Chapter 19

   We left the lake shortly after finishing our lunch. Within a few minutes, John and Jake had gotten the boat back onto the trailer and the girls and I had picked up and thrown away all our trash. I had put Orangehart in the truck along with what we'd brought for her before we'd started cleaning.

   We got home a couple of hours later in time for dinner. John and Jake had planned a surprise of their own. The boys took the three of us to a fancy restaurant. They had said it would be a "triple date" which made no sense to me or Susan. Jenna seemed to understand but wouldn't let up on any details.
   I understood partially. i knew Jenna and Jake were a thing and obviously John and I were. But Susan, as far as I knew, didn't even have a crush on anyone.
   I was wrong.
   Susan had told Jenna who she liked and made her swear not to tell anyone. Jake had managed to persuade her to tell him when he told her he and John were planning a triple date and wanted to make sure Susan had a date too. When she told him who Susan liked, Jake was thrilled because Susan liked a guy named Alexander, who liked her back but was too nervous to say anything.
   I found all this out after the date.
   Alexander, who went by Alex at the time, treated Susan very well on their first date. Despite being on a triple date, the two became much closer in the short span of time that we were out.
  
   After dinner the boys dropped us off one at a time. I sat in the passenger seat next to John, Susan and Alex sat in the backseat together, and Jena and Jake sat in the bed of the truck. John stopped at Jenna's house first. Jake helped her out of the truck and walked her to her door.
   This process was repeated for Alex who proceeded to climb into the bed of the truck with Jake.
   When John turned onto my street, he slowed the truck to a crawl until he pulled into the driveway. He climbed out of his seat and walked over to my side of the truck. He opened my door for me and offered his hand to help me out of the truck. I took it and climbed out but neither of us loosened our grip on the others hand until we approached my front door.
   I knew dad was already fast asleep so I quickly pecked him on the cheek and walked inside. A moment later I heard the truck pull out of the driveway. I watched through the window as the boys drove back down my street and turned out of sight.
   I smiled and walked up to my room, collapsing onto my bed. I kicked off my shoes and, without even bothering to change, fell asleep despite knowing that I would have the same nightmare again.