The Ribbon Campaign

seventeen || of impacts and packing

"I just feel so awful for taking her money," Bryce's voice fills my room as I fold the shirt in my hands and neatly place it in my suitcase. "She works so damn hard for it, Ellie. I wish I could help by getting a job but no one will take me with the trouble that I've gotten in with the police."

"Bryce, your mother wouldn't have given you that two hundred dollars if she didn't think you deserve it," I tell him. "Besides, she's not the one going overboard with this trip. My mom has three suitcases packed for the two of us already. We're only going for ten days!"

"Three suitcases? Holy crap, what do you women need? The whole bathroom?"

"I know! We only need two."

"Two? That's still a lot! Ellie!"

I drop the jeans into the suitcase, arguing, "No it's not! I need my hair products, hair brushes, tooth brushes-"

"Brushes? Why do you have two tooth brushes?"

I blush. "I just do, okay?"

"That's really weird, Ellie. Do you like alternate between them?"

"No! My mom got me a tooth brush once and the dentist gave me one the same day so now I just have two and use whichever once I feel like," I defend, feeling my cheeks heat up even more, now realizing just how weird it is that I have two tooth brushes. Thank God I'm only talking to Bryce over the phone so he can't see how red I'm turning.

"Ellie?" A voice sounds, but this time it's not over the phone but on the other side of the door. I quickly tell Bryce I have to go and that I'll text him before hanging up.

"Come in!" I shout, tossing my phone charger into the suitcase.

Caiden and Ryan slowly open the door and slip in. Ryan doesn't hesitate to plop down on my bed, arms crossed underneath his head while Caiden hesitantly sits on the edge by Ryan. "You excited?" Ryan asks, eyeing my suitcase.

"Nervous," I tell him.

"You'll do great," Caiden assures. "You were nervous about all the other times you went to speak, but you amazing each and every time."

"Yeah," Ryan agrees. "Just don't focus on the fact that you're probably going to be getting filmed and on TV, and that you're going to be speaking in front of massive crowds and that if you mess up everyone will know about it and hate you for-"

Caiden clamps his hand down over Ryan's mouth. "You'll be fine, Ellie Don't worry about all that, you'll just stress yourself out. If you want to convince others of this campaign, you have to be confident in yourself."

I suck in a deep breath. "You're right."

Nodding, Caiden looks down at Ryan, who has a weird expression on his face as he looks down at Caiden's hand. "Ry, after dating for two years, you licking my hand doesn't gross me out anymore, so don't bother."

Ryan sighs and moves his hand from underneath his head to pull off Caiden's hand. "True. I mean, especially after  New Years-"

Caiden clamps his hand over Ryan's mouth once more.

I scrunch up my nose, picking up a shirt my mother got me a couple of years from Costa Rica and tossing into my bag, figuring I can sleep in it. "Classy, Ry."

Ryan bites down on Caiden's hand this time, causing Caiden to yelp and pull his hand away. Sitting up, he wraps his arms around Caiden's middle and pulls him down with him to lay down with him. I roll my eyes as Ryan grabs my blanket from the floor and tosses it on top of them, declaring, "We're going to sleep."