Chapter 2. Last Day

Sage’s POV

“Lynn, come outside with me. I need help with something.” Kehlani not so subtly laughs in some sort of nervous state.

Lynn follows her out the door, leaving me to my own devices.

I know I had to of heard her right. She asked if I have ever been in a relationship with multiple people. Kehlani must’ve told her that my parents are hippies and she automatically assumed I grew up on a commune with other like-minded people. But no, we were on our own.

The painting Kehlani made sits in the small living room, still unfinished. I take note of the small details she painted into the sand with her oil paints. She’s painting a beach scene that she probably has stored in her memories. I don’t know how she does it, and she does it well.

When Kehlani and Lynn come back in, they catch me closing up the white Chinese containers and stocking the leftovers in the fridge.

“Good talk?” I tease with a smile.

Lynn smirks much to Kehlani’s dismay as she lightly elbows her.

“To answer your earlier question,” I look at Lynn, “no, I’ve only had a few boyfriends. Or…sad excuses for ex boyfriends.” I laugh.

She joins in while Kehlani curls her lips into her teeth, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

What’s got her panties in a twist?

“I’m gonna head back home. I’ll see you two in a couple days!” She waves as she leaves the RV.

Kehlani lets go of a breath she’s been holding since they came back in together earlier.

“What happened out there? Is everything alright?” I put my hands on her shoulders.

She nods, “yeah, there is just uh- something that I didn’t tell you.”

I lift myself up on the small RV table and look at her to let her know I’m listening. Her and I have never had a bad fight. Little arguments here and there about normal things argue about but it’s always a healthy argument. We both cherish communication and understanding.

Her chest rises and falls, “I don’t know how to even bring this up,” she laughs nervously. I put my hand on her cheek in attempts to calm her down. Her vibrant brown eyes meet mine and I can feel her body instantly relax under my hold. It takes a moment, but I give her all the time she needs until she feels able to continue, “do you trust me?” She asks.

I giggle at her ridiculous question, “of course I do.”

She nods with a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, “then I want you to try something during this trip.”

My stomach twists, thinking she is going to suggest something horrible. Like trying durian again. She loved that foul smelling fruit. It looked interesting though, it was spiky and oblong but as soon as the cut it open…I wanted to vomit.

“Just do whatever your heart wants on this trip. It isn’t possible to do any wrong so let whatever happens, happen. Unless you don’t want it to then of course do what your heart tells you.”

Her cryptic message has me confused but I nod along anyways.

She watches my reaction and smiles while I nod.

We stay up for a few hours before we call it a night.

I’ve slept over a few times, especially when I had two days in a row off of work. So we do what we always do. Take turns brushing our teeth, throwing on our pajamas, then settle into the same bed together.

I used to sleep next to all three of my siblings when I lived back at home. I used to hate it and wish I had my own bed but now that I live alone, I miss the added protection and warmth. Even if it were from my annoying brothers and sister.

As I bring the blankets up to my shoulders, Kehlani is already alseep. She can knock out pretty quick. I’ve never been able to just fall asleep. So I toss and turn a little until I finally find a comfortable enough spot.

My knee touching the warm skin of her thigh. I don’t know why, but touching her calms the racing thoughts of having to call out tomorrow and my car being utterly fucked until I can fix it.

Fuck, it’s going to get towed. I remember, knowing I didn’t put a shirt hanging out the window. Why does that gesture have to be the universal sign that you’ll come back to get the car? Why can’t they just assume I’m coming back to get it?

I sigh and scoot a little closer to Kehlani. She stirs in her sleep, wrapping her arm around my torso makes a content smile spread across my lips.

I wake up to light clanking sounds being made in the kitchen. My eyes squint as they adjust to the morning light.

“Babes? Are you alright?” I ask, stepping out of bed.

“Yeah,” she sighs as I walk into the kitchen to make sure she hasn’t cut her arm off, “I was trying to make us some cereal and I dropped a spoon. How the hell did you wake up from a spoon?” She playfully scolds with her finger pointed at me.

I laugh and grab the almond milk out of the fridge. She’s a vegetarian but she doesn’t like the taste of regular milk. I like the taste of the almond milk too though so there are no complaints from me as I follow pouring the milk after she pours the cereal.

We eat the cereal outside in the sunlight, letting it absorb into our skin and collect all the dopamine we need for now.

I pull out my phone, gasping at the five percent sign in the upper right corner.

I let Kehlani know I’m going to call my boss before walking around to the back of her RV to have a little more privacy.

“How’d it go?” She asks as her eyes are on the clouds.

“Well,” I plop down next to her and look at the sky, “I got fired.”

Her laugh infects me as it causes me to start laughing shortly after.

“At least it’s a crappy fast food job and not some corporate office job. You paid the next four months rent, right?”

My eyes widen and the worry lines begin to set on my forehead. I have completely forgot about having rent due while I’m on the camping trip. Shit!

“Hey, it’s alright,” she huddles in closer to me, “worst case scenario, you move in with me.”

I laugh. That idea isn’t half bad. At least I won’t be alone anymore and she’s already my best friend so I know we will get along.

We lay there for a while, watching the shapes in the clouds. I found one that looked like a woman giving birth to a donkey but Kehlani thought it looked more like a woman giving birth to a horse. I don’t know how it’s so different, but she insisted that it’s completely different.

Thoughts of the trip come into mind. Like who all is going and if everyone will be there the whole time.

“So, who is all coming on the trip with us?” I ponder like the idea just came into my head.

All I know is that Lynn is coming. From what I’ve seen, I think she’s a pretty awesome person. I’m happy she’s coming along with us.

“There’s Corbin. He’s very gentlemanly and sweet. Karter, he’s the goofball out of the group. He’s the type to make jokes at inappropriate times though so watch out for that and try not to take offense because he always means well. Jericho is probably the quietest one, he’s usually the one watching to make sure nobody does anything stupid when they get drunk … kinda like the dad of the group,” she takes a deep breath to let me know she’s not done, “Thiago is the friendliest, I’ll try to remember to point him out when we all get together. You’ll like him a lot I think. Then we have Ryker, he’s got his rules that he likes to follow, but he’s awesome, although, he might stare at you at first. I think he does that just to learn your ins,” she stumbles over her words and whispers, “and outs. You already met Lynn. And lastly we have Joe. He’s an acquired taste.

My brain short circuits as she’s naming off all these men that I don’t know.

She rolls on top of me with a smile, “but I’ll be there the whole time and you’ll warm up to them, I promise.”

I give her a small toothy smile. I trust her and her judgement. If she says they are safe, then I’ll trust that until I’m proven otherwise.

“Ryker is going to be joining us in the RV on the way there. He’s an accountant so he doesn’t really have an outdoorsy car.” She giggles and rolls off of me, back into the grass.

“Sounds good to me,” I shrug nonchalantly but my insides build up with butterflies and tingles.

I’m not very good around new people. At work, it’s different. I know I’ll never have a relationship with any of the people I serve…served. But I’ll be in close quarters with all these people for three whole months and I have to make a good impression if I want them to be able to tolerate me.

Damn my parents for not teaching me good social skills.

After a while, Kehlani and I walk to the store with at least seven reusable bags in hand.

We decided to buy some food for the trip so we don’t have to hunt or forage everything we eat. My parents did that, not liking that food had a price and that everyone deserves to eat. It was such a culture shock when I moved out and realized that not everyone ate how we did. But at least I know how to forage. Hunting has always been a struggle for me though, animals are too cute to kill but not too cute to eat when you’re hungry.

The entrance of the store blasts us with AC, making both of us sigh in comfort. It’s hot as hell outside today so this was refreshing.

As Kehlani and I walk around the store, tugging a cart with us, we pile it up.

Of course, we can’t get things like ice cream or quick frozen meals. But we do get a large cooler with a few bags of ice to keep the cooler well, cool. Eggs, bananas, apples, raspberries, blackberries, grapes, strawberries, three watermelons, fice bags of marshmallows, a few packs of chocolate, oreos, bell peppers, ground turkey, hot dogs, some cheap coffee, some onions, hot dog buns, bread, ramen noodles, cheetos, m&ms, a few boxes of pancake mix with syrup, tortillas, tortilla chips, sausage, bacon, and a few other things.

Our feet are exhausted by the time we get back to the RV. My hands are numb due to the lack of circulation from the thousand pound bags I struggled to carry here.

Kehlani paints for the rest of the day, making her beach scene picture come even more to life with each stroke of her paintbrush.

She allows me to try to braid her hair, which is very tricky because of how curly it is.

The natural black coloring has been lightened by the sun. She now has lighter brown sections as if she dyed it that way. But no, it’s just her natural beauty.

I begin to cook us diner on her little two burner stove. Deciding to keep up the cheap diet of ramen noodles.

Once I’m done cooking, I pour us both a cup of fruit punch and set it at the table.

“Honey, dinner is ready.” I playfully shout, making her laugh.

“Oh, what’d you make for us, my love?” She bounces over with a smile on her face. Her button nose crinkles as she smiles, only adding to her cuteness.

We enjoy the meal I made…well, as much as you can enjoy ramen when you eat it regularly.

“Sage?” Kehlani asks as we lay in bed.

I hum to let her know I’m listening.

Before I can hear her answer, I wake up to sunlight beaming in my face.

Confusion wraps around my brain as I try to remember what she said last night. Could I have really just passed out in the middle of talking?

I must be a crappy friend.

Just as I get up to go into the living space to make an apology, I hear the sound of a male voice.

A very captivating male voice.