Inconvenient Things

11. Failing to touch grass

A few weeks had passed since Emery and Ashley's trip to Austria. The mathletes had grown closer during that time and were once again hanging out in Cole's room. Emery and Ashley's presentation had been put aside for the day, leaving the group with nothing to do. Well, they all had piles of homework they could work on, but as master procrastinators, none of them planned to even spare it a glance anytime soon. Besides, who did homework on a Friday?

Cole groaned "I'm bored." He was sitting upside down on his chair, his head alarmingly close to his desk's leg while he spun around. 

Ethan pulled the chair away from the desk, saying: "You're always bored."

"Let's do something fun!" Cole exclaimed, drawing out the n while he spun even faster. The chair tilted to the side. 

Ethan quickly stood up to steady the chair. "What do you want to do?"

"Let's go camping!"

The mathletes looked at him in disbelief. Ashley snorted.

Ethan shook his head. "None of us ever even stepped foot in a forest, Colbear."

"Don't call me that!" Cole whined.

"Col-onoscopy"

"Ethanator."

"Whatever. What I wanted to say is that none of us know jack about camping."

Harper nodded: "We're all impotent fools who wouldn't survive an hour in the forest."

Nora's head popped out from a cabinet she was reading in. She smiled excitedly. "We could set up tents in my backyard! There's a fire pit, a small pond and some bushes, so it's almost like a forest."

Emery shook her head. "It's practically winter. We're going to freeze to death."

"We could sleep in my house, then."

 Harper turned to Cole. "Is that a good compromise?"

He grinned and nodded "I'll get my camping gear! Do you have fish in the pond? Can I go fishing?  Then we can grill the fish with actual fire!"

"Uhh, I think I've got some fish in the freezer?" Nora supplied.

"Good enough!" Cole squeaked and got up to look for his things.

"Tell me how he's seventeen again?" Ashley sighed in disbelief.

Everyone just shrugged and watched Cole scramble around excitedly to pack his things. The others stood up as well and headed to the door.

„Let's get our stuff too and we can meet at Nora's in an hour. Nora, don't forget to send your address to the group chat."

They all said goodbye and left. At her house, Ashley wasn't really sure what to pack. Clothes, a toothbrush and a comb for once. She probably needed her phone, but it's battery was empty. Whatever, it's only for one night. She did need the address though, so she had to wait for her phone to charge a bit so she could check the chat. She was pretty sure she knew that place, meaning she didn't need a navigator.

Deciding to spare the environment for once, she took her bicycle instead of the motorcycle. „Ashley!" she heard her mom call out just before she took off. Ashley turned around to face her mother. She looked exhausted, dark circles were forming around her eyes and her shoulders were slumped in a way that was unusual for her. She probably had a gruelling shift, Ashely thought. Evelyn smiled weakly: „Where are you going? I hope you're not taking it to the next level and going to Australia this time?"

„No, just a sleepover at Nora's."

„Well, take care and have fun, sweetie."

„Okay, thanks mom."

„I love you." her mother called out as Ash started paddling away.

„Love you too."

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For the first time in her life, Ashley arrived early. That meant she had to help Nora prepare for the 'camping'. They set up tents in the garden, even though nobody would be using them, brought out some snacks and the fish. Soon enough, everyone else started arriving too. Cole steered straight to the fire pit and started to work on lighting it. Ethan followed him, probably to make sure the guy wouldn't burn his hands off in the process.

The girls looked around for some board games they could play. Harper and Emery had brought a few as well, along with some marshmallows, Graham crackers and chocolate. 

"For s'mores." Emery explained excitedly.

Ashley frowned sceptically "You mean diabetes bites?"

"Don't be such a killjoy, Ash."

"Eating them at night causes the glucose level in your blood to spike and stay in your system until morning, because the melatonin causes the insulin production to shut down. That could cause inflammation, which could lead to diseases. High glucose is also a factor for the growth of cancer cells. In conclusion, s'mores are a nuisance to mankind. I'm not touching them and neither should you."

Emery and Harper stared at her in confusion, but slowly set the s'more-ingredients aside. Nora shrugged "I never liked s'mores anyway." and went outside, some games tucked under her arm.

The three girls followed her in silence while Emery glared daggers at Ashley. Outside, Cole was still struggling with the fire while Ethan seemed to be holding in a laugh. Ashley looked up, seeing heavy, grey clouds gathering above their heads. 

"Did anyone check the weather today?" She asked wearily.

Emery looked up too and cursed. Flames suddenly came to life while Cole cheered at his success. He turned to Ethan, a wide grin plastered on his face „I told you I could do it!"

At that very moment, rain started to pour from the sky, heavy droplets thudding onto them. The fire died.

„Aw come on!" Cole whined, his wet hair covering his eyes. The group quickly gathered their things and hurried inside. Ethan quickly closed the door as soon as he stepped into the house and, seeing everyone's annoyed expression and dripping frame, he started laughing. 

„How are we that bad at everything we do?" he chortled.

The others started laughing too, except for Cole, who was sorrowfully glancing at the fire pit from the window. 

„Don't be sad. We can still do cool stuff inside." Ethan tried to console him once he calmed down.

„Yeah.." Cole sighed miserably. Then he lit up. „Can I still cook the fish?"

The group looked at him sceptically, not trusting him with their food. But glancing at each other in a silent debate, they decided to let the poor kid cook.

„Sure." Harper smiled. 

They changed into dried clothes and sat in the living room, playing Risk like the geeks they were and eating slightly burned fish. Ashley decided to keep her mouth shut about the potential acrylamide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and just enjoy the time with her friends. They were strange people for sure, but as they sat together, laughing at one of Cole's stupid jokes, she felt a warm sense of belonging deep inside of her and smiled.