Don't Forget Me

Chapter 31

"My arms are going to fall off. Here," I say, handing my marshmallow stick over to Lisa at the fire pit on my back deck.

My parents both drove over to Tipton with a bunch of the other adult volunteers for the spaghetti dinner to go to some kind of outdoor concert. In other words, they'll be gone until close to eleven tonight. I try not to be frustrated that my dad can make time for that and not for the boat trip we still haven't rescheduled, because at least it means Lisa could come over.

"You gotta hit the gym or something, babe," Lisa replies, giving me a judgy look as she relieves me of my marshmallow-roasting duties.

"You should've seen all the tables I set up today! They were the heavy metal ones too. Not those plastic ones."

I spent all morning helping get the hall set up for this Friday, on the latest leg of my guilt trip. I completely lost track of time at Oliver's house last week and didn't get home in time to watch a movie with my mom. She said it was no big deal, but she's been a little... off since then.

Even today, as I tried to pump her up about how great the dinner is going to be, it was like she always had someone else to talk to. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, though. Maybe she's just been preoccupied with making sure this thing goes off without a hitch. I mean, it was only one night, right?

"I'm just saying..." Lisa shrugs, pulling me back to the moment.

"I'm strong!" I lift my arm up to flex my bicep in front of her face. She reaches out and clamps her hand around it until I jerk it away from her. "Well, don't squeeze it. You'll make it disappear!"

She laughs until her eyes land on my marshmallow, which is now a flaming weapon of destruction. She pulls it out of the flame and frantically blows it out, both of us looking at the little black blob on the end of the stick.

I start to reach for a new marshmallow from the bag when I hear her say, "It's perfect."

I turn and look at her. "Oh, so you're one of those."

"One of who?"

"The people who pretend to like burnt marshmallows, but really they're just lazy roasters."

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa." She drops her jaw open. "This thing right here is cooked to absolute perfection. Just hand over the graham cracker and chocolate and watch."

I do as she says, then I watch her slide the outer layer of the marshmallow off to create a little cup. Instead of smashing it between the two crackers, she stuffs them inside the marshmallow along with the chocolate chunks.

"Reverse s'more," she says, presenting it to me and watching eagerly as I bite half of it off.

"Tastes like burnt marshmallow, but I'll give you points for creativity."

She mumbles something about my "untrained palate" as she pops the rest of my gooey marshmallow into her mouth straight off the stick.

"I thought you said those weren't vegan!" I yell, my eyes wide.

"Shh. Don't tell anyone," she says with a smirk before getting up to throw two more logs onto the fire. Sparks fly up, drifting into the clear night sky and disappearing into the stars.

She crouches down right next to the pit, rubbing her hands together and then holding them out near the fire, the flames dancing in her pupils. I could get used to nights like this, just Lisa and me and something real simple like a cozy campfire.

"Where have you been all my life?" I ask, watching the orange glow dance across her face.

"What do you mean? We've been dating for like two years."