• • • • •
I’m in the garage grabbing the tent, when I stop and think about the purpose of the trip. It’d be better if we just laid out with nothing blocking our view of the stars. So I put the tent back on the shelf.
I’m outside sitting on the cooler, waiting for Seth. Tickles is curled at my feet. My backpack is stocked with stuff.
Susan pulls up in her car, and both she and Seth get out. “You must have some magic power, Charlie. I haven’t seen Seth up this early since school ended.”
Seth yawns a big, wide, attention-getting yawn. He makes a lot of noise.
“Excited for this, Charlie?” asks Susan. “I made you both some turkey sandwiches—”
“Lots and lots of turkey sandwiches,” says Seth.
“I love turkey sandwiches,” I say.
“I know,” says Seth.
“There’s also some chocolate chip cookies—the ones you liked so much, Charlie—and some potato salad and chips. Oh, and I bought a package of hot dogs and buns. There’s also some mustard and ketchup. Did I mention the chips?”
“Basically we’re packing the kitchen with us.” Seth’s camera hangs around his neck.
“Funny,” says Susan. “I just want to make sure you’re both prepared. This is actually really dangerous. I don’t want you boys going too far. Your dad knows, I hope?”
I nod.
“And do you have a first aid kit?”
“Uh.” I look at my stuff.
“I have a spare. Seth, can you grab that from the trunk?”
“She means she bought one for us.” Seth puts his stuff down on the lawn and goes digging in the trunk of the car.
“I want you two to be safe. Where are you camping, Charlie? Seth didn’t seem to know many details.”
“Oh, uh, just up that mountain there.” I point behind me. “Not too far. Maybe a couple of miles in.”
“Two miles in, max. I want you both to be careful. Hear me? Don’t do anything stupid.” Susan then says quietly, “I can’t believe I’m allowing this.” She turns to Seth. “Come give me a kiss.”
Seth slouches over.
“Charlie, I want a hug from you, too.”
As I release the hug, I say, “Oh, can you tell my grandma what I’m doing and that I’ll see her later this week?”
“Absolutely. I’ll tell her today. Do you boys have your phones?”
We both hold out our phones.
“Of course you do. Seth, I want you to call twice a day. Morning, noon, and night.”
“That’s three times,” he says.
Susan glares at him.
“We might not have reception.” I look at all our stuff and back to Susan.
“Well, find some. That’s all I ask.”
“Okay. Thanks, Mom. Bye.”
She nods but stands there a little longer. “Do you boys need anything before I leave?”
“I think we’ve got it from here,” I say.
“Yeah. ALL GOOD, Mom.”
Tickles barks. “Well, I think he’s ready to get going,” I say to Susan more than anyone else.
“Love you both,” she says. “Be careful.”
Love you too, Susan. I stand with my hands in my shorts pockets.
Seth says nothing.
She gets into her Toyota 4Runner and waves. As she drives away, she honks. Seth turns to me. “She’s literally suffocating me.”
I laugh, and wonder why I no longer feel as angry at Seth as I did last night. Maybe it’s because he’s still my best friend and we’re getting to go alien hunting.
“It’s not funny. You don’t live with her.”
“You say that as if living with her is a bad thing,” I say.
“Isn’t it?”
“The alternative would be having no one around.”
“Oh my god. Sign me up.”
“Are we ready?” I ask.
“For a nap? Yes.”
“That’s what I’m asking for.”
“Ha-ha,” I say. “So who’s carrying all of this food? There’s only two of us.”
“That’s what I was trying to tell her!”
“It’s okay. Deep breaths.”
He exaggeratedly takes in deep breaths.
This is going to be fun.
* * *
Before we even get to the forest, Seth says, “I’m tired.”
“We just started.”
There’s some silence as we keep walking, except for Tickles’s bell ringing, but I even tune that out after a while.
About a mile in, Seth is complaining that his back hurts from the backpack, so we put the cooler down, since we’re each holding one side, and sit on it.
I look out to the woods, and I hear a click. I turn and see that Seth has taken a picture of me. I pout.
“Didn’t you get the memo? I’m the official trip photographer.”
“No, the memo didn’t come through.”
“Oh, darn. I guess you’ll just have to put up with me, then.” Seth lightheartedly punches me in the arm.
“Ow,” I say.
“That didn’t hurt.”
“Okay, but I wasn’t expecting it.”
“Expect the unexpected,” he says.
“What?”
“That’s it. Expect the unexpected. It’s really the key to life.”
“What are you, a philosopher now?”
“Feel free to bow down to the Great Wise Master.”
I stand up and sling the backpack over my shoulder. “How about I kick the Great Wise One?”
“Correction: ‘Great Wise Master.’ Not ‘Great Wise One.’ ”
“Get your great wise ass up so we can continue.”
Seth crosses his arms and pouts. “I don’t wanna.”
“Suit yourself. You’ll have to carry the cooler by yourself, then. Come on, Tickles.”
Seth jumps up. “No, no. Fine. I’m ready.”
I laugh. “I see that worked.” We pick up the cooler and begin walking. “This thing is heavy.”
“Those damn turkey sandwiches.” Seth grunts.
“So I think we’ll have to go more than two miles in. Your mom said—”
“Don’t worry about that. She’s just a worrier. We have to do right by this trip.”
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“How would she know? I’ll just tell her what she wants to hear.”
“Okay,” I say. “Great.”
“On second thought,” he says, “two miles might be as far as I’m willing to carry this damn thing.”