The Benefits of Sexting

Chapter 13

"Do we have the soda?"

"What about the chips!"

"Shit, Ty, I think I left my sunglasses at home!"

"My mother is going to kill me."

"Oh wait, found them!

"She's going to find out, she must have implanted a tracker when I was born. Guys, you have to bring me home."

I sat at my kitchen table, watching as craziness unfolded before me. Ty was running around, double checking the coolers and the bags of food and supplies. Emily, now that she found her sunglasses, was smiling at something on her phone. Porter, the poor guy, was pacing the room, his hands in his hair and a very, very scared look on his face.

Me? I was sitting on my ass eating a bowl of cereal. No one wanted to be around me when I was hungry, so when I practically bit Ty's head off over a dispute about sunscreen, he demanded I eat a bowl of Lucky Charms.

Not that I was complaining about the whole situation. It was actually sort of funny to just sit back and watch how totally dysfunctional my friends were.

"Danny, are you laughing?" Ty asked, an accusing sound to his voice.

With a grin on my face, I nodded my head. "This is pretty funny."

"I'm the only one actually packing for this trip," he snapped as he poked around in one of the food bags, looking for something that was most likely already packed.

"Oh, calm down," I told him. "The lake house is like twenty minutes away from the nearest town. If we forget anything, I'll personally drive over and buy it."

Ty collapsed into one of the kitchen chairs, letting out an exasperated breath.

"Why can't I come?"

Leah stood at the edge of the kitchen, her face a perfect reflection of disappointment. As soon as she found out we were staying at Ty's grandfather's lake house for the weekend she followed me around all day, begging me to go. I didn't really have anything against her going, it was just that I knew everyone would be drinking and that wasn't really an environment fit for my sixteen-year-old, pregnant sister.

"You won't even have fun. We'll be in swimming suits all day tomorrow, which you'll hate."

Leah refused to wear anything tight ever since her belly started to swell up. She sure as hell wouldn't be comfortable with getting into a swimsuit, especially since Ty would be there.

"I don't have to go swimming," she said. "I'll just come on the boat with you guys."

Before I could tell her off, my mom walked into the room, her eyes scanning the mess in the kitchen. "She could use a few days away from the house," Mom told me.

My eyebrows rose in surprise. "Really? You feel comfortable with her going?"

"I trust you. She needs to escape this place for at least a day, don't you think?"

I gave her a weird look, not sure if she fully understood what we were doing this weekend. She rolled her eyes after seeing my expression. "I trust you, Danny. Just be careful, okay?"

Ty cracked up laughing and I shot him a warning look. "Fine," I said with a sigh. "Leah, go pack a bag."

Leah gave out a little squeal of excitement before disappearing down the hallway. "I'm serious when I say this, though. Be safe, and don't do anything stupid. I trust you, but I know how stupid teens can be."

"Good thing we're not stupid!" Porter chimed in. "Well, at least not all of us," he added, looking in Ty's direction.

Ty gave him the finger in response. "Is everyone ready to load the car?"