Bastiana has a loving family, two amazing best friends, and a secret.
Over summer vacation, Bastiana and her besties do their best to focus on their bucket list in order to distract them from all the secrets they're keeping from one another. When a...
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"Look, Doll." Asher says, bringing me out of my jumbled thoughts. "A shooting star." I follow his pointed finger and catch the star as it streaks across the sky.
"Make a wish, B." Ryker says softly.
"I don't need to." I shake my head gently. "I have everything I need right here." I whisper.
When I look at each of them, their eyes are already on me. I take a moment to look at their faces, determined to memorize every detail of them in this perfect moment. I don't want to forget a single second of this night; of this summer.
These two chaotic, funny, lovable, goofy, amazing guys are more than I could ever need in my life. I know that I'll always be okay if they're by my side. I hope I tell them often enough how incredible they are and how lucky I am to have them. I don't know what I did to deserve best friends like these, but I'll never take them for granted. I'd fall apart without them.
Camp is going to be difficult, to put it lightly. Asher and Ryker are my touchstones, my GPS, and my home. The friendship we share is a fundamental part of who I am. Being without them is going to feel like being without an arm and a leg. Unbalanced and off-center.
I sit up quickly and turn to look at both of them laying there. "You guys know I love you, right?" I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes as my voice wavers.
"Of course we do, Doll." Asher says softly as he sits up to wrap his arms around me.
"We love you, too, B." Ryker sits up and wraps his arms around both of us.
"Please don't cry, Doll." Asher whispers. "I'll cry, too." I hear Ryker sniffle just then and we both pull back to look at him.
"Ry?" I cup his cheek in my hand. "Are you crying?"
"No." He mumbles and looks away with a sad little sniffle.
"Oh, Ry!" I use both hands to gently turn his face to look at me as a tear rolls down my cheek silently. "Please don't cry. I'll never stop if you do." I wipe away his tears with my thumbs. Asher sniffles behind us.
"We're just a trio of disasters tonight, Doll." Asher laughs softly.
"Come here." I whisper as I wrap my arms around them again. "No more tears. This isn't that dramatic. I promise. I'll be back in 28 days and I'll call as soon as I cross the town line."
"Promise?" Ryker asks quietly.
"I swear on my life, Ry." I whisper. We continue to hold each other for a few minutes before we've regained our composure. "Okay." I sit up and look at them. "We are done with the crying part of the evening. Time check, Ash?"
Asher pulls his phone from his pocket. "Ten minutes to midnight." He tells me.
"Excellent. We've got an hour until we have to start the walk back down to make it back before my curfew." I turn back around. "So we're gonna lay under the night sky and look at the stars and we're going to remember that 28 days is not a long time in the grand scheme of our friendship." I declare. We all settle back down in our spots and look up again.
