Page 16 of Honeysuckle
“You’re doing good, Dean,” Silas said, patting my shoulder.
“There’s been two fights, I’m pretty sure we’re all going to get food poisoning with Todd on breakfast duty.AndJosh punched Cael,” I scoffed. “I wouldn’t consider that a good job.”
“You’re trying,” he said. “That’s what matters. You could have taken one look at Logan and sent him home, but you let him get on the bus, you let him interact with the team. The exercise was good yesterday. Keep running it until they start talking.”
“You think that’s a good idea?” I asked him.
“It got them talking yesterday,” he said.
“It got them fighting.” I rolled my eyes.
“Fighting, talking—same thing with you guys,” Silas said with a laugh. “Just don’t give up on them, you’re doing it your way and it may not be conventional or even safe but it’s working. Look.” Silas nodded to the field.
Arlo had crouched beside Josh and was helping him reorganize a crate, which wouldn’t necessarily mean anything but they were talking… Arlo was smiling…
“He’s playing nice to help me.” I rolled my eyes again.
“When have you ever known Arlo to play nice?” He questioned.
“That guy has a smile that they dubbed thepress smile,”I said.
“Dean, look at it, that’s not his press smile,” Silas argued. “That’s a genuine conversation.”
“Whatever you say, Doc,” I conceded.
“Have a fun canoe trip, Tucker. Try to bring them back in one piece?” Silas laughed as he climbed the stairs back to the office and shut the door behind him.
TUCKER
“Doyouwantthefront or back?” I asked Josh as we stood on the shore. Most of the team had already paddled out—each paired with a senior and carrying maps and supplies in case of separation.
“I’ve never been in a canoe before, so whatever’s easiest…” he said.
“Take the front.” I waited until he was in the canoe and positioned at the front before I handed him the paddle and pushed the canoe a little further out. I hopped in with ease, avoided getting my shoes wet, and used the paddle to shove us into the deeper water.
“I’m not going to be in charge of steering this thing am I?” Josh asked and I tried not to laugh at the hint of nervousness in his voice.
“No.” I dipped my oar into the water. “Just paddle.”
As we moved the canoe out to the middle of the lake, a calm silence fell between us; the water lapping against the wood and the breeze coasting over the surface of the lake. In the distance laughter could be heard as the group travelled.
I opened and closed my mouth a few times, searching for a jumping-off point that wouldn’t get me yelled at, but the need to talk was festering. Josh seemed unbothered by the silence which only made me more antsy.
“Cael said-” I started, and Josh shook his head.
“Don’t,” he said shortly after. “I hate small talk.”
“We’re going to be in this canoe for three hours, Logan.”
The canoe rocked back and forth as Josh’s entire body turned to look at me.
“Hey, chill out or we’ll both end up in the water,Mr. I-can’t-swim.” I put my hands up and tried to calm him down.
“I can swim.” He scowled and turned back around.
“So why won’t you do the polar dips?” I asked him. He had gone M.I.A. that morning again, before anyone could get their hands on him and force him into the water. My thoughts flashed to the scars that littered his skin and I swallowed the cotton ball that became lodged in my throat.
“Because they’re stupid,” he said, taking little strokes with his oar that weren’t really doing much to move us.
