Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 119852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
“It kind of was, wasn’t it?” Her voice is breathy and bright, full of excitement.
Talk of living life turned into me reminding her that she enjoyed that weekend away, completely unplugged in a cabin in the woods. She’d been surprised that I remembered that but had blissfully agreed that was an experience she’d loved. When she dreamily suggested that maybe we could do that ‘sometime’, Maddox had started searching online. In minutes, he found an Airbnb available for the weekend, and with Kayla offering surprisingly little argument about the unplanned trip, we hit the road.
One Walmart stop for supplies including a change of clothes for Maddox and me, two bathroom breaks, and an ice cream cone from a drive-thru later, and we’re almost there. And Kayla already has at least five stories she can tell at her next family dinner… if she chooses to go.
“What’s the first thing you want to do?” I ask. She’s been looking at the pictures of the cabin on her phone so I know she has ideas.
“Stargaze.” The answer is quick and definitive, and a complete surprise.
“Are you an astrology girlie? I’m a Mercury setting, unicorn rising, retrograde tangerine. We’re compatible, right?” Maddox grins, though his eyes never leave the road.
“I barely know my sign and only know my birthstone because I was given a necklace for my sixteenth birthday with a sapphire pendant.” Kayla laughs. “So, to me, it sounds like we’re totally compatible.”
The road gets darker as the trees surround us, becoming a tunnel lit only by the SUV’s headlights. We get watchful, looking for the signs the cabin owner told us we’d see.
“There. Turn right,” I tell Maddox, spotting the orange reflective heart on the tree. As he takes the turn, the long driveway—that’s what they’re calling this dirt road—stretches out before us. “Are we sure we’re not going out here to be murdered?”
“It’ll be fine,” Maddox assures me and Kayla, who’s leaning forward to stare out the front window. “I can outrun both of you.”
Kayla smacks his shoulder, muttering ‘asshole’, but she laughs as she does it.
Thankfully, the driveway opens up to a clearing and situated in the middle of it is a house. It’s not fancy, but it is cute, with a porch across the front and the warm glow of the interior lights making it feel welcoming.
“It’s perfect,” Kayla says with a happy sigh.
We barely look around, just setting our bags on the kitchen counter and grabbing a blanket before we’re out the back door. I spread the blanket out in a flat spot in the yard and Kayla takes her place, lying down in the center. Maddox and I lower ourselves on either side of her, and I take her hand in mine, weaving my fingers through hers.
We’re quiet, all staring at the blackened sky. Out here, away from the city’s lights, the stars are not only brighter, but there are also hundreds more of them. Maybe thousands more.
“I clocked the Big Dipper and Orion’s Belt, but that’s all I’ve got. Anyone else have star knowledge to offer?” Maddox whispers.
“That one is Cassiopeia,” I say, pointing toward a cluster of stars.
“Really?” Kayla leans into my shoulder to follow my line of sight into the sky.
I chuckle. “I have no fucking idea. I don’t even know where the Big Dipper is.”
“Holy shit, man. Was that a joke? Are you telling jokes now?” Maddox sits up in a rush, staring at me like some sort of alien body snatcher might’ve switched me out for a Riggs impersonator.
When Kayla laughs, I feel like things might work out. Like we can make this work. “This is going to be a great weekend,” she says, squeezing my hand.
“Yeah, it is.”
MADDOX
We stay like that for hours, staring at the black sky and pointing out pretty stars we don’t know the names of.
“I haven’t done this since I was a kid,” I sigh.
“Done what?” Kayla asks.
“Look up,” I say with a small laugh, though it’s oddly true. “I’m always ‘eyes on the puck’, but my dad took me camping when I was a kid. That’s how I know those two constellations.”
“Of course he did,” Riggs grumbles. “Picture perfect childhood-having asshole.”
He’s giving me shit, not truly envious considering his childhood was pretty great too. “Jealous?” I taunt, smiling at the memories flooding over me. “Dad would make a whole thing of it every summer. We’d pack up, just the two of us, and spend a long weekend in the woods somewhere.” I laugh, remembering the rules he always made sure I was clear on. “He would tell Mom we were doing manly things, like fishing for our dinner, chopping wood, and starting a campfire by rubbing sticks together. But in reality, Dad would buy a small cord of wood before we hit the campsite and we’d use a lighter to start the fire. We’d have hot dogs for dinner and then toast the marshmallows Mom packed for us. They always tasted a little like hot dogs from being on the same wire hanger.” I swallow, swearing I can taste them now. They were always a bit gross to me because of the mix of flavors, but I’d give anything to eat those slightly meaty, definitely burned, sticky, sugary clouds until my stomach ached while Dad talked about the stars and we listened to the owls and frogs whose songs sounded so close, before he'd zip me up in a sleeping bag for the night.