Honey Drip // Danny Wagner

V

A little to my surprise, Danny did take me up on helping him study a couple times. I had saved all of my notes from my prior English classes while never really thinking I'd have much of a use for them in the future, so I was at least glad he found them helpful. Spring break had come and all of us wanted to do well on our exams--but we wouldn't know until we got back from our camping trip. 

Well, it was really their camping trip--I wasn't sure if my invitation had been made out of pure desire for me to be there or not but, when Josh had asked me, I of course said I would go. I had never been camping with the boys before but I always found myself envious of their excursions--they could do anything and have a  good time, but they truly belonged in the outdoors. I could only imagine a three-day camping trip with them being made better by weed, alcohol and possibly sleeping in the same tent as Danny.

At least I wouldn't freeze, if that were the case.

"You gonna help us pitch the tent?" Jake asked from the driver's seat, smirking at me as we drove up a gravel road, the tires tugging at the loose stone.

I held back a laugh, not wanting to encourage him. "I'll do my best," I said. "No promises."

"You're the worst one at pitching tents," Josh said to his twin, poking him in the arm from the backseat. "Skilled with the guitar, not skilled with sticking some poles in the ground."

Jake rolled his eyes.

"We did bring vodka, right?" I asked.

"And lots of it," Josh chirped, smiling.

"Whiskey, too," Jake said.

I glanced out the impending mountains, their grey peaks getting closer and closer as we drove on. "What are the sleeping arrangements?" I asked, not daring to look in the rear-view mirror to see Josh's face.

Jake emitted a low, deep laugh and said, "I brought my own tent, man."

"Of course you did," I replied.

"I figured I'd sleep with Sam," Josh said and turned to me, perched between Jake and I, resting each elbow on our seats.

I wasn't even sure why I had asked--none of the arrangements had shocked me. Still, I didn't want Danny to feel like he had to sleep with me. I didn't even know if he wanted me to be on the camping trip at all.

"I don't want to make Danny uncomfortable," I declared.

Jake snickered and shot me a sideways glance. "Didn't he crash in your bed with you the other night?"

"We were drunk," I said.

"I don't think it'll be much different then," Jake told me and I couldn't determine if I preferred it that way or not.

"You really aren't great at this," I said to Jake as he struggled to construct his tent, although I was struggling just as much as he was without help. "But I'm not doing much better."

Jake grimaced as he tried to raise the tent. "It always seems so easy."

I abandoned mine and Danny's tent and went to Jake's side to hold the other corner, and the improved coordination finally allowed his tent to pop up into place.

"Thanks," Jake said, grabbing the stakes. "Now we gotta do yours."

"I guess, seeing as how my partner abandoned me," I replied.

Jake looked over at Danny, Josh and Sam back at the cars, unloading the supplies, food and sleeping bags, all of them in front of a misty grey mountain backdrop, framed by tall, thick pine trees.

"They can have fun setting up theirs by themselves," Jake told me with a grin. "We'll already be getting into trouble."

"Not the whiskey."

Jake nodded. "Oh yeah, the whiskey."

"So you're going full-in on day one?"

Jake laughed. "Spring break doesn't last forever."

"You're not even in school, Jake."

"Exactly."

I chuckled--Jake had a point. I didn't think any of us liked to think too much about time passing but it was, of course, unstoppable. Spring break would fly by, so would the next year, and Josh and I would graduate and then who knew? We had all been lucky enough to somehow stick together since high school, more than a lot of people can say, but changes were inevitably going to happen. 

The camping trip was not for those anxieties, though, so once we goth both of our tents set up, Jake and I cracked open the bottle of whiskey.

"Are you serious?" Sam asked, staring at us from his own pile of tent pieces.

Jake snickered and took a swig, then handed me the bottle. I downed it and coughed a little, sputtering--I absolutely hated whiskey but it did seem like the most appropriate camping drink. Besides, Jake just had a way of convincing me to make bad decisions.

"It's never too early," Jake replied.

"I agree," Josh said and marched over to us, holding out his hand. "May I?"

I handed him the bottle and watched him tilt his head back and swallow, a little envious of how he did it with such ease.

"What's first on the to-do list?" I asked, the whiskey still burning in my throat.

"Firewood," Jake said and stole the bottle from Josh.

"Daniel and I are going to finish setting up here," Sam called out.

"Fine, we'll go," Jake replied. "But I'm taking the whiskey."

I snatched the bottle from him and went to put it back in the car. "Sometimes it is too early," I told him. "Let's all hold off until we're actually around the fire telling scary stories, alright?"

Jake waved me away, sauntering off to the woods and I looked at Josh, who rolled his eyes though he smiled, and we followed after the lanky guitar player, headed to the thick, shadowed woods.

With our campsite behind us, Josh and I still trailed behind Jake, who was fluidly stepping over fallen trees, branches snapping beneath his feet. I moved a spindly branch that was jutting out away from my face, trying to also watch for roots.

"Josh, I have to ask," I began, my breath a pale plume in front of my mouth in the cold air. "Do you guys want me here? Like, am I just imposing?"

"Of course I want you here, I asked you," Josh replied.

"What about Danny though?"

Josh turned to look at me. "You two have always been friends," he said. "I'm sure he's happy to have you here. But you don't have to sleep with him if you don't want to. I can kick Sam out and you can sleep with me."

I laughed. "No, it's not even that. I guess--" I paused, stopping to inspect some dry-looking branches off to the side. "I guess I should have known friends with benefits is always a terrible idea."

Josh gave me a sympathetic look, his eyes soft, and he bent over to grab some wood. "I think you just need to tell him how you feel," he told me.

"But do I even know how I feel?"

"I really think you do."

I sighed, cradling the branches in my arms, then looked for Jake, who was steadily leaving our sight, a pile of wood in his arms.

"We should really go get him," I said to Josh, laughing a little.