Sixty-Two ☼ Phan

Nineteen

"There's only three more weeks until the bonfire and we still have nothing."

All five of us, James included, were sitting in the cabin. Peej was writing on a piece of paper torn from his notebook, scratching out ideas and jotting down new ones as they were shouted out. Overall, it wasn't a very long list, as we did not have very much creativity.

None of us had meant to forget about the bonfire. It had just gotten lost, tangled all up in everything that had happened over the past two months. It's not like anybody would have been able to remind us, either. After all, it was our responsibility. Those are the rules. No interference.

"What about this one?" Peej said to Chris, pointing at his paper. "Video game themed. There's potential."

"Who the hell suggested that?" Chris groaned, face palming.

James coughed and we all looked at him.

"What? It wasn't me," he denied, making us roll our eyes.

"Let's just hang up a bunch of colorful balloons," Phil said, playing with my hair.

"That's not aesthetically pleasing, Phil," I scolded from where I was lying in his lap.

He leaned down and kissed my forehead. I poked his cheek and squirmed.

"You two are the absolute gayest people I have ever met," Chris said.

"What does that make us, then?" Peej objected jokingly.

We laughed as Chris punched him in the arm. "Shut up, noodle hair. Let's just get on with this."

"To hell with the bonfire," I muttered. "Who even cares what it looks like?"

"It's not about caring, it's about tradition," James told me.

I sighed in annoyance, sinking my head further into Phil's torso.

"Why don't we just take a break?" Peej suggested, sensing the frustration of boredom now fluctuating.

"I say that's a good idea," I declared, standing up immediately and heading for the door. The others began to do the same.

"Wait!" Chris shouted.

We all stopped and looked back at him. He, in a single motion, took Peej's list from his hand and began ripping it into pieces.

"What the hell, don't do that!" Peej reached to stop him.

Chris moved out of the way, holding up an index finger as he looked at the tattered paper in his other palm judgingly.

"We all take an idea," he said. "Then meet up again tomorrow with elaboration."

Peej, hand still outstretched, stepped forward and went to glance at the now partially demolished list to, presumably, make sure the words were all still intact. Seeing as they were, he begrudgingly snatched a piece.

"You could have asked first."

Then, in turns, we all went up and took a piece of the paper from Chris for ourselves. I looked at mine curiously, walking side-by-side with Phil as we left the cabin. The door shut quietly behind us, but I heard it reopen seconds afterward as James, Peej, and Chris began to leave, too.