’s wholeheartedly eager.

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