the wild week

07. anya

florence is looking right at me through the opening in the tent. 'well, are you coming?' she asks, a little impatient. i switch, casting a glance on sid sitting at the back of the tent. he raises an eyebrow at me.
'are you sure there aren't going to be mosquitos eating us up?'
'i'm not sure there aren't mosquitos, but i'm telling you, anya, they won't eat us up.'
'i...'
'carpe diem. you said it first.'
'alright.'
i take my sleeping bag and outdoor mattress and follow her out. we meet jone on the way as he's splashing water from the lake onto the fire.
'g'night, jone,' i greet him, and he nods back and replies; 'hope you'll get some sleep.'
i follow my friend into the darkness, lit up only by her flashlight. we reach the pebble beach — it looks magical in the setting sunlight, pink glimpses riding on the waves.
we place our sleeping mats on the beach under a low, crooked tree with branches hanging out over the water. it's still too light to sleep, so we just plop down onto them and look out over the tranquil lake.
florence picks up her phone from her back pocket. 'i haven't used this for the whole day.
that's such an amazing accomplishment, florence. absolutely groundbreaking.
'really?'
'yeah!' she seems genuinely proud of herself.
'well, me neither, actually.'
'i feel so calm out here.'
'me too.'
'maybe all humans do.'
'since when did you become poetic?' i frown. it's not actually meant to be snatchy, but i can tell florence picks it up like that.
'damn, it's not a big deal,' she says.
'do you write?'
'nah. fanfics, i guess, but nothing else.'
i sit up straighter. 'wait, what? you write fanfics?'
'nah... not really,' she says, avoiding my gaze. 'i mean... yeah. i do. they aren't good, though.'
'why have you never told me?'
'because you are the artsy one.'
i don't answer. i'm not sure what she means and i'm not sure she really wants to explain it anyway. i just look up at the sky. the stars are beginning to light up, tiny faraway sprinkles of hope gazing down at us from galaxies away.
we sit like that for a moment.
'what do you write fanfics about?'
'sexy middle-aged men from action movies.'
i snort out a laugher.
'isn't that what fanfics are for?' she says, eyes glittering.
'that's smut, cece.'
'i don't only write about the sex stuff though,' she adds quickly, grinning. 'i mean... uh.... well... a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, am i right?'
i laugh out loud, it sounds horrible, i want to stay in this moment where i can't even see florence's perfect face for the dark and she's an amazing friend.
'i love you,' i blurt out.
'what?'
'i do. well, as a friend. you're great, i mean it. i know we don't get along all the time but i love you anyway and... i don't know. i'm just happy you're here and i'm not alone with these boys.'
she's quiet.
she's quiet for way too long.
at last, after what seems like actual minutes, she speaks;
'you're nice... i mean... uh... i've never said this to a friend, but... i love you too.'
i can actually sense her blushing.
'i say it a lot. friends need appreciation too. we all do, especially us single ladies.'
we burst out laughing again, and lay down on our backs.
i point out a couple of star formations for florence and we come up with stories about them and laugh a bit more and then we get so tired we can kind of just lay there and whisper and i think that this is is the eye of the storm, this is serenity.