Honey | Gini

Two

Gina's POV

EJ comes to a stop within seconds of putting on the breaks. If I weren't used to his driving, I would probably be scared, but this is just EJ. He tends to pay too much attention to the scenery around him and not the trees right in front of us, but he always stops in time. 

As I climb out from the back seat, a dirt cloud blows up into my face, making me have to close my eyes, but when I open them again, it's like a grand reveal of the long wooden cabin in the middle of the trees. A porch wraps around the whole front, with stairs going down to a fire pit on the side. The windows stretch up from the ground like doorways for the light to get inside to the ground floor, and tree branches brush the points of the roof with their green needles. The way it's tucked inside its own canopy of trees makes it feel like it's completely isolated from the rest of the world, but I know there's another cabin just a bit up the dirt road. 

"Welcome to our cabin," Ashlyn says as she passes by me.

She heads toward the back of the car to start unloading the belongings there. After finishing soaking up the beauty of the location, I go over to help her out. EJ pulls out a few lawn chairs while Ashlyn takes the three bicycles out one by one. 

"So what are the bikes for?" I ask. "You said it was important that everybody brings one."

"It is," Ashlyn says, "and you'll find out why later."

"I don't get a sneak peak because I live with you?" 

She smiles but shakes her head. "I want to wait until everybody's here. But basically, it's this thing that EJ and I always do when we're here."

"It makes for great Insta posts," EJ says with a smile. 

"Awesome," I respond with a chuckle. "What do you want me to carry?"

She grabs a bag of graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows and passes it to me. 

"Will you take this in and just set it down in the kitchen?" 

"Sure," I say. 

I grab my own bag of clothes and things to bring along in my free hand before turning to go up to the door. As I approach, EJ is in the midst of unlocking it. and when he gets it open, he holds the door for me. 

"Thanks," I say.

The doorway opens up into a large, open-concept living room with a kitchen and dining table at the back. The walls show the lines of the wood used to make them, and the ground is decorated with several rugs, all with colourful, bohemian-style patterns. I bring the bag of food over to the kitchen where a light made of dangling, glass crystals hangs over an island. It looks like something out of Ashlyn's dreams. On the cabinets, hand-painted flowers sparkle each corner, and a stone countertop gives the final touch. 

Ashlyn appears next to me as she sets down another bag of food. She opens the refridgerator and starts unloading raw hot dogs and fruit trays into the fridge, but as when she opens up one compartment, she picks out a can of grape pop. 

"Does pop expire?" she wonders.

"I doubt it. Isn't it just, like, water and acid?"

"Cool, then we have some pop already."

She places the can back into the compartment and closes it before finishing putting the rest of the food into the fridge. 

"So do you guys come here a lot?" I ask her. 

"Yeah," Ashlyn replies. "EJ's family comes here with mine, and we spend weekends here in the summer whenever both our parents can get it off. We've had this place since I was six or seven I think. Me and EJ would always try to climb the trees together or catch butterflies. Sometimes we took our pool floaties and rode them down the stairs over there."