The sun was still down when your father woke you the next morning. He'd knocked lightly on your door, telling you he was leaving.
You'd crawled out of bed and wrapped him into a hug, making him promise to call you as soon as he got to the cabin. He kissed the top of your head as he squeezed you. "I will kiddo, I promise."
You watched him drive down to Joel's house, and then as his truck turned the corner, no longer in sight. It was around five in the morning, so the house was pitch black and silent. You didn't like when no one else was home with you. It would only be a few days, but you knew would miss your father. And Joel.
You pulled out your phone and hit Joel's contact. He was definitely awake, but you didn't want to text him the second he left the driveway. Your heart tugged, realizing that you hadn't told him goodbye. You'd seen him before he left, of course, but with your father around it was hard to give him a proper farewell.
You trudged back to your room, climbing back into bed, struggling to fall asleep for a while. You'd woken up several hours later, the sun now beaming into your room. You checked your phone to see if your father had called you yet, but instead you found a text from Joel. Your heart skipped a beat, and your body filled with excitement.
"Just about an hour away from the camp. Wish I could've seen you before I left."
Your heart thumped in your chest. Joel Miller was showing his soft side, and you adored it. The next few days would be rough.
You snapped a selfie, showing off your messy hair and big t-shirt, pressing send. "Me too. Here's a picture so you don't forget what I look like."
He responded almost immediately. "So beautiful."
Your heart might as well have exploded. Your face hurt from smiling as you stared at his response. Just as you were typing a response, your phone rang.
Your dad cheerfully greeted you on the other end, chatting about the beautiful drive up to the lake. He didn't keep you on the phone for long, explaining that he needed to help Joel unload the truck.
"Ok dad, love you. Y'all don't have too much fun without me."
-
A few hours passed before Sara finally showed up to your house.
She came bounding over with a huge bag slung across her back, earning a look of inquisition from you.
"Movin' in?"
She ignored your question, pushing her way into the house. "No, but I did bring a bunch of stuff to make this a killer girls night." She slid her bag off onto the couch, the two of you sitting around it and inspecting the contents.
The bag was full of face masks, some cheesy card game Sara loved, all types of snacks, and small bottles of liquor. You pulled one out, holding it in the air.
"Sara Miller. Did you steal from your dads stash?"
She huffed, grabbing the bottle from you.
"Are you kidding? Pink Whitney? Joel Miller wouldn't be caught dead drinking Pink Whitney." You both broke out into laughter.
"Ok!" She exclaimed, "I think we should do a movie marathon! Like let's pick a franchise and binge all of its movies. My vote is Twilight, but I'm down for suggestions."
After a little back and forth (you wanted to watch The Conjuring, but Sara wasn't sold on scary movies), you ultimately settled on Twilight. You helped Sara gather up all of the pillows and blankets you could find, draping them over chairs in the middle of the living room.
Once you had settled into your fort, you started the first movie, snacking on the bag of chips Sara brought. Sara's favorite game was to guess how good each character was in bed, and the two of you spent the majority of the first movie arguing over why Jacob Black was or was not good at giving head.
Once the second movie started, the alcohol was brought out. It didn't take long for the two of you to get distracted, and eventually you were talking over the movie, paying it no mind.
The credits rolled on screen when Sara grabbed your hands. "I'm hungry for real food, can we order something? I'll pay for half."
You couldn't help but laugh- tipsy Sara was very needy. "Yea. Let's get sushi."
-
You had just finished placing your order when Sara paused the movie. She set the remote down and put on a serious face. "Okay, I have something to tell you, but you can't get mad at me."
Your heart thumped in your chest. Had she found out about you and Joel? Surely there was no way. You tried to read her face, but she gave nothing away.
"Yea, I promise."
Her eyes went wide. "No, like, I need you to pinky promise you won't tell anyone. You're the first person I'm telling." Her speech was slightly slurred, and you started to worry that maybe this was a bad idea.
You held your pinky out, locking it with hers. "Pinky promise."
She let out a deep sigh, closing her eyes as if she was still debating on telling you whatever this secret was.
Although slightly drunk, a serious look plastered her face.
"Ok, so you know how my mom has never been in my life?"
You nodded.
"And you know how I don't talk about it?"
This was true. In all the years you'd known the Millers, neither one of them brought of Sara's mom, so you never really pushed it. You figured that if she ever wanted to talk about it, she would bring it up first.
"Yea."
Her eyes skirted around the room, not really ever making eye contact with you. "Well, a few months ago I decided to do some digging. I was tired of just not knowing the truth." She paused, reading your face for a reaction.
"Okay, so what'd you find?"
A beat passed before she answered. "I found her. She lives in Texas, just a couple hours from here. I've actually been visiting her for the last couple weeks. That's where I've really been, not a friends house."
It took you a moment to process what she said. Your brain was swirling with questions. "How was the visit? I mean, I guess it was good since you stayed the whole time, right?"
She pulled out her phone and showed you a picture of her standing next to the woman you presumed was her mom. Their faces were pressed together, and each of them wore a big smile. "It was amazing. She took me in and it was like no time had passed. We get along so well, I didn't even want to leave."
You smiled, pulling her into a hug. "Oh Sara, that's amazing! I'm so happy for you!"
She chewed her lip. "You don't think I'm making a mistake?"
You thought for a second. It was hard to give advice on mothers since you didn't have one, and Sara was usually the person who could understand how that felt.
"Well, you are an adult. And you have amazing judgment, so I don't think you are making a mistake. I just think you should be careful, that's all.
She rubbed the back of her neck and groaned. "Yea, I know. But you know, I think the most difficult part of this is going to be telling my dad."
Your eyes went wide, and you could've sworn you stopped breathing for a second. "Wait, you haven't even told your dad yet?"
Before she could answer, the doorbell rang, and she sprung up from the floor. "Oooh, our sushi is here!" She rushed to the door, almost slipping in her socks.
As you lay alone in the blanket fort you'd built together, all you could think about was how Joel would feel when Sara told him where she'd really been for the last few weeks. You hoped he would take it well, but you knew Joel.
This wouldn't end well.