One Day Soon (One Day Soon, #1)(71)

When we didn’t have food in our bellies, we fed off dreams.

Off possibilities.

It sustained us when we had nothing else.

“The beach. It’s what she always says,” Karla interjected before I could say anything.

“I didn’t ask you, Karla. So shut up,” Di snapped. Karla snorted, not put out by Di’s attitude towards her. It was their dynamic.

“Well since I’m so predictable, I’ll pick something different this time.” I picked at the skin around my thumb while I thought about my answer.

“I think I’d like to be skiing. I’ve always wanted to learn,” I said after a while.

“Yeah, because being cold is so much fun,” Karla griped. Everyone ignored her.

“I went skiing a few times. I was really bad at it,” Bug piped up, surprising all of us. No one knew much about Bug’s past. He never talked about it. None of us did really. But Bug was more secretive than the rest of us. I hated to admit that I didn’t spend a whole lot of time really thinking about it.

“You’ve been skiing?” Shane asked incredulously, lighting another cigarette.

Bug twitched, blinking nervously, a sign he was starting to come down from whatever high he was currently on. He chewed on his bottom lip until it started to bleed. Tearing at the skin until it looked painful. He picked at the back of his hand. “Yeah, a few times. My dad used to have a timeshare at Seven Springs in Pennsylvania.”

He seemed uncomfortable talking about his family. His hands were shaking and he scratched at his hand relentlessly.

“Is that where you’re from? Pennsylvania?” I asked him gently.

“Mhmm,” Bug mumbled and I couldn’t tell if it was an acknowledgment or a denial.

“Okay, so you wish you were skiing. I think a nice ski chalet and a hot tub sounds pretty f*cking magical,” Di cut in. I noticed that she took Bug’s trembling hand and gave it a squeeze. He held onto her.

“Okay, I can get behind the skiing thing,” Karla agreed.

“What about you, Di? If you could be anywhere right now, where would it be?” I asked.

“She’d be listening to really shitty music at a concert, trying to sneak backstage to meet the band,” an amused voice piped up.

“Yoss!” Karla squealed, getting to her feet so she could give my boyfriend a big hug.

I didn’t bother to feel jealous. Not when my eyes met Yoss’s over Karla’s shoulder and that look of love was only for me.

“Hey guys, sorry to interrupt,” Yoss said, sitting down beside me, dropping a large knapsack on the ground. He leaned into me.

“You weren’t interrupting anything. We were just trying not to freeze our asses off,” Shane said, throwing more trash onto the fire. It flared up and we all reared back.

“So…” Yoss began, pulling the bag over and unzipping it. “I found some shit for you guys.”

He pulled out a wooden jewelry box with the lid missing. It was a nice one at some point, with velvet lining and ornate detail on the small drawers. He handed it to Karla who smiled as though he had handed her a diamond.

“I love it, Yoss! Thank you!” Karla gushed, her eyes twinkling. I had never seen the surly girl so happy. It changed her entirely. She put the battered jewelry box in her lap, running her fingers along the wood. It was trash. Broken. But to Karla, it was better than gold.

Yoss reached into the bag again and pulled out a Zippo lighter, tossing it to Bug who snatched it with dexterity I didn’t know he possessed. “Thanks, man!” he enthused. Bug had a weird obsession with lighters. He had almost a hundred stashed away.

“It doesn’t have any fluid, but I thought the design was pretty cool,” Yoss told him, indicating the green skull on the side.

“I love when Yossa Claus comes to visit,” Di grinned, taking a pair of old black boots with the laces missing that Yoss handed her. She kicked off the pair she had on and slipped on the new ones. It was obvious someone had thrown them out for good reason. The soles were threadbare and there was hole on the side of the right shoe. But Di didn’t care. And Yoss was smiling at his friend’s happiness.

“They didn’t have size extra douche, so I went with this,” Yoss joked, handing Shane an oversized sweatshirt with some sort of emblem on it.

“No f*cking way, dude!” Shane exclaimed, holding it up. He held the dirty shirt to his nose. “It smells like ass, but I’ll wear it with f*cking pride! Who the hell would throw this away?”

“What is it?” I asked, not understanding why Shane was so excited.

Shane pulled the sweatshirt over his head. It dwarfed his wiry frame but he didn’t seem to care. “What is it? Seriously? Imi, I may have to question our friendship,” Shane scolded.

“Shane has a major hard-on for the Baltimore Orioles baseball team. It’s a personality failing we’ve all come to accept,” Yoss explained.

Shane glared at him. “Just because you’re a f*cking Yankees fan—”

“Boys, boys, let’s not bore Imogen with your endless game stats and general ball twisting,” Di stated drolly.

Yoss reached back into his bag and quickly put something behind his back. His grin was huge. Infectious.

“And for you, birthday girl.”

My eyes widened and my mouth popped open in shock.