The Summer We Believed (Denim Days #1)

Day 3 -- Duncan

I woke to the steady drizzle of rain on the roof of the tent. Up here, that kind of rain could last all day. I slipped my arm from under Mel's head as gently as I could. We'd fallen asleep, Mel first, after the knight rescued the beautiful Belle with Deep Woods Off. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten to bring any from the lake house. When I first woke, I'd laid there, breathing in her vanilla and brown sugar scent. I'd never been sure if it was her lotion, or shampoo, or just the way she smelled, but it always reminded me of warm cookies baking. Sometimes I'd find a reason to stick my head in her hair or by her neck just to get a whiff. It might've been the best smell ever.

Finally, I propped myself up on my elbow and watched Mel sleep. Not in the creepy, stalker way. She almost looked like a beautiful princess—what's that one that sleeps? I had a sudden urge to kiss her awake, but didn't, because...creepy stalker guy.

She stirred and rubbed her eyes. "Is that rain?"

"Your powers of deduction are astounding."

It was too early for her to have a comeback, so she slapped my thigh.

"We should run. You missed yesterday," I told her. Every year for the last three, Mel and I ran first thing in the morning. We started the routine up here, the summer before our Sophomore year, when Mel refused to get into a swimsuit, which made everything that we normally did awkward. One day after paddling around, I'd wanted to go for a swim.

"Let me think about it."

"What is there to think about? We paddled, we're sweaty. Doesn't the lake look inviting?"

"I'm too fat for a swimsuit." The words had boiled out of her.

"Mel." If you'd asked me, I wouldn't have ever called Mel fat. She was a chubby kid, and rounder than a lot of the girls at school, plus she didn't really worry about make-up, hair, and fashion stuff. Even so, I never thought she should lose weight or do anything to change her looks. And, I never considered that she might not like the way she looked.

"I am. I know you're my friend and you won't say it, but I know what the mirror says. And the mirror says I should not get within a hundred yards of a swimsuit. At least not one that I would wear. Not under any circumstances. I've gained five pounds since last summer."

I let it go. We'd skipped the lake and I let her kick my ass in a game of Yahtzee, but I convinced her that we should go for a run the next morning. She was up for it, so first thing the next day we'd run the mile and a half, mostly uphill, to Gustaf's. Once there, we got a bottle of water, drank it at the dilapidated picnic table, and ran back. We ran for the rest of our vacation, and then continued to do it once we got home. Sometimes, early on, I had to guilt her into it, but after a while it became routine, then habit. Mel grew leaner, and it was hard for me to remember that chubby version of her. I hated to run in the rain, but she'd missed yesterday.

Mel rolled her eyes at the roof of the pup tent. I imagined her silently cursing the weather. "Give me a sec to change and get my running shoes."

Mom walked by the screen door as we took turns crawling out of the tent. She took one step backwards, faced us, and planted her hands on her hips.

I held up don't-shoot hands. "Mel got a mosquito infestation. It was an innocent rescue."

"Haven't you ever heard of Off?" she asked as she held the screen door open for us.

I had. Unfortunately, the knight was better at planning than me. "Nothing happened."

"Fine. All the same, maybe we could avoid mentioning this to Kathleen. I'm sure this isn't what she had in mind when she agreed to the camp out."

"Okay, okay, I get it. We're going for a run." With one hand I grabbed my wallet, and with the other, I grabbed Mel's hand to pull her out the door.