Salvaged (38 page)

"What's the matter, Tammy?"

"That's the worst night's sleep I've ever had." She sat in her chair
curled up in a ball. Part of her hair was hidden beneath a yellow bandana; the rest was sticking out every which way. "I can't even believe
I agreed to this."

"Sorry," I sympathized with her. "Camping not your thing?"

"Holiday Inn isn't even my thing."

"You and Attie have that in common." I laughed and then looked
around at everyone.

"She's with Anne. They're in the tent talking." She patted the
empty seat next to her. "Cop a squat."

Matt and Curt joined in the cooking extravaganza, and I watched as
Matt destroyed three eggs in the process of trying to crack them open.

Chase had the patience of a saint. "Heck, man, we'll just make
scrambled eggs. It'll be easier. Just crack them open and throw them
in this cup; then mix it up real good and toss it in the pan. I'll take
care of the rest."

Tess kept glancing over at Matt, ready to take over the egg cracking
duties if necessary, but she stood back and let him struggle through.

"Just be careful not to get shells in there, Matt," she told him.

"Okay," Matt replied as he concentrated on his duty.

Anxious to see Attie, I looked toward the tent.

"Riley," Tammy whispered, "be prepared. She looks worse today,
so don't freak out or anything when you see her. You're probly gonna
cry again, so ya may wanna do it now so ya don't cry in front of her."

"I'm not gonna cry again. I'll be good." I tried to assure her that
I could keep from becoming emotional, but I didn't even believe
myself, and before I knew it tears were welling up in my eyes.

"I knew it."Tammy snickered as she reached over and squeezed
my hand.

I was disgusted with myself. "I've become a complete bawl bag."

"You're in love. We all act like complete idiots when we're in
love. My brother's girlfriend loves Neil Diamond, and now he listens
to him all the time. I'd much rather have him walk around crying
instead of listening to `Love on the Rocks'."

"Well, Tammy, I hate to tell you this, but I like Neil Diamond too."

"You cry and listen to Neil Diamond? Then, Riley, you are in
fact a hopeless case."

"Come on, Tammy; have you not seen The Jazz Singer? It's a
great movie."

"Riley, the man has sideburns that reach his jawline!"

"You're thinking of fat Elvis. I don't think Neil Diamond had
sideburns like that."

"He was around in the seventies, wasn't he?"

"Yeah."

"Then he had the sideburns."

"I'm Netflix'n the movie, Tammy, and we're watching it together.
If he has sideburns in the movie, I'll buy you a Route 44. Deal?"

"You're on." She reached out and shook my hand. "I'll take a
Diet Coke."

"What, no Dr Pepper?"

"Nah, goes straight to my thighs."

"Breakfast is ready!" Curt announced.

"Dude, why did you get to announce it?" Matt asked. "You didn't
do anything but pour coffee."

As the two of them began throwing a barrage of insults at each
other, I noticed that Anne and Attie were coming out of the tent.
Tammy was right-Attie's face had swollen during the night, and a
yellow tinge surrounded each wound. With her feet still wrapped in
gauze, she wobbled on her heels in an awkward attempt at walking.

Jumping up, I ran to her.

"Hey, Riley," she said with a large grin.

"I'll get her, Anne." I reached over and scooped Attie up in my
arms.

"My hero," she teased. "All you need now is the helmet and
shoulder pads."

"No, Charlie, I think you need the helmet and shoulder pads,
or at least you did yesterday. You're lucky you didn't lose an eye or
something."

"Stop torturing yourself. I'm fine."

I placed her in the chair next to Tammy. "Hey, chick," Tammy
greeted.

Tess handed her a plate of food and cup of orange juice.

"Thanks." She took a sip and then instantly brought her fingers
to her lip and winced.

"Are you all right?" Tess sounded panicked.

"It's the juice. It stung a cut on my lip; that's all."

I felt like a bigger jerk with every passing second.

"So what are the plans today, guys?" Curt asked.

"Well, we planned on hiking, but... " Matt's voice trailed off as
he looked toward Attie's feet.

"You guys go ahead; don't miss out because of me. I brought a
book. I can hang out, relax, and read."

All three girls offered to stay, but Attie refused their offers.

"I'm staying," I announced. "I wanted to talk to her anyway."

"No. Good grief, we live together; we'll have plenty of time
to talk."

I wasn't sure if she wanted to avoid an inevitable, uncomfortable
conversation or she didn't want me to miss out on the fun. "No use
in arguing, Charlie; I'm not going."

She rolled her eyes at me. "You sure are stubborn."

"Not as stubborn as you," I corrected as Chase planned the day.

"We can hike for a few hours, and then this afternoon we can go
out in the boats again," he said. "Attie doesn't need to walk to do that."

"Thanks, Chase," Attie said.

"Hey, everyone, guess what today is."

"Riley, don't you dare," Attie whispered under her breath.

"What day is it?" Anne asked.

"It's Attie's seventeenth birthday."

"What?" Tammy screamed. "It's your birthday? Why didn't you
tell us?"

Attie shrugged as her face turned red.

"What do you want for your birthday? Tess asked.

"Umm..." She glanced over at me and grinned but then looked
away. "Um, a tetanus shot maybe."

"Really, Attie, what do you want?" Tess asked again.

"I don't need anything. Honestly, being here with all of you is
present enough. I'm having the time of my life."

"Well then, you've got some pretty low standards for fun,"
Tammy quipped.

"No doubt," Curt said.

"But there is a problem," Attie announced.

Everyone's eyes were drawn to her as they waited for her to
continue.

"I have to go to the bathroom. I've been holding it since I got
here, and I can't wait anymore."

Chase stood with his mouth hanging open. "You haven't gone to
the bathroom in a day?"

"I was a little preoccupied," she snapped.

"I need to go too," Anne announced.

"Me three," Tammy added.

Chase evidently hadn't been camping with three princesses
before. "You've got to be kidding me?"

"I'll take them, Chase," Tess announced. "It's time for a lesson
in peeing in the woods."

"I can't even begin to tell you how much I don't want to do this."
Attie almost cried at the thought. "I've never missed a toilet so much
in my entire life."

"Oh, come on. It's not that bad. You just have to watch out for
the snakes."

"Snakes?" The girls sounded terrified.

"Oh, you don't have to worry," Tess said. "They're more afraid of
you than you are of them."

"Sounds like a load of hog wash to me," Tammy said, yanking
the bandana off of her head.

"Why didn't anybody mention this part when we were planning
the trip?" Anne asked.

Chase laughed. "I assumed you would know that there aren't any
bathrooms out in the woods."

"My mind never went there."

"Well, let's get it over with," Tammy said, standing and grabbing
one of Attie's arms. "Somebody get the other side."

"I'll do it, Tess; you be on the lookout for snakes," Anne commanded as she took Attie's arm and they headed toward the trees.

The guys and I were practically rolling on the ground laughing
at the sounds that were coming out of the woods. I wished I could
have recorded it and played it back for the girls when they could
have a sense of humor about it. There were mixtures of screams,
cries, and giggles. Oddly enough, I think the girls were enjoying
themselves.

After the bathroom adventure, everyone got dressed and took
off on their hiking expedition. They left us sitting by the river in
separate chairs with our feet propped up on a single chair in front of
us. I focused on her crimson toenails.

"I guess I should go ahead and start," I announced.

"You don't need to do this. I'm fine. I've moved on."

"I haven't, so indulge me and allow me get this off of my chest."

"Riley, you don't have to do this-"

"Charlie, please."

"All right."

"I don't know what got into me yesterday. I mean, I do, but I
don't know how I let myself get out of control like that. You told
me to stop more than once, and I ignored you. I can't even begin to
justify that." Just saying it made me sick to my stomach.

Attie sat in silence as she looked out at the water.

"I think I set some darned near impossible expectations on
myself. I don't think I realized how difficult it would be to be around
you all the time and never get to so much as hold your hand. I don't
wanna sound like a total pervert or anything, but it's nearly impossible for me to be near you and not want to touch you. A hundred
times a day I catch myself about to reach for you."

She remained silent, her face was blank, and she bit on her
thumbnail as I continued.

"So, yesterday when you were laying there in your bathing suit
and I was that close to you with all of your exposed skin... well, I
lost my mind. My fingers touched you, and it gave me a rush. I didn't
want the feeling to stop. I liked it."

My anxiety reduced as she finally spoke. "I liked it too, Riley. I
could have put up more of a fight. I could have stopped you earlier if I
would have wanted to. Heck, I'd even tried to get you to kiss me a few
hours before. I wanted you to touch me as much you wanted to."

It felt good to hear her admission. "You did?"

"Yes."

She continued, "It didn't help that I was barely clothed, I realize
that." She nodded as she spoke, but her eyes were still on the water
in front of her. "I did a lot of thinking on my excursion yesterday. I
carry as much responsibility for this as you do. I know how you feel
about me, and I was foolish to think that I could be dressed that way
and talk like that while you were lying there next to me. I flirted and
made no attempt to make the situation easier on you." She shrugged.
"I don't know where this leaves us. I really don't."

"What do you mean?"

"It's possible that we just aren't meant to be."

"No, it isn't. Don't even say that."

"Well, maybe we should stay away from each other for a while, keep a distance. You want to fulfill the promise that you made to
yourself and your dad, and I'm not doing a very good job at making
it easier for you. We only have a couple of weeks left until I move
out; maybe we should let things cool off and then see where we
stand. Maybe if we spend some time apart you'll get some clarity
about the situation."

I shook my head. "Okay, this is not the direction I was hoping
this conversation would go. I don't like your plan at all; I hate it
actually."

"Well, what did you have in mind?"

"Honestly?"

"Of course."

"I wanna admit to everyone that I'm crazy about you and put an
end to all this suffering right now. I don't think anyone's fooled anyway." I recalled my conversation with Tammy. "I need to sit down with
Dad, tell him what's going on, and that he can trust me with you."

She was silent again.

"I'm willing to do it, to have the conversation as soon as we get
home. But I'm at a point where I need to know something."

"What?"

My heart raced as I got nervous. "There's no secret to how I feel
about you. You've known for months, and I've told you on more than
one occasion. But you've never told me how you feel."

As she continued to sit in silence, I felt like I was being
tortured.

"Do you like me, Charlie, as more than a friend? I really need
to know."

After what felt like hours, her mouth finally opened, and she
spoke. "I hate when I wake up in the morning and you've already left
for the gym or to practice because I know that I won't get to see you
until late in the day.

"And if I've been away from you for any amount of time and I
hear your voice, my heart starts to race.

"When you grab my hand to lead me somewhere, I always wish
you wouldn't let go, and I refuse to even think about the day that I'll be moving out of your house because it makes me miserable knowing that you won't be within a one hundred-foot radius of me on a
regular basis."

She paused and I remained silent. I wanted to hear her say more.
These were the words that I'd been hoping to hear all summer, the
words I wanted to hear from her all my life.

She continued in a whisper. "I was hoping that you would kiss
me while I was lying in that tent yesterday; in a weird way I don't
want my nightmares to end because I don't want you to stop sleeping
next to me, and I'm freaked out that I haven't even started my senior
year yet and I feel all these things for a boy.

"So, all in all, I would say I'm head over heels. Whaddya have to
say about that?"

I grinned at her. "I'd say that you've made me the happiest boy
in the world."

She looked at me with a scowl. "Didn't I just complicate your
life even more?"

"I'm more than willing to have that type of complication in my
life, Charlie. I look forward to it."

Eventually, a smile replaced her frown, and even with the cuts
she was the most beautiful I'd ever seen her.

"I'll talk to Dad when we get home or the first time I get a
chance. So, until then, we need to try to go ahead and follow the
same rules we were before."

"Sounds fair enough."

"I am gonna give in on one part though."

"What part is that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "My birthday kiss?"

"No." I laughed.

"Bummer."

"I'd like to hold your hand," I requested.