Bad Decisions

Chapter Six

-Avery-

Saturday morning, Avery was walking out of the main building to head to the large shed he kept his project in when he caught sight of Devin walking towards him.

"Hi Devin!" he called out. "I made waffles. There are still a few left in the kitchen."

"Where are you going?" Devin asked.

"To work on my prototypes for the salmon project. If you want to see them, I can show you."

Devin shrugged. "Sure. It's not like I have anything better to do."

He waited while Devin grabbed a waffle, stuffing it in his mouth without bothering to put it on a plate and add syrup or fruit. "So where's this project?" Devin asked, his voice muffled.

"We have a spare shed around here, and Mitch lets me use it for my project. He's been really great about encouraging me to work on it."

Devin didn't say anything in response, so they walked in silence to the large shed. He pulled open the doors and led Devin inside. He had a few blueprints laying around, as well as half built prototypes of different culvert designs and a new design for baffles. Devin looked around, his face giving away nothing.

"So what is all this?"

"The state has to replace a lot of the existing culverts because they're not effective for the fish to pass through. It's going to be a big project over the next couple years. I'm trying to come up with something that's more effective and is easier to install."

He walked over to the baffles he was working on. "I know you know what a culvert is, but most people don't know anything about baffles. What they do is change the flow of water inside a culvert to help salmon, by either giving them an area to rest, increasing the depth of the water, or slowing down the velocity of the water."

Devin stared at him, a blank expression on his face. "Is this what you're working on the rest of the day?"

"Not the whole day. I'm going for a hike this afternoon. You're welcome to come along."

"No thanks," Devin said. "I've spent enough time in the woods this week." He began to wander around the shed, half looking at what Avery had built. Avery began to work, and he was so engrossed in it that he didn't notice that Devin had left until an hour later.

When he got some lunch and grabbed his backpack to go hike, he stopped by Devin's cabin and knocked on the door. He figured it wouldn't hurt to ask again if Devin wanted to join.

"What?" Devin called through the door.

"I'm heading out for a hike. You're still welcome to join."

"Not interested," Devin called back.

Oh well, at least he had tried. He turned and headed down the stairs, not sure if he should feel relieved or disappointed that Devin hadn't wanted to join.

-Devin-

Two hours after Avery had knocked on his door, he regretted not going with. He was bored out of his mind.

He called his cousin Carter, hoping he'd pick up. Other than his dad, Carter was the only member of his family that he was close with. Carter's parents were even wealthier than his dad, and they hadn't been happy when Devin had come out. His aunt had threatened to cut him and his dad off. She had eventually backed down, and he had been grateful that both his dad and Carter had stood by him.

"Hey Dev," Carter answered. "How's the whole camp thing going?"

"It's like prison," he replied. "I fucking hate it here."