Page 37 of Into the Mountains
Where did that thought come from? I don’t want that. Do I? Nope, I’m not letting myself over analyze this right now. I don’t have the time or the energy.
“What about you? You’re the one who always had the problem with germs. You used to carry a bottle of hand sanitizereverywhere and use it after you touched anything. For a jock, I’m surprised you even knew how to shower.”
“Oh yeah, because jocks are sooooo dumb. Good one. I haven’t heard that one a million times before. And I liked to keep my hands clean. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”
Out of the corner of my eye I can see Jacob and Sky look at each other in confusion. While I think Charlotte filled in Avery on some aspects of my past, it doesn’t look like the others were kept in the loop.
“Anyone care to fill us in here?” Sky tries to ask.
“No!” Charlotte and I both yell back not bothering to turn our heads.
Jacob leans down to his wife’s ear and mutters, “I don’t think this is all just about their working relationship.”
Neither of us bother to confirm or deny what he’s saying, we just continue to stare each other down. Another contest the other refuses to lose.
Avery and Hudson pick that moment to walk into the clinic, the bells above the door breaking the silence. Their voices immediately fall quiet.
“Whoa,” Avery looks between the four of us before turning back to Hudson. “Let’s go wait outside while whateverthisis,” she gestures to Charlotte and me. “Wraps up.”
I don’t break my stare from Charlotte. “It’s fine, we were about to head out. I was just looking for some hand sanitizer.”
Charlotte narrows her eyes at me so much they are practically closed as she crosses her arms. Finally, I break my stare away from hers and I catch a smug smile tug at the edge of her lips. I’ll let her take the victory for now. As long as she’s smiling.
A few minutes later, everything is packed into the bed of Hudson’s truck and it isn’t until I see Avery snuggled into thebench seat at the front that I realize we are all going in one vehicle.
Charlotte realizes this at the same time I do. “We aren’t actually all squeezing in one car, are we?”
“Yep,” Sky answers without bothering to explain further.
Hudson moves around to the driver’s side as Sky and Jacob file in behind his seat. “Shotgun!” Charlotte yells at the same time I do and we are back at it again as we race to the front seat like teenagers fighting for the prime roadtrip spot.
“Really? You two are going to fight over that?” Avery asks, already sounding tired of our antics.
“HAH!” Charlotte boasts. “You lose again, Eli.”
“Since when does anyone call you Eli?”
“Since never,” I answer Sky as I squeeze my almost six foot frame into the back seat behind Charlotte, my senses consumed by whatever floral perfume she put on her skin before she came. The image of her rubbing it on her wrists shouldn’t have as much of an affect on my body as it does. It smells sweet, but with an earthy undertone to it. Maybe the hour-long trip to the campsite won’t be too bad.
The crackling from the radio fills the cab as Hudson tries to find some music.
“Here, just let me hook up my phone.” Charlotte wastes no time connecting her phone to the truck’s bluetooth and instrumental music sounds through the speakers. It takes me a second to recognize the music, but surprisingly, I do.
“Charlie, we are not listening to movie scores the whole way there.”
She sighs. “Why not? They’re better than what most people listen to.”
“I’m not disagreeing with you, but I also don’t need to hearThe Hobbitsoundtrack played on repeat. Especially consideringEthan has had it on repeat for the past couple of weeks in his room and he doesn’t bother with headphones.”
“Killjoy,” she mutters loud enough for me to hear as she scrolls through her phone for another playlist. The opening notes of “Style (Taylor’s Version)” starts playing and as I expected, Hudson starts singing along, not missing a beat.
I can see Charlotte’s head whip around, her hair moving with her, to stare at him in utter shock. One thing about Hudson is he’s a big ‘ole Swiftie. Both him and Sarah were. Sky used to hate her music, but she’s come around over the years and soon she’s singing along with the rest of us. Charlotte just looks around the cab, mouth agape as all her friends, and me, are singing along to one of her favorite artists that I don’t think she expected any of us to like by the look on her face.
The rest of the hour is filled with a mix of songs from Midnights, Reputation, 1989 (my favorite), and a few from her debut. We pull into the campgrounds and pass the lodge as we make our way to our campsite and I glimpse canoes and kayaks, which I expected. One of the fun facts I learned from Sky’s nifty little clipboard. It’s also one thing I’ve never been very good at. Something about me and the water doesn’t mix very well.
Once we reach our campsite, Charlotte wastes no time getting out of the truck to stretch her limbs. I follow suit and start unpacking the truck bed. The area Sky reserved is large enough for at least four tents and still has enough space to sit chairs around the campfire that is already set up. A weathered picnic table is positioned off to the side and for some reason, I picture Charlotte sitting there with a white tablecloth covering the top so she doesn’t get splinters, plates set out nicely, with Ethan perched across from her, a hand of cards at the ready.
Hudson and Avery already have their tent halfway set up by the time I make my way around the truck to find mine. Charlotte is attempting to yank hers out of the bag and Jacob and Skyhave theirs spread out on the ground, Jacob getting the poles together.
