Toasted Marshmallows (A Sweetly Novella)

5 | Cooler

5 | Cooler

~☁☀☁~

Camping was something Reyna and I did every summer for the past eight years. It was a tradition for our families to pack up for a five hour drive and a few nights in nature. I wasn't a super outdoorsy person, but I did like camping as long as I had bug spray and I always had fun with my best friend.

We were fortunate that our families got along so well too. My mom and Reyna's mom were like older, more chill versions of the two of us. Although they usually spend the trip reading trashy romance novels together and we weren't into that phase yet.

Meanwhile, my little sister was forced to spend time with our dad because he rarely got quality time with her. Megan was much more girly than tomboy-and speaking of phases, she was at that age where she wanted to be a princess-but our dad insisted on teaching her everything about wilderness survival. Just in case she ever gets lost in the woods for a week, because the odds of that happening were...to be honest, not very likely.

He convinced her that she could still be a princess and know how to save herself. Then she took her own take on that by saying that she would save her prince instead of waiting for him to come to her. While he didn't like the sound of that, he was desperate for some company after his attempts to teach me and Reyna simultaneously, then Ian until my dad got tired of all three of us.

Regarding Ian, he was tag-along because he felt responsible for us. In reality, he just didn't have anyone to hang out with on his own. He used to annoy his sister and I pretended to feel the same for her benefit, but I liked his company since I was crushing on him so hard at the time. Now we both found him equally annoying and pleasant to be around.

I hoped our tradition would continue well after high school and college. I imagined everyone meeting up for it every year no matter where we were in our lives. None of us would ever miss a single minute of our families' camping trip.

Yet I was going to miss most of the first day.

"My parents reminded me that the camping trip was moved up because of my dad's work schedule. Since I completely forgot that important detail, I accepted an offer to fill in for a dance class tomorrow," I recounted to Reyna on speakerphone.

We were both packing our bags for the next few days and I was in the process of picking out what clothes I wanted to wear.

"So what are you going to do?" Reyna asked, her voice sounding distant like she had her head in her closet too.

"You guys are leaving in the morning as planned, and I'm going to join you right after the class is over. I won't miss much and I'll be there in plenty of time for s'mores." I folded my shirts and put them on top of the shorts and pants I stuffed into the bottom of my bag.

"Are your parents okay with you driving that far alone? Not to mention the short hike to the campsite in the dark," she said, not lowering her voice when she moved closer to the phone. She was the type to think she has to talk louder just because she was on speaker.

I didn't say anything about it, but turned the volume down on my phone so my ears weren't tweaking. "Well," I grimaced, "they kind of have to be since I made a commitment to do the class. And I hope I don't sound selfish in saying that I really want to do it."

"You don't, Fere," Reyna assured me. "I think it's a great opportunity for you."

"Thanks, Skit." I smiled at how supportive she was of my dancing.

Whenever I tried to show off my dance skills on the playground when we were little, the other kids laughed instead of being impressed like I hoped they would be. Reyna was the one who clapped and cheered me on. We became the best of friends when I shared a bag of Skittles with her that my mom packed with my lunch. Her eyes still lit up the same way they did back then whenever she was given her favorite candy.