You're Already Mine

Chapter Three

We stayed awake late into the night that night, not being able to sleep. As a result, the night went by fairly quickly and the day crept by with the pace of a slug. Breakfast, gossip, lunch, hang out, hike, gossip, swim, dinner, gossip, hang out, bed.

The following night, my cousins and I brought a bowl of chips, a plate of homemade chocolate cookies, and a bottle of soda up to the bedroom, setting the food, a TV remote, and a few magazines up on the coffee table in the middle of the room. We pulled beanbag chairs around the table, pointing toward the television on the wall. I lay out a yoga mat, covered it in blankets and tossed a couple of throw pillows on top.

Ava and I snuggle together on the couch under a blanket, my left arm slung over her shoulder.

"How long have you guys been together?" Sidney asks, popping another cookie into her mouth. Trish sits down next to her with the package of Oreos.

I look at Ava. "Three months?"

"Four," she corrects with a nod.

Sidney smiles. "Cool!"

My phone screen lights up with a text from my best friend, Sernie. I pick up the phone and stare at the text as I take a bite of a sugar cookie with blue frosting.

Sernie and I have been friends since second grade, and last year, after my old dog Wishbone died (and her mom Summer, before), he and I agreed to get together, but break up and stay friends if it didn't work out. And, predictably, it didn't work out.

Sernie: i miss u

I smile and quickly type a reply. i miss u too!!!

"Ooh, who was that?" Sidney asks in a singsong voice.

"Shut up," I snap. "I'm lesbian. That was my best friend Sernie."

Sernie: are u coming to visit my place while you're here

Me: didn't i tell u that we're moving here soon?

Sernie: lol yeah. u coming to my place tmrw?

Me: you bet

I turn off my phone and put it down on the carpet, reengaging into the conversation around me, which has now shifted to our personal lives.

"Of course," Sidney says, "Josh was at my summer camp the other day, and when he saw me at my usual volunteer spot, he gave me the finger. So obviously I flipped him off too."

"Exactly as you should've."

The next morning, I wake up early and whisper to Ava that I'm going to see Sernie. She groans in response. I get dressed and go out the bedroom door, motioning for Cocoa to follow.

When I get downstairs, Sam and Liam, the oldest cousins, are making breakfast. Lucas is

on the living room couch watching TV. I wear a pair of frayed denim shorts, long black socks, and a red flannel over a black tank top. My short pixie-cut blond hair is messed up from my sleep and I have a small leather backpack around my shoulders.

"Awake so early?" Sam teases. He flips another pancake onto the growing stack. Liam is frying maple syrup glazed bacon beside him.

"I'm going to meet a friend," I explain. "Cocoa, heel." She was sniffing the bacon next to Liam, but doesn't respond.

"Looks like someone's hungry," Sam observes. Cocoa patiently sits by Liam's feet, silently begging for a piece of bacon.

"Can she have a piece?" I ask, giving in.

"No, this is for the family breakfast. Check in the pantry, I think I got some bacon treats from the pet store yesterday."

"Thanks," I reply, walking across the kitchen to check in the pantry. Sure enough, on top of the laundry machine is a bag of bacon flavored dog treats. I take the bag and put it in my backpack.

"Come on, Cocoa," I say, coming out of the pantry and walking across the kitchen. My leather boots squeak against the linoleum tile floor.

"Do you need a ride?" Liam asks. "I have to go to work at the cafe soon."

"Nah, I'll walk," I say, pausing to look in my reflection in order to fix my hair. "Cocoa is coming with me, too. Thanks, though."

"You sure? Sernie's house is on the way to the cafe."

"No, it's the other way. His family moved to a bigger house last fall. He's on Lakeshore Drive now."

"Oh, I know the place. I don't have to be at work until noon, so I can run you over."

"Please don't," I say, both of us laughing as I get my shoes on.

"Come on, Cam. Please?"

Liam builds a hobby out of helping people because that's the kind of person he is. He'd help a stranger with their shopping, put up posters for the neighbor's missing dog, or stack up every piece of firewood for winter because Dad had work.

"Fine."

"Alright. Go ahead and get a helmet and get on the motorcycle. I'll be there in a minute."

A motorcycle? I didn't know he brought his motorcycle! I guess they mounted it on the back of the van.

I adjust my backpack and grab a helmet from the entryway closet. Then I go outside and get on Liam's brand-new red motorcycle. Apparently, he bought it at a garage sale last week and Dad helped him fix it before we left for vacation.

After I put on the helmet, Liam is already out of the house with his helmet on. He walks over to the motorcycle and before I know it, we're off down the road with Cocoa in the tiny crate on the back. A few minutes later, we arrive at Sernie's place. I get off the motorcycle and pick Cocoa up out of the crate, setting her on the ground.

"Keep the helmet," Liam says. "I'll give you a ride back to the lodge when I'm done with work. Could you put it in your backpack?"

"Can't I put it in the crate?"

"Fine."

I put the helmet in the crate, give my brother a hug, and back off and watch as he takes off down the road.