Foolish Summer | ✔

23 • W A V E R L Y • 🏕️

"Nooo!" Naomi groaned.

Theo stood with a huge grin, arms stretched out to show case camping supplies. "Yes!" He nodded. "We're finally doing it."

The trunk of his dad's car was stuffed with a tent, sleeping bags and other camp-ish things. He sprung the idea on us right after breakfast and it couldn't have come at a better time.

Any reason to put some distance between me and Stephen was a welcomed one.

When Naomi told me what she overheard Stephen telling his friends I didn't want to believe it. My head was still swimming from that kiss under the mistletoe and I wasn't thinking straight. If I was, I would've remembered exactly who it was that I was dealing with.

Stephen Davis. The boy who did nothing but lie to me when we first met. The boy who had a girl for everyday of the week. The boy who, despite being funny and charming and a reader and really good looking, was just a player.

After last night, though, I wouldn't let his charm fool me again.

I felt extremely stupid waiting around for him to text or call. I even went out to the balcony hoping he'd be there ready to explain himself. Instead, all I saw was him with some girl.

Only hours after we were kissing, commemorating our first date, he had another girl in his room. I should've seen it coming.

"We'll have fun," Theo said, pulling me out of my thoughts. He flung his arms around mine and Naomi's shoulders. "Just us, the trees and the stars above."

"And the bears, bugs, coyotes and axe murderers," Naomi mumbled crossing her arms across her chest.

"Babe, relax," he assured her. "I checked out the campsite and according to the ranger there hasn't been a bear attack in four weeks"

Naomi's eyes widened, her jaw slack as she pulled away from her boyfriend. "What?! I am not going out there!"

Theo laughed as Naomi ran back into the house. "It was a joke!"

"You know you'll have to knock her out to get her into the woods now," I told him.

"She'll be fine once we're there and she pulls out her camera," he said, waving it off as he closed the trunk of the car. "I thought you'd be on her side, though. Anti-wilderness."

"Nope," I said, pushing my glasses up my nose. "I'm all for a couple days away from Ste—civilization. I haven't had any alone time to read all summer thanks to the wedding planning."

And my reading dates with Stephen, I thought to myself. So many new books had come out that summer and I hadn't read any of them because I was wasting time with some stupid boy.

Whatever. I was done.

Thankfully, my mom had all the wedding planning under control and was basically just waiting for the big day to arrive, so I didn't have to hang around the Davis's household any more.

I could reclaim my summer starting with the camping trip with my friends. Just the way I intended to spend my vacation in the first place.

• • •

Miraculously, we got Naomi into the woods without use of drugs. Theo was right about Naomi. As soon as she hopped out of the car she had her phone out, wiping the lenses clean with her shirt before snapping photos of the trees and sky and a lizard on a rock she decided to name Pebbles.

Theo's dad was chaperoning the trip, despite Theo trying to convince his parents that three sixteen-year-olds in the woods alone was a good idea.

Not that we were really alone. There were about six other groups of campers spread out around the clearing. Theo must've been hoping for a little more privacy.