The Spawns

The Spawns | Chapter XIX -- You'll Be Old and Pudgy

It was dark at this time of night so I drove carefully once I reached the wood part of the expedition. I kept shooting glances at Cole who was just holding to the side of the door where the window would usually be if it wasn’t down.

If I didn’t know any better I would have thought Fluffy was dead.

In the end we made good time. Fifteen minutes after having left my house, we were parking beside the tree house.

I often enjoyed nagging my parents about the fact that building a house in the middle of their precious Dump Creek camp site was killing all of the outdoors joy that came from going out in the wood, but this was no normal house.

Their architect friend, Cameron had made the plans for it and it was actually build around a tree. Honestly, it looked like it came from a story book. It was three storeys high—first floor was open without any walls around it, just pillars holding the structure at the corners. There was a round wood table on that floor with a bunch of chair around where we usually ate or played cards or board games. The second floor had walls this time and was the kitchen. And the third floor was kind of like and attic with the pitched ceiling and was where we slept—it had a couple of beds set up.

But as cool and nice as the tree house was, none of us were heading there. Even after I had turned off the car engine, we all stayed in our seats with the only sound coming from the frogs croaking and our breathing.

This was seriously getting ridiculous.

“Cole,” I sighed. “One day you’ll be old and pudgy. And I’ll be old and pudgy too. And Maika will probably be a babe because she’s got good genes but we’ll be messes. And you know what?”

“I won’t remember this day?” Cole chuckled humourlessly.

“No, you probably will. But right now, you aren’t old and pudgy, so you got that working for you.”

“You’re a dumb ass,” Cole laughed again, throwing his head back, though it sounded like it actually hurt him to be laughing.

“Also, I’m pretty sure our parents left booze the last time we came, so you can drink your problems away,” Maika pointed out.

“Thanks, that makes me feel better,” Cole snorted.

“You’re welcome.” She hugged him from around the seat. “You can also grab my boobs if that can make you feel better. Under the shirt, over the bra, three seconds grab.”

“I’ll pass.”

“You’re lost,” she shrugged and got out of the car with the box of food.

Cole stepped out too and I followed, leaving the duffel bags in the car. But instead of going to the kitchen like Maika was doing, we headed towards the hammock that hung from one of the bigger branches of the tree that stuck out of the structure of the house.

We had years of experience, sitting in that hammock so we quickly settled on it, and just lay there, looking at the stars.

“You didn’t invite Beth…” Cole finally trailed in a small voice, breaking the silence.

“No.” I answered automatically.

“Why not?”

I looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “Did you want me to invite her?”

Cole looked away. “I just want to know why you didn’t invite her.”

“Okay, so I’m aware that you guys all think I’m extremely unobservant, but unless my father told you, you didn’t have what it takes to be a journalist or my mother told you, you weren’t good enough to marry into the Huntzberger family—”