Page 82 of Craving Francesca

“I still have way too much.”

“I know.”

We stared at the bed.

“Okay, I have an idea. Don’t panic until I’m done.”

“Fine.”

“So, you wear a pair of jeans tonight,” she said, tossing me a pair. “Then you pack one pair of leggings and two pairs of shorts.” She lined them up. “You don’t need more than that. Then you just bring mix and match shirts. You can wear the pants more than once.”

I nodded and reached for my shirts, setting them near the bottoms they matched.

“It’s still too much,” I hissed in exasperation. “They’ll never fit in my backpack.”

“Wear the sweatshirt tonight,” she advised, tossing it at me. “Jean jacket over it. You know it’ll be cold on the bike after the sun goes down.”

“Okay, but what about all that?” I pointed to the toiletries.

“Moisturizer,” Lou said as she searched through the pile. “Chapstick, mascara, brush, deodorant, bodywash, toothbrush, and toothpaste. There. You’re covered.”

“You left out all my makeup,” I argued flatly.

“You can bring makeup or underwear. You can’t have both.”

“Why did I agree to this again?”

“Stop bitching.”

“Underwear,” I chose, reaching out to move them to the small pile of clothes. “And bras and my swimsuit.”

“Good call,” Lou agreed. “Now the moment of truth.”

Carefully rolling each item, I stuffed them into my backpack one by one.

“You’re bringing a purse?”

“Yeah, the black one,” I said, nodding to it.

“Belt bag. Good idea.”

“It’s a fanny pack,” I said, rolling my eyes. “It’s called a fanny pack.”

“Whatever.” Lou waved me off. “Moisturizer and Chapstick in here with your wallet. Wait!”

“What?” I asked, spinning to face her.

“Freaking sunblock!”

“Right. There’s some in my other purse.”

“I’ll grab the big bottle out of the kitchen,” she argued over her shoulder as she hurried out of the room, raising her voice as she moved further away. “You’re going to be on the bike all day, you’re going to need the big bottle.”

I checked the clock on the nightstand. I had under an hour left.

A few minutes later, we stared at the packed bag on my bed.

“You should probably put the smaller bottle of sunblock in your fanny pack,” Lou advised. “If you have to reapply during the day, you don’t want to have to unpack that thing.”

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