what was i made for, walker

027. terrible hike

Janie and Lucas out of the back of the truck, staying away from Stella and Colton.

"So, uh... hike, huh?" Lucas asks.

"It won't be so bad." Janie shrugs. "Long as we don't get lost, that is."

"Comforting." Lucas remarks and Janie laughs.

"Stel." August calls from the backseat. "You seriously only brought SPF 15? It's, like, zero coverage." He gets out of the truck. "All right, with this I'm either bronzing or I'm burning. You know, it's a fast ride to burn."

"Hey, Augie, you said you were meeting a friend here, right?" Stella asks. "Do you think maybe you should go meet her?"

"All right, all right, I'm leaving. Whatever." August says.

"Hey, Augie!" They hear Rieger call out, making her way over to them. August slides the hat off his head.

"Uh-huh. Go be with your friend." Stella smirks. "And I'll see you guys at the trail cutoff at 4:00." She tells her siblings. She turns to Janie who is kissing Lucas. "Janie! Hey!"

Janie pulls away from the boy.

"What?" She huffs.

"Trail cutoff at 4:00." Stella says.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Janie waves her off, grabbing Lucas' hand and dragging him off.

"Mm. Maybe make a few pit stops for a, uh... different kind of exercise?" Lucas asks and Janie quietly laughs.

"He, uh... he seems kind of..." Colton trails off.

"Yeah, I don't like him either." Stella says. "I'm worried about her."

"Come on." Colton says. "We can talk and walk."

+++

"Come on. Getting drunk out here is probably the stupidest thing you can do." Janie says as Lucas takes a drink from his flask.

"Oh, come on. Drunk in the woods? Sounds like a blast." Lucas says.

"It's not." Janie says. "Sober in the woods is barely a blast."

"Then why do you do it?" Lucas asks.

"Used to go as a family before my mom died. Guess it can... kinda make me feel closer to her in a weird way." Janie shrugs.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Lucas says. "Can we just fuck again?"

"I'm not made to just lay down and screw you anytime you freaking want." Janie scoffs.

"You did it for your therapist." He mutters.

Janie stops in her tracks and turns back to him.

"What the fuck did you just say?" She asks.

"What? It's pretty well known you just did it for him." Lucas says.

"I didn't do anything." Janie says. "I... he made me do it."

"Right." He scoffs. "Because that's how that works."

"It's exactly how that works." Janie says.

"Yeah, okay." Lucas rolls his eyes. "You didn't fight him off, right? Not like you tried to stop him."

"Yes, I did. And it... it's a lot more complicated than you think." Janie says.

"Oh, come on. Like you didn't like it?" He asks.

"No. No, I didn't." Janie frowns.

"Look, baby, let's just..." Lucas wraps his arms around her waist, trapping her in his arms, the girl tensing up. "Let's just take a break, hmm?"