How Long is Forever?

How Long Does Happiness Last?

KAT:

"Chris! Put your butt in motion! We've gotta go," I leaned over to the driver side of Connor's truck and honked the horn. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!" I'd been packed and ready for 20 minutes, but this boy was still getting his sh*t together.

"Yea, yea. I'm coming," Chris mumbled, appearing in his doorway. He looked the front door, and dragged his bag behind him to his truck. Chris went around to the back of his truck and tossed his bag in. "Jesus, Kat. How much did you pack? Your bag is almost the size of Alaska," Chris chuckled as he hopped into the driver's seat.

"I need clothes, I'm sorry I don't enjoy running around the woods naked," I scoffed at him playfully.

"Yea, I'm sorry you don't run around the woods naked too," he smirked at me.

"Jack@ss," I slapped his arm.

"Kidding! Kidding!" Chris held his hands up in surrender. "Anyways, we'll only be gone for the weekend. Not a year." Yea, he had a point. Whatever.

"Do we have everything?" I asked before we left his driveway. It was going to be a long weekend if we forgot the food in his garage. Chris nodded, looking too confident. I knew this boy way too well to believe that. He once legitimately forgot to put on his other shoe; he walked out his front door wearing only one shoe. That was a good day.

"Food?" I quizzed him.

"Yep."

"Bags?"

"Mhmm."

"Marshmallows?"

"Of course."

"Firewood?"

"Yes."

"Blankets?"

"F*ck."

Chris was already halfway out of the car when he answered. What a weekend that would've been, with no blankets or anything of the sort. We've gone camping to this park enough times to know how cold it gets. Well, you can't really call it a park. It's more a clearing in the middle of what used to be park. In the middle of the woods. With no wifi. Or cell reception. Or real bathrooms.

But what this place lacks in technology and comfort, it makes up for in beauty and memories. We've spent a weekend there every year since 7th grade.

"All set," Chris finally got back into the car. "Hold these, please?" He shoved a pile of blankets and pillows onto my lap.

"Gee thanks," I mumbled into a pillow.

"Ready?" Chris turned to me. He looked as excited as he always did for our mini-roadtrips.

"Ready," I nodded eagerly.

"It's a 3 hour drive. You know that. Did you, you know, use the bathroom and everything?" Chris asked me awkwardly.

"I said I'm ready," I chuckled at how awkward he was, "Let's go."

We left his house and embarked on our journey. Time for another adventure. The mound on blankets and pillows on my lap fell all over the cab of Chris's truck as he pulled onto the freeway. Chris reached down and grabbed a handful of assorted fabric and plopped it onto the seat between us.

"Hey, both hands on the wheel buddy," I picked up the rest of the blankets myself. "The last thing we need this weekend is for this truck to end up in a ditch."

Chris turned on the radio and flipped through the stations until he found something he liked. "Nope," I declared when some repetitive pop song came on. Chris laughed and changed the station quickly, determined to keep the peace. After all, 3 hours seems a lot longer when you're ignoring the person next to you.