And Jesus, he wants to go to Venus. Leaving Levon far behind

I took a deep breath, and opened the bedroom door. My eyes first fell onto Sean, who was sitting on the couch, looking tired and pale. He smiled at me warily, but he showed no signs of last nights Jen bashing conversation. My eyes skipped and landed on Jason, his hand resting on Kayla’s thigh. They were squeezed together on Nick’s double recliner. My stomach flipped and my heart broke. Jason smiled at me and waved, also showing no signs of recalling last nights conversation. I felt another pair of eyes on me, and was shocked to look over and see that Jacob was also here.
“Jacob, I didn’t know you were in town!” I exclaimed, desperate to go back to my room, but knowing I should at least put in a few minutes of quality time. Jacob was probably the safest bet of playing that quality time.
“Yeah, I came in for the party last night. I actually don’t live that far away. Jason invited me over for breakfast, I hope you don’t mind.” Jacob said. He was looking better than I remembered, if that was at all possible. I took the seat next to him on the couch.
“Aw, I wish I would have known that, I would have found you.”
“Ha, well. I’m kind of glad you didn’t, I was actually pretty far gone.”
“Oh, well. Still, it would have been nice to talk.”
“Well, I’ll be here for the rest of the weekend. Jason and I are flying back Monday morning. Will you be here?”
I hesitated. I really didn’t have any reason to be at home, I was set to start work whenever I felt ready. I was planning on going back Monday, but I didn’t have to be there until three, when the kids got out of school. Still, I didn’t want to be here witnessing Kayla and Jason.
“I’m not sure yet. My roommate is supposed to be coming up tonight to pick me up. I don’t know if she plans on staying the night and leaving in the morning, or what.”
“Well, it would be cool if you stayed, it would be nice to hang out.”
Looking at his eyes I realized that they weren’t actually brown. The outer edges were, which gave his eyes an overall brown appearance, but the inside were actually green, and the green shirt he was wearing seemed to bring that out even more.
“Your eyes are gorgeous.” I said, and immediately was embarrassed. I felt a blush creeping up my cheeks.
“Thanks.” He said, smiling. He had dimples! I literally felt myself swoon. This guy was probably some sort of United States secret weapon against females and gay men.
We ate breakfast, and I tried to focus on anyone but Jason and Kayla, which was next to impossible to do. He kept whispering things in her ear that made her smile, and they were always touching each other. I barely touched anything, and ended up excusing myself early. I didn’t have to fake anything, my headache was back with a vengeance and I felt sick to my stomach.
I laid down and took a short nap, waking up shortly after to my cell phone ringing.
I groped for it blindly, not bothering to open my eyes. “Hello?” I answered, groggily.
“Hey, I’m headed down there in a little bit, I’m so bummed I missed the party!” Jarren exclaimed.
“Oh. Well.” I still wasn’t sure that I wanted to stay, but I did feel badly that Jarren missed the party. “You off tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow and Monday, and then I work ‘till Saturday. Sucks, I never get a weekend off.” She complained.
“Well, they’re partying again tonight, I guess. It’s a little more low-key, but if you want to stay…”
“Yes!” She squealed. “We can totally just come back Monday! I’ll get to spend time with Drew.
Ooooh, he’s going to love that, I thought. “Can you just bring me some stuff?”
“Anything.”
I listed off the clothes I wanted, asking for four outfits, two dressier, two comfortable. I wasn’t sure what kind of mood I’d be in, and I wanted to have my bases covered.
I went out into the living room, where the group was still sitting, talking and laughing, nibbling at leftovers. I stood at the bedroom door, watching them. I felt awkward, like an outsider. I didn’t know how to bust into their conversation, and I didn’t know if I wanted too. I felt relieved that Jarren was on her way, glad to have someone that I knew was directly connected to me, but I was panicked to know that I still had two days and two nights to get through before I could go home and let my guard down.
“Ella!” Nick called, spotted me. I shuffled into the room. “Toni made cookies!” He waved a plate in front of my face. I grabbed one, even though I didn’t really feel like it, and sat on the arm of Nick’s chair to nibble on it.
“We’re talking about doing a camping trip, Ella. Like old times, how awesome would that be?” Jason exclaimed.
“Oh. Camping. Yay.” I joked. I was surprised that Jason was talking to me, remembering how he reacted last night. I realized Toni was right. He had been too drunk to remember. “Jarren’s heading up.”
“You’re going home?” Drew piped up, sounding disappointed.
“I was hoping you’d stay for camping.” Jacob added.
“Why do you guys want to spend your last two days in civilization camping, anyway?”
“Because it’s fun!” Jason answered me.
“Whatever. I mean, Jarren said she could stay, but if you take me, you have to take her as well.” I said, eyeing Drew. Jarren had the tendency to be slightly annoying, but easy to ignore. Drew, however, got the most agitated by her.
He rolled his eyes. “I guess if that’s the only way you’ll stay.” He replied.

I was not excited about camping. I liked the outdoors, don’t get me wrong. I loved the fact that I got paid this past summer to spend loads of time outside. Still, I had the basics. A toilet, running water, a shower, an actual bed, a cabin. Sleeping on the ground? For fun? You’ve got to be kidding me. Still, Nick’s parents owned land not too far away, and the area was beautiful. They had planned on building a cabin on it, but had yet to get around to it, so it was the place we always set up shop. There was a large lake where the boys tended to set up shop near, and between Nick, Drew, and Jason, they had tons of camping gear. There were a few things they had picked up over the years due to my demands (a portable loo, for example, the worlds best invention.) But we still had to bathe in the lake.
The boys went off to collect their gear, compiling lists and bickering about who’s car to pack what in as they walked out the door. Kayla excused herself to go pack, which left Toni and I alone.

“I’m sorry about this morning, Ella.” Toni said as soon as the door closed. “I didn’t mean to come off like I was judging you.” She stood from her chair, and without waiting for me to answer, continued “now, we should go to the store and get some food for this little fiasco.”
Although I was still angry, I decided to let it slide. I quickly texted Jarren the camping plans, telling her to scrap my dressier clothes and warning her that she should pack accordingly. Then I joined Toni in the car as we headed off to the store.

We arrived at the camp site, Jarren and I following behind the caravan of cars. The guys packed way too much stuff. Air mattresses, tents, coolers, grills, chairs, canopies, alcohol, there was probably even a kitchen sink thrown in there somewhere. I was happy to be alone with Jarren, and separated from the group for a minute, even if all Jarren talked about was Drew.
“So, do you think he and I will sleep in the same tent?” She asked.
If Drew really wanted it, I’m sure they packed enough tents for each of us to have our own. But I knew that wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear.
“My guess is there will be four in a tent. Toni, Nick, Jason and Kayla, and then the rest of us.”
“Jacob’s pretty hot, isn’t he?” She asked, barely even registering what I said.
“He’s alright.” I lied. I walked with her around to the back of the car, which she had placed our bags, along with a few pillows and blankets she had grabbed. I was grateful for that, as I believed it was the one thing the guys forgot.
We all got to work setting up camp. The canopy was used as an eating area, a card table and chairs set up underneath. The grill was placed close, but not close enough that we’d get hit with the smoke. Tents were set up, and as I expected, the two bigger ones were used. They both claimed to sleep eight, so we probably could have squeezed all of us into one, but I was glad when they opted to use two to give us more space. I didn’t know if I could stomach a cramped tent filled with Kayla, Jason, and much resentment on my part.
The boys starting drinking right away, of course, and I was surprised when Jarren actually distanced herself from Drew.
She caught my look and winked, “playing hard to get.” She said.
The girls opened up the snacks, and we sat down to play cards while the boys did stupid boy things. The more they drank, the more outrageous their antics got. They were racing, wrestling, showing off, and occasionally coming over to steal snacks and bother us. When the sun started to set, the boys built a fire. There had been talk before hand on how the guys were going to go find our food in the woods, joking about fishing and hunting squirrels, but they had such a buzz on that I’m surprised they were even able to build a fire. I watched them, nervously, as the girls all jokingly placed bets on which one would end up in the ER tonight.
“Oooh, my big strong hunter.” Toni joked as Nick opened up a package of hotdogs.
“You just can’t find wild hot dogs anymore, hon.” Nick joked back.

Even the simplest food tastes so much better when it’s cooked over an open flame. We had hotdogs with beans, as well as a variety of chips, but it was one of the best meals I had in a long time.
After dinner we sat around the fire, Nick, Drew, and Jason telling stories about growing up. I have paid attention, annoyed that Kayla was sitting in between Jason’s legs, her back resting on his chest. I shivered, the night growing cold, and wrapped my arms around myself.
“Cold?” Jacob asked, walking up behind me. He dropped his sweatshirt around me. I smiled up at him, grateful.
He sat down next to me, wrapping an arm around me and rubbing my arm up and down quickly. The friction caused me to warm up, but he still held me close to his side. I didn’t fight it, but leaned my head in on his shoulder.
“I’m glad you chose to stay. I was a little bummed we didn’t get much of a chance to hang out when you were in California.”
“Yeah well.” I said, looking up at Jason. He was already looking at Jacob and I, but I couldn’t read his expression. “I had other things on my mind.”
Jacob followed my gaze to Jason, and dropped his arm. He kind of stiffened, and I picked my head up off my shoulder.
“Oh, I didn’t know it was like that.” He said, leaning away from me.
I felt bad, and pulled him back to me. “It was.” I said. “It’s not anymore.”
Jacobs body relaxed, and he put his arm back around me. “Well, good. Because as I said before, I think Jason was right, and I’d like to get to know you better.”
I snuggled back into him, looking over at Jason again, who was still watching us. “Good, I’d like that.”
The fire crackled, and I noticed that both Drew and Jarren were missing. I felt a pang when I realized that they were probably together, but quickly shook it off. Drew wasn’t mine, and even so, he would never hook up with Jarren. Would he? And would it matter if he did?
Of course not, I thought to myself. But even cuddled up to Jacob, I couldn’t shake an annoying, nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach.