Page 3 of Phantom Mine

I laugh. “You know we graduated right? You don’t have to study anymore.”

“That’s the best part — Iwantto!”

I envy both Adriana’s passion and the certainty she has in her chosen field of study.

All our lives, she’s been obsessed with the outdoors and with nature in its many forms. When she decided to study botany, it came as no surprise to any of us, and over the past four years, she’s truly flourished.

Meanwhile, like all students who don’t know what to do with their lives, I studied marketing. I enjoyed my classes and got decent grades, but I can’t say I’ve ever felt a kernel of passion for driving consumers through the purchase funnel.

I’m excited for this next stage of our lives. We’re real adults now and hopefully that means I’ll finally discover my purpose.

“Come on, Adri. I’m ready.”

“Really?” She claps her hands together excitedly. “I can’t wait! I packed a few towels and other necessities, but we should stop by Waitrose and get an assortment of snacks.”

“Their cheddar twists are a must,” I call over my shoulder as we head out into the hallway.

“I love how you already know the best snacks when we’ve only been here two w—”

The very loud, very recognizable sound of a crack of thunder interrupts her.

I turn towards Adriana. “Is that…”

“No.” She shakes her head emphatically. “No.”

We round the corner into the living room where we see through the window that the brief sunshine has gone, now replaced with torrential rain and the gray skies we’ve grown very accustomed to.

“Noooo,” Adri laments, face pressed against the window in despair. “Our picnic plans,” she mourns.

I let myself fall back onto the couch, pulling out my phone and bringing up the weather app.

“We can go tomorrow. It says there’ll be clear skies all morning.”

She drops dejectedly next to me, crestfallen. “Probably a bunch of lies once again.”

“No, look.” I show her my screen. “The forecast is completely clear, not one cloud in sight. In comparison, today’s is decidedly more depressing.” I bump my shoulder against hers to get her to smile. “I say we wake up bright and early and have ourselves a little breakfast picnic, how does that sound?”

Adri seems to cheer up a little. “Okay.”

Sweetening the deal, I add, “I’ll even make somearepas boyacensefor the occasion.”

Her eyes widen in sudden interest. “Are you serious?” I nod and she adds, “Okay,deal.” She waves a threatening finger in my face. “You can’t back out now.”

I laugh. I knew mentioningarepaswas going to cheer her up.

“Now that we’ve got that figured out,” I start.

“Uh oh,” she cuts in. “I know that tone of voice.”

“What?” I ask innocently. “I was just going to suggest plans for tonight.”

She groans and falls back onto the couch, placing her head on my lap and waving at me to play with her hair like a little dictator.

“I don’t feel like going out.”

“Please,” I plead, putting my hands together. “Please, please,please. I haven’t even told you what it is yet.”

“You can tell me but I’m not committing to saying yes.”

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