Little Do We Know(64)

“It seems like talking about what happened is helping you. You’re sleeping. You’re eating. That day you showed up on my doorstep, you looked battered and broken. But now you look like I remember you. Like the Luke before all this happened.”

Luke stared out the window for almost a full minute. “I honestly don’t know who I am anymore.”

I had no idea how to respond to that, so I sat there quietly, waiting for him to break the silence again.

“I can’t say no to your dad. I owe him.”

I shook my head. “You don’t owe him anything. Really. Do this because you want to, not because you feel obligated to my dad or me or anyone else. Do it because talking about what happened to you is helping you to get it out of your head.”

“When is it?” he finally asked.

“Next Friday. At seven o’clock.”

Luke thought about it some more. And then he said, “I have a lacrosse game.” I thought that was the end of it, but then he shook his head hard. “But what the hell. I can’t play anyway. And I can’t stand to watch my team and hear them down on the field, talking about their college plans, while I sit on the bench and cheer like an idiot. Tell your dad I’ll do it.”

I had to ask. “Are you sure?”

His mouth twisted up on one side. “It’ll be fun.”





I’d recruited Tyler, Charlotte, and Addison to help me with my big date.

As soon as rehearsal ended on Saturday, Tyler drove us to Charlotte’s house and we hauled a plastic box with the word CAMPING written on the side from the garage to the backyard. We dropped everything on the grass.

Tyler opened the box and started rummaging through it, while Charlotte untied a string on the long, narrow bag and let the blue-and-orange tent spill out.

“So first, you unroll it and lay it flat, like this,” Charlotte said, demonstrating. “And then you just feed these bendy poles through these little pockets. See, the whole thing pops up as you go. Once all the poles are threaded through, you tuck them into the grommets and stake it down with these—although it’s not like it’ll be windy or anything, you really don’t need to do that part.”

“Wait, go back. What are grommets?” She showed me the little holes with the colorful reinforced stitching that lined the edges of the tent. “That’s a good word. I like that. Grommet.” I said it a few more times.

“Weirdo,” she said, handing me a thin, bendable pole. “Here, you take that side, I’ll take this one.”

“Okay, so when you’re actually camping, what do you do after you put up the tent?” I asked.

“Get in and get naked,” Tyler said.

“Can’t,” I said, still working on the tent. “His doctor hasn’t cleared him. I’ve seen the post-op instructions, and it’s all very clear. Three weeks, no sooner. Besides,” I added, “he won’t let me see his scar.”

“You haven’t seen it?” Charlotte finished her side of the tent. I was still struggling to get mine past the halfway point.

“He says it’s disgusting. And maybe it is, but I really don’t care.” I finally got the pole over the top of the tent. I started onto the other side.

Tyler returned to the camping box. “Well, if you’re not having sex, you might as well have these,” he said as he pulled two long metal sticks from the box and held them in the air.

“What on earth are those for?” I asked.

“S’mores,” Charlotte said.

“Oh.” I pictured the fire pit on Luke’s patio. His parents always sat out there after Calletti Spaghetti with their feet propped up on the edge and wineglasses in their hands. “Yeah, we definitely need s’mores. Add those to the pile.” The grocery store was our next stop anyway. I added graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows to my mental list.

“And if you get bored, you can duel.” Tyler tossed one of the metal sticks to Charlotte, and the two of them danced around the lawn, pretending to fight.

I finished my side of the tent. As I then stood back, admiring my work, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I took it out and read the screen.

Addison: Coast is clear!

“Guys.” I waved my phone in the air, and Tyler and Charlotte stopped dueling. “We’re on.”

We took everything apart and loaded it in the back of Tyler’s car.



My feet were kicked up on the edge of the fire pit, and I was pretending to read a book when Luke opened the sliding glass door and stepped outside.

“What’s going on?”

“Surprise.” I stood and gestured toward the bag of marshmallows, the box of graham crackers, and the giant chocolate bars. And then I pointed at the blue-and-orange tent I’d pitched on his lawn. Those tiny strands of twinkle lights made it glow from the inside out.

“You said you wanted to turn me into a camper, remember?” I came up on my tiptoes and kissed him. And then I took his arm, leading him to the grass. I could hear the music playing as I unzipped the tent and crawled inside.

“Where did you get all this?” he asked as he climbed in next to me and collapsed onto the pile of pillows.

“The tent and the sleeping bags are Charlotte’s. Addison let me borrow the lights.”