Summer with the Crew (#1.5 How I Fell in Love Trilogy)

Father's Day

"Dad! I think I have one!" Sophie cried in excitement, grasping her fishing pole tightly. Grady ran over, dropping his fishing pole in his rush. 

"Good job Sophie! Keep reeling it in!" He said, grinning like a child. Sophie reeled in until she could see a shape thrashing in the water. Grady scooped it up with his net, pulling it out of the lake. Drops of water caught the late afternoon sun's light, almost as blinding as Grady's smile. 

"I think you caught a large mouth bass Soph." he said. "Biggest of the day. Nice job!" He high- fived Sophie and returned back to his own pole. 

Every Father's Day, Sophie and her family traveled up to their favorite lake to camp, one of Grady's favorite activities (second only to capturing rampant animals). 

Grady cast a glance at the sky. 

"I think we've done well enough, let's get back to camp." he said. Grady reached into the lapping water and pulled up his fish stringer, which was already laden with fish. 

"Well, your catch concludes a successful day of fishing. Three for me, and a monster of a bass for you." he summed up. With poles in hand, father and daughter made their way along a windy, dusty path. Once they reached the tents, Edaline helped prepare the fish for cooking, while Grady started the fire. Sophie was sent to fetch firewood. 

Absently humming, Sophie almost ran into someone else's tent. She looked up just in time, avoiding a catastrophe. She looked furtively around, making sure no one was there to witness her blunder. Satisfied, she slowly crept back into the shadowed trees. 

A crackle of leaves told her someone was coming. She turned to leave, but before she could Sophie heard a voice that made her freeze in place.

"Ew! Get that away from me!" Stina whined. 

"It's your dinner, Stina. It won't attack you." A male voice, presumably her father, assured her. 

"I don't care! Can we go out to eat instead? How about teppanyaki? You know, if I wasn't born, you wouldn't even get to celebrate this holiday, so I think I have a say." Sophie heard a sigh in response, and wrinkled her nose at Stina's disrespect. 

 Even though she wasn't particularly fond of fish, she would never make Grady feel bad about it-especially on Father's Day. Sophie started back towards her tent, and in doing so stepped on a few dried twigs. Stina looked up and caught her gaze. Sophie imagined this was what a cornered convict felt like. 

"Sophie Foster. Imagine meeting you here. I wonder why you're so close to my campsite?" Stina drawled, cocking an eyebrow and crossing her bony arms. 

"Hi Stina!" Sophie faked her enthusiasm, as if she'd ever want to see Stina. "Just getting some firewood." Sophie waved, and began to walk away. 

"You know, we haven't had time to connect, with school and all. I think you should stop by campsite after dinner...we could be friends." 

Sophie looked dubiously at Stina. Surely she heard that wrong. 

"Uhh, maybe. I'm not sure what my family's doing after dinner." Sophie replied honestly. Stina nodded and walked away. The moment she turned away, Sophie ran back to camp. She pulled out her cell phone and texted Biana. 

Sophie: SOS! Stina just invited me to spend time with her??? 

Biana: Where in the world are u, and how did Stina find u? 

Sophie: At the lake. what should i do?

Biana: idk, but if you have to go, be super cautious. don't go soph! 

Sophie: Maybe she actually wants to be friends???

Biana: yeah, like pigs fly 

Sophie: maybe I should give her a chance? 

Biana: Your choice. I wouldn't, but I hold grudges. more power to you if you do lol, just be careful 

Sophie: ;) 

Sophie sighed, then opened a new conversation. 

Sophie: I need help 

Keefe: you called? 

Sophie: I think Stina wants to be friends, but I think it might be a trap 

Keefe: did you just make this up to have an excuse to text me? ;) 

Sophie: nevermind 

Keefe: FOSTERRR wait 

Keefe: I can help u :)  

Sophie: *rolls eyes* i think i got this 

Sophie shook her head and turned off her phone. She would do this herself. 

Edaline appeared at the tent entrance. 

"Dinner time!" she said. Sophie followed her to the picnic table, where Grady had set out the cooked fish and a salad. 

"It's a little rugged, but I think you're going to love it." Grady said. Sophie smiled and they ate dinner. Afterwards, they made s'mores over the fire, attempting to get the perfect brown marshmallow before it burned.  

With dinner and desert wrapped up, Sophie asked if she could go to Stina's campsite. 

"Isn't that the tall girl that always frowns?" Grady asked. 

"Yeah, but I think she's okay." Sophie replied. 

"Sure, as long as you don't stay too long." Edaline said. Sophie nodded, and gingerly made her way to Stina's campsite. 

Stina came out of her tent as soon as Sophie appeared. 

"Hey, come on in." she said dully, motioning to Sophie. Sophie followed, puzzled and nervous. Inside the tent, Stina sat down, Sophie following her lead. Stina turned her gaze to her, brown eyes cold, which Sophie had previously not known was possible. 

"I think we need to be allies for next year." Stina said. 

"Why? What's so different about next year?" Sophie asked. 

"It's Junior year, we'll be upper class men, and I think we need to set an example. Plus, you could use a little status boost." Stina replied, insult poorly hidden. Sophie chose to ignore the bait. 

"Okay." 

Stina flipped her hair. "Let's just exchange phone numbers, and we can go from there." Sophie weighed her words. She nodded, and they exchanged information. 

"That's all. Good bye." Stina dismissed her. Sophie got up, confused at the sudden dismissal, although she was glad to get away from the awkward situation. She walked back to her own camp, processing the meeting. What did Stina really want? 

"That was fast! Did you have a good time?" Grady asked. Sophie nodded, pulling herself back into the present. It was Father's Day, after all. Sophie pushed all other thoughts out of her brain and smiled at her dad. 

"Yeah, it was okay, a little weird though. Let's just enjoy right now."  

Grady smiled wide.