Page 12 of A Little Campfire Blues

“Not everything,” Ezzy admitted. “But those are stories for another time.”

“We should bring your stuff in,” I suggested, feeling pretty damned proud of myself for the way this had all turned out. “Neither of us has chosen a room yet, so all three are free.”

“Is there one with a view of the lake?” Ezzy asked.

“Yup, that one,” I replied, pointing it out to him.

“Then if no one minds, I’ll take that one,” Ezzy said. “Looking out at the moon’s reflection on the surface is sure to be inspiring.”

“Works for me,” Roman said. “Axis said he didn’t want the one with the tub, so I’ll take that one. It’s across from the living room, where I’ll probably spend a chunk of the night playing video games anyway.”

“Same,” Axis replied. “I saw you brought the Xbox; I brought the PS4.”

“Sweet, then we’re all set,” I said, heading for the door with Axis and Ezzy behind me.

“Everything for camp is in the back seat,” Ezzy said as they headed around to the other side while I opened the door closest to me. “Hope there’s room in the freezer. I kinda stocked up on orange creamsicle pops, in case it got hotter than the forecast projected.”

“Doubt the forecast had anything to do with it,” I chuckled. “You were always a fiend for those things.”

“Like you were much better,” Ezzy grumbled.

“Fair, though the root beer ones were pretty amazing too, while they were still around, anyway.”

“Man, those were fire,” Axis said as he slung a backpack over his shoulder and reached in to grab a cooler, grunting with the effort of lifting it.

“Damn, you really did stock up, didn’t you,” he said as he headed inside with it.

“Yeah, but that cooler doesn’t have the freezer pops in it; it’s loaded with soda,” they said, giggling a little as they watched Axis head inside.

Alone, they paused to stare up at me right before they gave me the biggest hug I’d gotten since Mama had laid eyes on me after my accident.

“I can’t believe you did this,” they said.

“I had to. You were both so convinced that the other wouldn’t want to speak to you that I had to do something to try and get us back on the same page before another eight years slipped past.”

“I don’t think I could have handled another year, let alone eight.”

“Figured that,” I admitted. “Didn’t think Axis could have handled another year either. It’s really been eating at him.”

“Yeah, its been eating at me too, worse and worse with every year that went by,” Ezzy said. “I just hope we get the chance to really talk while we’re here. I wish you’d told me about his band, and don’t tell me you didn’t know. If you’ve been talking to me through chat and messenger all this time, I know you’ve been talking to him.”

“I have. But he hasn’t said much more about it than what he did inside.”

“Guess we’ve all been keeping secrets.”

“Well, maybe we can stop now,” I offered. “Was always easiest to talk when the three of us were together. Digital conversations have never been the same, even back when we’d be texting one another after midnight and then getting fussed at in the morning for sleeping through our alarms.”

“Oh my goddess, do you remember the four-day weekend we spent camping up at LaPine State Park, when we decided to stay the extra night instead of heading home on Monday the way we’d planned?”

“I do,” I admitted, shooting them a pointed look. “Someone came up with a brilliant idea about how we would set our alarms for four, break down the tent, grab showers, and drive home with plenty of time to get to homeroom. Only we managed to sleep through three alarms going off. Still don’t know how the fuck we managed that one.”

“We all sleep like the dead, that’s how,” Axis said as he headed around to finish grabbing the stuff behind the passenger’s seat. “Mr. Leroux was not thrilled when I slunk into history class with pine needles still in my hair.”

“In all fairness, I did warn you about that branch,” Ezzy said, giggling.

“Yeah, you did,” Axis admitted. “But I seriously didn’t think it was as low as you claimed.”

Eight years ago, Axis would have made a short joke, and Ezzy would have flipped him off and stuck his tongue out at him. At that point Axis would have told them to put it to good use and I’d have been treated to the sinfully delectable view of Ezzy doing just that, at least until I decided to stop watching and get in on the action.

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