Hate to Say I Told You So

Chapter Three

My alarm went off before the sunrise. This seemed like the worse part of the trip. At least Collin didn't care of I wore makeup around him, so it took about three minutes to get ready. My head pounded slightly, but I figured that some coffee would fix that. My mom, the angel that she is, always got the coffee ready the night before so that all I had to do was turn on the coffee pot in the morning. Still half asleep, I rummaged around the cupboard for a granola bar. I heard two sets of footsteps from upstairs. One set of footsteps came down faster than the other. The second sounded heavier, and I knew my dad would appear around the corner any moment. My stomach clenched as I readied myself for whatever came. It wasn't as if I didn't love my dad, but he wasn't my favorite person in the world. He wasn't the most pleasant person when he got drunk. I respected him as my father, but it pretty much ended there.

"Good morning, Isa." My dad chimed. He seemed happy, most likely still buzzed from the night before.

"Hi, dad." My stomach clamped even tighter. At least Finn came down the stairs moments later, also super chipper given the time.

As it turned out, my dad felt sober enough to go with us. Thankfully Collin got his own ground stand for his birthday and I had plenty of books to keep me occupied for the morning. If everything went the way I wanted, I wouldn't have to deal with my dad at all.

Yet that wish became short lived; my dad had a little red cooler with him. I could hear the beer cans rolling around. I found myself praying they would all get their deer as soon as possible, and we could go home minus a beer can or two.

"A little soon for that, isn't it Gary?" Mr. Lang asked my father as they loaded the truck.

"Well, you never know how long you'll have to wait for the perfect one." He patted the cooler.

I slept most of the hour's drive to the land of Mr. Lang's friend that they often used for hunting. I woke up with my head on Collin's shoulder, his head resting on mine, asleep as well. It felt intimate, but at the same time, it wasn't the first time Collin and I had woken up in this exact position. As much as I didn't want them to, the words of Mrs. Lang and my mom rang through my head as I closed my eyes again. My headache had gone away a bit with my coffee, but it remained.

The truck jolted to a stop and Collin's head snapped up. He yawned louder than normal and cleared his throat, feeling more upset over our little cuddle puddle getting interrupted than rational, and I took my head off his shoulder. Collin looked over at me and smiled as he got out before jumping out of the car. Finn shot out of the other side of the cab and rushed to catch up with dad. Collin turned back towards me and reached out his hands to help me get out of the truck.

"M'lady," He said in a sarcastic voice. Collin also lived for this trip, so his nap on the way up made him perk up way more than it had me.

It wasn't as cold as one may think it would feel for the time of year it was. The boys set up camp as I stood watching. All of us used to crowd into one ground stand, but now Collin pitched his while my dad, Finn and Mr. Lang set up the sizable stand we had brought for years. Collin wore an older, more faded version of yesterday's jeans. Still looked just as nice. Us hanging out alone in a small space made me a bit nervous, but another part of me got excited. Maybe we would get a chance to talk. Then again, something told me my stomach roiled for reasons other than nerves or frustration with my dad.

My dad came to get his cooler the second he had his stuff set up. He smiled and put a hand on my arm, but I decided to ignore it because as soon as my dad left, Collin led me to his ground stand. I heard Finn scoff as we walked off. I suppose Finn had a point since this was supposed to count as bonding time for the three of us, but at the same time, Finn knew how I felt about dad. Collin had packed a bunch of extra blankets and an extra chair for me.