Chapter 50 Friends

*****EJ’s perspective*****

It was the middle of July. The bowling alley was complete. It was opening night. Lucas, Ethan, and I got ready to go. I was picking Beth up on the way. The lost boys, Kat, and Layla were meeting us there. I just hoped I didn’t suck at bowling.

I knocked on Beth’s front door. Her father answered. He wore his usual grumpy face and invited me in. I waited in the foyer while her dad went to knock on her bedroom door. Then he went to the living room and sat on the couch. He invited me to sit, but I declined.

“It’d be easier to talk to you if you came and sat down with me,” he said.

“Yes, sir.” I said as I entered the living room. I didn’t sit down, I just stood in the doorway.

“I know we have had this talk many times, so I know you understand I mean business.”

“Yes, sir.”

“No hanky panky, and have her home by eleven.”

“Yes, sir.” I heard Beth coming out of her room. “It was nice talking with you again, sir. I’ll see you at eleven.” I turned around to find Beth waiting for me. “Ready to go?”

“Yep. Was Dad giving you trouble?”

“Nope, just reminding me of your curfew.” I said as we exited the house. We got in Ethan’s car and headed for the bowling alley.

We wrapped up around ten-forty-five and headed back to Beth’s house to drop her off. I walked her to her door as her father opened it.

“Did you have a good time, sweetheart,” he asked.

“Yes, Daddy. We had a lot of fun learning to bowl.”

“Thank you for getting her home, have a good night, Mr. Henderson.”

“Good night, sir. Good night Beth.”

“Good night, EJ.” I went back to the car.

The guys and I were camping under the stars tonight. It was a nice night to camp. Not too hot or muggy (humid) out. We would be able to see the constellation Lupus tonight. Our histories state that when you can see it, Celeste is watching over you.

I have met the moon goddesses, and having spent some time in their realm, I knew they were almost always watching over us. It was cool to see things from their perspective. I also saw how lonely they were. Sure they have the wolf spirits with them and each other, but it’s not the same as having someone to talk to who you are not related to or an animal.

Anyway, camping was going to be fun. We arrived at our destination and unpacked the trunk. We had our cooler filled with drinks, three blankets, three sheets, a tarp in case it rained, two boxes filled with food for breakfast, one box filled with snacks, a telescope, and various supplies: lighter, matches, flashlights, knives, pans, cooking and eating utensils, and rope to tie the tarp to the trees.

Ethan and Lucas set the tarp up while I got a fire started. We had scouted this spot the day before and made the fire pit. After I got the fire started it was easier to see. I helped the guys with the tarp. Once we got the tarp in place, we set up our sleeping area. We weren’t sleeping under the tarp unless it started to rain. We set up by the fire. Then we sat down and had some drinks while telling ghost stories. We talked about other stuff, too. After a while, we gazed at the stars. It must have been around two o’clock when we finally went to sleep.

We were startled awake just after sunrise when a group of deer came through our camp. And of course, us waking up startled the deer and they ran off. We decided to get up and start breakfast. Ethan grabbed the pans and utensils while Lucas and I grabbed the food. I cooked up a big breakfast for us.

After we ate, we went fishing. We would eat the fish we caught for lunch before packing up and heading home. We were fly-fishing which is a little bit harder. But we hoped to catch at least one fish for each of us. Bass and trout were our targets.

“You guys ever wonder what it’s like to be a fish,” Lucas asked.

“Um, no. Never thought about it,” I said.

“Why would I do that,” Ethan replied.

“I was just wondering about it. I was wondering what these fake flies look like to a fish. I mean obviously they are supposed to look like food to them. But do they think, oh that looks delicious let me at it, or is it more like hmm that looks good but it could be a trap I’ll eat it anyway.” Lucas said.

“I don’t think fish actually think. I think they are driven by instinct only.” Ethan said.

“Yeah, I think Ethan is right. But I do kinda wonder what it would be like to live in the water all the time,” I said. We were quiet again for a while.

“What colleges are you guys applying to,” Ethan asked.

“Harvard, because that’s apparently a family tradition. But I also want to apply to UCLA (University of California in Los Angeles), Duke, Stanford, and UC Berkeley ( University of California in Berkeley). I really want to go to school in California. My parents, though, want me to stay close to home.” I said.

“That’s cool. Mine want me to go to Harvard also. Maybe we can all go to school in California.” Lucas said.

“Yeah, who cares if Harvard is tradition. Let’s go to Cali,” Ethan exclaimed. We talked more about colleges for a bit and then we were silent again.

After about an hour, we started to get bites. Ethan caught the first trout. Then Lucas caught one. Then Ethan caught another one. I caught a bass and Lucas got a Salmon at the same time. Lucas caught another trout about ten minutes later. We were having a great time. But the fish got smart. It took another thirty minutes before I caught another fish and we called it quits. We caught seven fish, now we needed to clean and gut them so I could cook them for lunch.