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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"Have a good year, Michael." I say as I pat his head gently while he clings to my waist.
"Come on Michael! It's time to go!" His mother calls sweetly from her car a few yards away. Michael releases his hold on me and takes a few steps away before turning back.
"I guess your face isn't so dumb, Sunflower." He says quietly before turning and running to his mother. She waves politely and they get in the car and pull away.
"That was almost sweet." Marigold laughs as she walks up to me.
"I know, I think I might cry a little." I scoff. "But that may also be because he's finally gone." We both laugh at that as we turn and walk back towards the main lodge.
"Was that your last send off?" She asks me, throwing an arm over my shoulders.
"Yep." I nod. "You done, too?" I ask her.
"Yep! Mine were all early pickups. Thank God!" She wipes the imaginary sweat off her forehead dramatically. "When will your ride get here?"
"She should be here any minute now." I say, checking the time on my phone. "I didn't want to wait any longer than I had to, so I pushed up the return time when I told her."
"Anxious to get back to all those hotties back home, Sunflower?" She winks at me as we enter the main lodge where all the other counselors are hanging out.
"More like ready to see my best friends and my family again." I laugh. "I never realized how much I actually like having them around all the time. It's weird to not see them for so long."
"Not see who for so long?" Guppy asks as he walks up to us. "Hello, Flowers." He gives us a wide grin as he says his silly nickname for us.
"Hey, Fish Bish." Marigold rolls her eyes at him. "And we're talking about all the gorgeous men waiting for Sunflower back home." She smirks at me.
"Oh, really?" He raises his eyebrows and looks down at me. "But I'm right here, Sunflower." He pouts dramatically.
"Actually," I roll my eyes and playfully shove his shoulder. "We were talking about my family and my best friends who I cannot wait to see tonight." I sigh. "But it's a long drive back."
"Don't I know it, Sunny!" He says. "My drive is a little over 6 hours back to Medford. I couldn't imagine tacking on an extra hour and a half! 6 hours is plenty." He shakes his head.
"You poor souls!" Marigold drops a hand on each of our shoulders. "I feel so lucky to live in my shitty little town right now."
"Yeah, your measly one hour drive is making me jealous, Marigold." Guppy says and we all laugh.
Just then, the head counselor taps the mic on the stage to get everyone's attention.
"Hello counselors!" He yells into the mic. Everyone turns to look at him. "We just got the official count that every camper has been accounted for and sent home!" Everyone cheers loudly at this. "I know it's been a long summer for most of you, so I'll keep this short. Make sure to check the lost and found before you go! There are still a ton of unclaimed items there. Also, the lovely ladies of the administration office have packed swag bags for each of you, and there's some pretty cool stuff in there this year, so make sure you grab one off the back table on your way out! And if you'd like to return next year, there are registration packets on the table next to the swag bags for you to take with you. We would like to invite each and every one of you back next summer! Except for you, Fred. Never darken our doorstep again." Everyone laughs at this, even Fred who lost track of several campers over the two weeks he was here. We had to send out search parties three times.
