"Remind me again when you ever liked camping?" I asked, stopping to huff and pull away loose strands of my hair.
Mom leaned against my bedroom doorframe and folded her arms. "I figured I'd give it another shot."
"Oh, please! The last time we went camping was when I was about nine-years-old. One night in a cabin and you made us all drive back home around midnight because the bugs were annoying you."
"Well, if you want to put it that way..."
I rolled my eyes but smiled. "I'm not complaining. I'd like to be surrounded by nature. You guys rented two cabins, right?"
Mom was checking her manicured nails. "Not exactly. Three cabins were rented. One for the three of us, the other for Molly and her boys, and the last for, well, her husband."
I pursed my lips. "Ex-husband."
It turned out my mother and Molly had been talking a lot. I mean can you blame them? Before Molly could settle down in the neighborhood, Mom had already cooked her a casserole. She was always like that – trying to make people happy. I supposed that that made her happy as well. Well anyway, Molly and my mother decided that this weekend would be spent camping in the woods.
And Molly's husband was coming along, too.
It made me nervous for some reason. I mean Dylan seemed so unnerved about the whole thing. I didn't know why Molly and her husband had gotten a divorce. Frankly, I wasn't sure I'd like to ask Dylan. I did, though, but he didn't really answer. Was it a messy divorce? Or was it just because of irreconcilable differences? Was Dylan's breakup messy? Or was it also simply because of the common things the two lacked in their relationship?
I wondered how Molly was feeling now that her ex-husband was here in Georgia.
I was going to find out anyway.
"Are you done packing?" Mom asked, bringing me back to reality.
"Yeah," I replied, placing my hands on my hips. "I've got the essentials: a couple of books, a camera, hairbands because mine tend to rip apart..."
"Ah, how about some underwear and clothes?" she sarcastically asked.
I rolled my eyes and zipped up my bag. "Done."
"Then let's hit the road!"
We met the others outside. I awkwardly followed my parents as they greeted Molly.
And her husband.
And a strange boy.
"Good morning," Mom cheerily beamed. "Are we all ready to go?"
"Yes," Molly said, shooting back a small smile. "Ah, Penny and Lester, this...this is my ex-husband Mike. He's here for a visit. Mike, these are our neighbors."
"It's very nice to meet you," the man said, shaking hands with my parents. While they talked, I took my time to observe him. He was a tall man, late into his forties. He had salt-and-pepper hair, with warm, blue eyes, framed by a thin face. The boy next to him was even taller, with curly, blonde hair, pale skin, and the exact eyes as his father.
Obviously, it was David, Dylan's brother.
And Dylan was nowhere in sight.
"This is David, my oldest son," Molly said.
"It's very nice to meet you, David," Dad smiled. "Ah, this is also our daughter. Aubrey, say hello."
Well, I wasn't really paying attention.
I whipped my head around and looked at them with a questioning look. "What? Oh! Oh, hello! I'm Aubrey!"
Mike and David smiled at me.
I felt pretty embarrassed and awkward but thankfully, Dylan came out of the house just then.
"Well, we're all here now," Molly said. Her face looked tired as she looked at a pretty angry Dylan. "I guess we should hit the road. Maybe we could stop and have breakfast."
"Sounds good!" Mom smiled. "So, Lester and I will be driving with you guys and David. We don't want to take so many cars – that would be too crowded – so Aubrey, you will be going with Dylan."
Dylan turned around and looked at me with a flat look. I raised up my hand. "Dylan, please. Try to conceal your enthusiasm, you're embarrassing me."
That didn't really amuse him.
He looked like he wanted to strangle me.
But it did amuse the others.
We departed after that. I threw my bag into the backseat and climbed into the car. Sighing, Dylan shut the car door and turned on the ignition.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine," he snapped, just like always.
"You say you're fine when you're really not, you know that?"
"I'm going to have to make a quick stop first," Dylan said, ignoring me.
"Why?"
"I'm all out of cigarettes."
"How sinful!" I sarcastically exclaimed.
"Oh, bug off."
