Finding Amity

Chapter 31

Pippa sat in the centre of the floor, her clothes scattered around her and an empty open suitcase on her bed.

"Did you remember the camping trip?" She asked. "I had just gotten to Cruise's when my phone started buzzing with messages from the group chat."

"Yeah, I just remembered." I explained as I grabbed a duffle bag and started throwing in some sweats and my warmest, fuzziest pyjamas. "Did you get his tent?"

"Yes!" She shouted, holding the heavy orange bag above her head in victory. "Sleeps 7, so we should all fit with some extra space."

"What do you even need to bring for camping?" I asked, my eyes darting around the room for glowing items I might need like in a video game.

"Socks!" She shouted. "It gets cold so lots of socks and under shirts and warm things. Also blankets and pillows and, oh God, I don't have a sleeping bag."

"Nooooo!" I whined. "I don't have one either."

Pippa pulled her phone out of her pocket and started typing while I continued to pack anything and everything that would fit in my small duffle bag.

"Okay, Cruise has some, we can grab them on the way. As well as food. He says we need to bring our own food."

"Is that normal?" I asked. "For a campsite not to have like a little convenience store. I've never been camping but I feel like they should." Pippa shrugged, as incredibly clueless as me. "What do you even eat while camping?"

"Beans?" She offered up unhelpfully.

***

We manage to pull ourselves together and get to the campsite just a couple minutes after the other girls arrived, with sleeping bags from Cruise and some water, hotdogs and buns, and a couple other snacks he suggested.

Marley looked almost unrecognisable. Instead of her usually strawberry shortcake vibe, kawaii-girl clothes, she was dressed in a flannel, hiking pants, and a fishing vest and hat, though she still wore blush over her nose and had hooked plastic fishing lures to her silver earring hoops. Hadiya and Birdie looked the same as always, only with more layers. The campground was only just out of town, but was a thousand times colder.

"Tent?" Birdie asked as we stepped out of Pippa's car. We popped open the boot and chucked the orange bag onto the floor.

"So," Pippa started. "Anyone know how to set it up?"

"I got this girls." Marley said gruffly. If I didn't know any better, I'd think she was cosplaying as some fishing dad.

Marley, it turns out, did not "got this". She, instead, held up the instructions while directing the rest of us on what to do.

After an hour, other students were starting to show up and pitch their tents, while we were still trying to work out which poles were what. Don't get me wrong, we weren't just helpless girls who can't read directions. We were reading picture-less directions in Spanish (the English ones had been ripped off for some reason), which Marley kind of spoke but not really.

"That pole either goes through that loop," Marley pointed at the roof of the tent. "Or you use it to hammer something."

"Is there Dutch instructions?" Hadiya asked. "I speak fluent Dutch."

"Dutch is spelt like dee-yoot-sch, right?" Marley questioned.

"No, that's German. Dutch instructions would say Nederlands on it." She explained.

"Ah-ha. Here we go." Marley exclaimed. Hadiya and walked up to look over her shoulder and sighed.

"They're water damaged. I can't read that."

"Should I call Cruise?" Pippa asked.

Both Birdie and I shouted back "No!".

"We are strong independent women." Birdie affirmed.

"We will figure this out." I added.

After numerous failed attempts, and a thousand Google searches, we finally managed to set up the tent, even if it was lopsided.

The description "sleeps 7" was modest. There was two separate sections connected by a thin entry space, and our walls zipped down into a big room. We decided Marley and Pippa would sleep in one section, Hadiya, Birdie, and I in the other.

"So, what's for lunch?" Birdie asked once we had unpacked our things.

"I brought some sandwiches from the cafe I work at." Marley announced as she unzipped her cooler. "We have turkey, ham and cheese, tuna and cucumber, and a vegan BLT."

We split the sandwiches amongst us and filed out to the fire that someone had set up. There were wooden logs surrounding it and we sat together amongst the bigger group.

A boy with blue hair and a girl with a black buzzcut came up to us cheerfully. "Hi, I'm Noah, this is Sadie."

"Hi," I smiled. "I'm Amity, this is Birdie, Hadiya, Marley, and Pippa."

"Cool names." Sadie mumbled under her breath, kind of like an out loud note to self.

"Are you guys freshman too?" Noah asked as he dragged two camp chairs in front of us. Him and Sadie took a seat and smiled.

"Marley and I are sophomores." Pippa explained. "These girls are freshies, though."

"We don't really know anyone yet." Noah explained.

"How do you too know each other?" Hadiya asked, the way she twirled the drawstring of her hoodie not going unnoticed by Birdie or me. "Are you dating?"

"Oh, God no!" Sadie shrieked. "We're siblings."

"Twins, actually." Noah corrected. Once they'd said it, I could see the similarities. They both had straight noses and wide green eyes.

"Also I'm gay as hell." Sadie added. We nodded, a little taken aback by the forward statement.

"I guess we should've known that by the rainbow pin..." I added as my eyes darted to the lapel of her jacket. "Or the pride socks or the Hozier top."

"Ah, yes. I try hard to make it the basis of my entire personality." Sadie had a dry sense of humour that I think I could get used to.

"So..." Birdie started. "What are you guys studying?"

"Computer science and video game design." Noah boasted.

"Whats your favourite game?" Marley shot back, her interest instantly piqued.

"Assassins Creed: Odyssey. You?"

"The Witcher 3. All time favourite."

As Marley and Noah continued to talk about video games, Pippa turned her attention to Sadie and asked about her major.

"I'm studying Theatre Arts." She answered. "With a minor in music."

We continued to talk for hours, Hadiya and Noah getting particularly friendly. I smiled as I watched the fire crackle and burn through the logs and twigs and sticks that had been added to it. In this particular moment, I could feel Oregon slowly becoming my home. I had friends that I knew would last a lifetime, and was slowly finding myself comfortable in my own skin. Even though he wasn't here, I knew Isaac was a big part of that.

Wait, no. Dustin. Dustin was a big part of that. Not Isaac. Dustin. I shook my head.

I liked Dustin. I wanted to be with Dustin. He was smart and kind and he laughed at my stupid jokes and he was perfect for me. 

I like Dustin.