Chapter Three

            The trip to the cabin was long and twisty. Everyone had to love those West Virginia back roads, especially the ones leading directly into the mountains. When they arrived at the cabin, Samantha and her family were already there, spreading out the huge, green army tent as promised. It actually took up nearly as much space as the cabin. Surely, it would hold three or four full size air mattresses.

            Zoey parked her vehicle under a small patch of trees near the little log cabin and Matt pulled up beside of her. They all piled out, waving to those who were already there. Samantha and her Mom wandered over to help them unpack starting with Zoey’s Explorer.

            “Did you have any trouble finding the place?” Lisa asked.

            “No. The directions were great.”

            “She drove past the entrance twice,” Amber informed with a roll of her eyes.

            “Ok, so I didn’t see the little black bears nailed to the tree. I was thinking they’d be bigger.”

            Lisa laughed. “Sorry, I guess I should have told you they were small.”

            “It doesn’t matter. We made it. This place is pretty cool,” Zoey noted as she and Matt followed Samantha and Amber into the cabin each with their arms full of grocery bags.

            The cabin itself was very quaint�"small�"with a kitchen and living room downstairs, and two bedrooms rooms upstairs. There was a working bathroom built onto the one side. For that, everyone was thankful. Zoey had a huge aversion to outhouses ever since the summer when she was twelve and the one at her own family’s cabin had become infested with giant crickets.

            It took them almost an hour to get everything unloaded and put away. They left the bedding and duffle bags outside, so they could put them inside the tents once they were all up. Zoey had brought her tent and Samantha had brought an extra just in case they needed them. They hadn’t been sure if Matt and Harley wanted to stay in the same tent that all of the girls were sharing or if Samantha’s parents would even let them. They were old fashioned like that. Hell, all of their parents were. She knew for sure that her mother would have an absolute conniption if she found out that she’d slept in the same tent as a boy. But then again, her mother wasn’t exactly acting like her mother used to, so maybe she wouldn’t.

            Zoey sat down on the wood-floored porch with the other three girls while Matthew and Harley went out to help Ron and a couple of Samantha’s cousins and uncles set up the tents. She looked around. There were several paths cut into the woods that she was sure would make for great hiking later. She would have to talk someone into going with her.

            “So, I think I’m in love,” Zoey said with an exaggerated moan as she leaned back on her elbows.

            “With who?” Gabriella asked, her eyes wide with shock and bewilderment.

            Zoey’s eyebrow arched with question at her friend. “Uh, no one. I meant this place. This place is fantastic.”

            “Oh,” Gabriella replied. “I thought maybe you meant Matt.”

            “Huh?” Samantha asked, eyeing Zoey with interest while Amber only smirked and slipped her sunglasses back down over her eyes.

            “Have you lost your mind?” Zoey asked, deliberately annoyed at Gabriella for even hinting at that. “We are just friends. Never going to be anything more. I’m putting an end to that right now before it even gets started.” She cherished her friendship with Matt more than she had any of her other guy friends, and she wouldn’t allow it to be tainted by the rumor of romantic feelings. She knew her other friends could never understand her reasoning, but she didn’t want to take any chances of ruining what they had.

            “Alright, alright!” Gabriella put her hands up in defense. “I’m sorry I brought it up. No harm meant, geez woman.”

            “Touchy subject,” Amber mumbled.

            Zoey glared at Amber, letting her know that she’s heard her, which only caused Amber to laugh. The two of them had already had a conversation about her friendship with Matt. It happened while they were still in school. Amber hadn’t expected the pair to be such good friends, so when Zoey became somewhat protective of him, she could only assume one thing; that Zoey must have a crush on him. Of course, she was wrong. Zoey informed her of as much one evening after a football game where Amber accused her of rooting really loudly for number thirty-five.

            Samantha’s mother chose that time to come back out of the cabin to ask them what they wanted for dinner that night. They decided on the usual campfire fare. Hamburgers and hotdogs roasted on the grill with baked beans and other various side dishes that Lisa had prepared ahead of time. They each pitched in to help her get everything ready for diner so that by the time the men were finished putting the tents up, dinner was almost done.

            “This looks delicious, Mrs. Harper,” Matt said to Lisa as he filled his plate once dinner was served.

            “Matt, you’ve known me long enough to call me Lisa, and thank you.”

            “Well thank you for having me here, Lisa.”

            “My pleasure. I hope you kids have fun this weekend.”

            “It’s going to be a blast,” Amber said as she nudged Matt with her hip. “Ain’t that right, Matty-boy.” She couldn’t help but laugh at the near petrified look he gave her. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.”

            “Good to know,” he finally smiled at her as he resumed filling his plate with food. “I was a little concerned that you might try to kill me in my sleep.”

            “Nah. Unless you mess with my boys.”

            “I think I learned my lesson.” He shot her a lopsided grin. “Believe me.”

            “Good. Then you have nothing to worry about,” she winked at him and moved around him to grab a kabob from the grill.

            Matt walked over to where Harley was already eating and sat down. Having been on the football team together that past year, Harley and Matt were already like old friends. “Your sister can be really intimidating when she wants to be.”

            Harley laughed. “She’s harmless. Just don’t say anything…”

            “About her boys,” Matt sighed. “Already made that mistake. Never gonna live it down. How do I make it up to her?”

            “I don’t know if you can, dude.”

            Matt frowned, looking over at the four girls who had gathered at the round picnic table by the porch. They were laughing and joking as they ate their dinner. It warmed Matt’s heart to see Zoey being so carefree. She had so much going on in her life, she needed this break with her closest friends.

           

~*~*~*~

            That night, they all sat around the campfire roasting marshmallows and laughing about all the things that they had done in high school. Of course, some of the adults saw the opportunity and shared a few of their own tales as well. Samantha was more than horrified when her parents started telling stories. Needless to say, and much to her dismay, everyone else encouraged them on.

            It turned out to be a great bonding experience for the teens. Especially for Gabriella, Matt, and Harley who weren’t usually a part of the group. They soon found out what made their little gang so special. The love and loyalty between Zoey and her two best friends was unparalleled. It was easy to see.

            One by one, they began to turn in for the night. Eventually only Zoey, Amber, and Matt sat around what was left of the fire. Zoey was sipping on her second cup of coffee while both Amber and Matt had a Mountain Dew in their hands. There was no wonder they’d made it longer than anyone else.        

            “What time is it?” Zoey asked.

            Matt looked at his watch, lighting it up to see the time. “Twenty-six after two.”

            “Holy crap,” Amber said with a yawn. “You know Ron is going to be up at the a*s-crack of dawn making us all get up for breakfast.”

            “Seriously?”

            She looked over at Matt, nodding her head. “Yep. Every time we’ve ever stayed over at Sam’s, he’s up making breakfast before any human should be awake.”

            Zoey groaned. “But I don’t want to go to bed yet.”

            “Want to roast pineapple?”

            “Was there any pineapple left?” Zoey asked her friend.

            “I stashed a zip-lock baggie full of it in the red cooler on the porch,” Amber replied with a grin as she got up to go get it.

            “Roasted pineapple?” Matt wrinkled his nose at the thought.

            “Do not knock it,” Amber warned.

            “She’s right,” Zoey told him with a smile. “It’s yummy.”

            Matt indulged them by trying a piece of the pineapple once they had roasted it for him. Much to his surprise, it was delicious. The three of them sat there talking and sharing the bag of fresh pineapple for a while longer, putting off the inevitable. 

            After a while, Matt shook his head and laughed when he saw Amber curled up in the canvas chair where she had been sitting. “How can she possibly sleep like that?”

            “I don’t know,” Zoey replied, glancing over at her friend who had indeed fallen asleep in what looked to be a most uncomfortable position. “She can sleep in the weirdest places and in the most awkward positions. It’s crazy. I guess we probably should get to bed. If not, Ron is going to be up soon, and we won’t even have a chance to sleep.” She reached over to nudge Amber. “Wake your a*s up and go to bed.”

            Only a few hours after they’d found their way into their tents, as predicted, Zoey awoke to the sounds of loud voices and pots clanging. She grinned hearing Lisa scolding Ron for not being quieter and letting them all sleep longer. She rolled over and looked to her left. She saw that all three of the girls were still in the tent with her. Amber and Gabriella continued to snore away under a mass of blankets while Samantha sat in her corner writing in her journal. She looked as though she had been up for a while as she had already changed clothes and obviously brushed her hair before covering most of it with her favorite cap.

            Zoey stretched before she sat up, clutching her sleeping bag around her with one hand and rubbing her eyes with the other. She yawned wondering what time it was, but before she could ask, Samantha told her it was seven-fifteen. She groaned. Who got up that early on a weekend especially while they were camping? She grumbled a bit as she grabbed her shoes at the foot of her air-mattress as well as her duffle bag. She then told Samantha that she was going to go change clothes in the cabin.

            When she exited the tent, she saw Samantha’s uncle Bob, Harley, Matt, and Ron all gathered around the campfire. “Well good morning there, sunshine!” Ron said to her with a big, teasing smile. She only glared at him and continued on her way towards the cabin to change clothes.

            After she finished changing her clothes and brushed the tangles out of her hair, she fished through her bag for a hair clip. She threw her hair up into a twist and clipped it in place too tired to worry with trying to do anything more with it. 

            Lisa met her in the kitchen with a steaming cup of coffee. “Here ya go, sweetheart. I figure you need this as much as I did. I have another pot brewing too.”

            “Oh my gosh! Thank you!” Zoey took the cup from Lisa and reached for the milk that was setting on the counter. “Your husband is an evil man.”

            Lisa laughed. “I know.”

            Zoey followed Lisa out the door, heading back to the tent to stow her duffle for the day. She heard Ron comment that she would be ok now that she had her coffee in hand. A smirk formed on her face when Amber emerged from her tent looking a little worse for wear. She was way moodier than Zoey was in the morning and she didn’t drink coffee, so she couldn’t wait for them to suffer her wrath.

            As Zoey poked her head inside the tent to throw her duffle bag on her bed, she noticed that Gabby was still asleep. “How?” She asked Sam as she pointed to her.

            “Beats me. Earplugs, maybe.”

            “Think we should wake her for breakfast?”

            “Probably.” Samantha closed the journal that she’d been writing in and picked up her pillow. Without a second thought, she whacked Gabriella on the head with it, causing her to groan, and move slightly. “Wake up!”

            “Go away!”

           

~*~*~*~

            The weekend went by too fast. Sunday morning, they went fishing down at the old dam. Then in the afternoon they, along with Samantha’s dad and uncle, rode four-wheelers all over the mountain just to take in the scenery and enjoy the hot summer day. When they arrived back at the cabin, it was nearly dinnertime. Lisa had made baked potatoes with all the trimmings as well as corn on the cob and steak. That was supposed to be the girls’ going-away dinner. They followed that up with a marble cake, or cherry pie for those few who didn’t really care for cake-Zoey and Matt-and the homemade chocolate ice cream that they’d made earlier in the day between fishing and four-wheelin’. It was perfect.

            After dinner, someone suggested a game of volleyball out behind the cabin. Zoey really wasn’t in the mood to play volleyball, so she decided to take a walk. Matt was the first one to speak up and offer to go with her. In fact, he was the only one.

            So, they walked down the road from the cabin, chatting as they strolled. Zoey loved being outdoors. She liked the whole idea of hiking, but had never really done a lot of it except for when she was with her friends. Her family just wasn’t the adventurous type. All the camping experience she had from her childhood had been from trips with her grandparents and cousins.

            Her grandparents had a cabin on a mountain in Smokehole, but they rarely went there anymore. Everyone had grown up and went their separate ways or just no longer got along with each other. It was sad how even family tended to grow apart.

            She was jolted out of her thoughts by Matt’s voice. “Huh? I’m sorry. What did you say?”

            He grinned. “Lost in your own little world there weren’t you?”

            “Yeah. I was just thinking,” she said, feeling her cheeks heat up.

            “What about?”

            “Family. Ya know, I had a bunch of cousins growing up. We used to go camping and stuff every summer. Either we’d go up to the family cabin or we’d travel to campgrounds.

            “Yeah? I did that with my dad. We went to Trout Pond a lot.”

            “Us to! It’s where I learned to swim,” she paused. “Well, it’s where I learned how to flop around in water enough to not drown. I’m still not a great swimmer.”

            “Really?”

            “No. I hate large bodies of water. Pools I can handle. Anything else makes me nervous.”

            “How come you never learned how to swim?”

            “We didn’t have a pool. I guess my parents never saw a need.”

            “But you went into the swim area at the pond?”

            “My cousin had a theory about learning how to swim. He didn’t really give me a choice. It didn’t really take either,” she explained with a laugh.

            Matt laughed too. His father had done something similar to him when he was small. Except it was in a family swimming pool and he wasn’t terrified of water. “You’ll get it someday.”

            “Maybe. So, what were you saying before?”

            “Oh. Just that this would make a good place to hunt.”

            Zoey made a grim face and shrugged.

            “You don’t like hunting?”

            “Nope. I went once with my granddad. I can’t watch an animal die let alone kill it myself. I know that’s not popular opinion around here, but I just can’t.”

            “I get it. It’s not for everyone.”

            She smiled. “Pretty much everyone in my family makes so much fun of me for that. I grew up around it, and man, I love deer meat. So, you would think I’d be more into it, right?”

            “You’ve got a soft heart. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.”

            “I can shoot skeet like no one else though,” she bragged, feeling a little bit embarrassed by her stance on hunting in a place where everyone and their mother loved the sport.

            “Oh yeah? Now this I might have to see someday.”

            “Yeah. My pap taught me everything I needed to know about handling a shotgun.”

            “Future husband beware,” he joked.

            “Damn straight.”

            They came to a stop next to a large oak tree to rest before turning around to head back. Zoey took a drink from her bottled water and leaned back against the tree realizing that they’d just walked downhill for about a mile and the trek back up was not going to be as much fun. Sure, she was getting in better shape, but she wasn’t in that great of shape yet. She was about to say something about it when she realized that Matt was standing in front of her, staring at her actually.

            She wiped her mouth thinking that maybe she had dribbled water or something. “What?”

            He shook his head. “Nothing.”

            She laughed nervously as he reached up and brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear, and leaving the palm of his hand rest on her cheek. “Matt?”

            “I’m going to miss you, Zoey. I hate how much this feels like the last time I’ll get to hang out with you.”

            She smiled warmly at him. “I’m going to miss you, too. But I’ll be back for winter break before you know it.”

            “Work won’t be the same.” He said with a sigh as he dropped his hand.

            “Of course, not! You’ll have to take my place and keep Hollie straight though.”

            “Good Lord, that’s not even possible. I have a feeling it will be even worse when she finds out that I’m single again.”

            “I’m sorry about that, by the way.” Zoey finally gave in and showed him some empathy as he too leaned up against the oak tree. He had been a little more unlike his usual bubbly self this time around, so she assumed it was affecting him more than he was willing to admit.

            “It’s ok. I’ve just got to pull my s**t together and realize that she and I just aren’t meant to be, I guess.

She sighed. “Don’t worry, Matty. Someday, you will find someone who will flip your world upside down,” she said. “You deserve so much happiness.”

            He smiled half-heartedly. “I hope you’re right.”

            “Trust me.” She jabbed him playfully in the ribs with her elbow. “I am right. You’re an amazing guy. Any girl would be lucky to have you.”

“Aw, thanks, babe,” he teased

She smiled at his chosen term of endearment. “I love you, Matthew Parker. You’ve seriously become one my very best friends, and though I never would have expected that when we first met I am so grateful to have you in life.”

            Matt smiled, studying her for a moment. “I love you, too, Zoey Beth. I’m glad we had the chance to become friends.”