Chatting, eating, and drinking, about thirty people are sitting around the fire. The whole driving had been awkward with Susan as she only talked about boys and consistently asked things about Denver.

"What are you doing here?" Mike asks me. I can tell he is drunk or high with pot.

"I invited," Danika tells him. "Is there a problem?"

"No, of course not." He is next to only boys, as his sister might have stayed home.

"Where is your lovely sister?" she asks, and I notice Meggie's uncomfortable expression.

" I haven't invited her. This is a college trip. Not a summer camp for high schoolers."

"Good that you recognize that."

"I do recognize. I also recognize that Cassidy shouldn't be here. Here is not a place for her."

"What are you trying to say?" Meggie interfered. I still remember the scene at the last party where Meggie dump fruit punch over his sister. "Why are you so obsessed with my friend?"

"He is an asshole," I tell her. "Better to ignore him."

"Okay, I'm going to the restroom. I need a break," she tells me before activating the flashlight from her Smartphone.

"Jell-O shots," a girl yells, bringing one to her mouth. "It is a little bit sour." I grab one and place it closer to my lips, scooping the Jell-O with my tongue.

"I brought Long Island Ice Tea Jell-O shots, too," Susa says. I look around, and I don't see Denver has arrived.

"I don't even know what Long Island is," I tell her.

"Are you kidding? Where do you come from, Cassidy?" Mike chuckles. He is really giving me a hard time, and my patience is boiling.

"Give me more shots, please," I beg the girl while ignoring Mike, and she gives me another one. "I'd never tasted anything like that before, but certainly."

"Be careful. You can get really drunk," warns Danika.

Meggie brings a chair and sits next to me, getting hold of a lemon one. "Those shots are good, aren't they?"

"Yes. They are great. How are you holding up with Mike here?" I whisper to her.

"I wish Danika had told me he was coming ahead of time." I look at Danika, getting a chair and approaching the boys, including Mike.

"That sucks. I don't know why she didn't tell you," I confess.

"He tried calling me a couple of times this week. I didn't answer."

"Did he?" I am impressed by his audacity. First, he ghosts her and then comes back and treats my friend like shit. Then he assaults me outside of an isolated bathroom and yet drags her completely wasted to his house. Then he disappears from his own home the following day, and Maroney and I are the ones who have to pick her up at his place.

"You see the blondish boy with spike hair sitting next to him?" I look at the boy, and he appears to be another asshole just like Mike. I nod.

"His name is Dan. Don't give him too much credit. He is a player."

"Just like Mike." I remind her. The guys are chatting and laughing about something; then Dan drinks vodka straight from the bottle.

It is getting chilly, and we haven't set up our tents yet. I want to ask Danika for my blanket to cover my legs by the fire. Everything is still inside the trunk, but I don't want to ask her because she laughs with Mike and Dan.

I pull my chair closer to the fire, and Meggie does the same. The fire helps to keep my legs warm, but not my arm. Would Maroney make me warm if he were here with me? But the thoughts of him wrapped around me are suddenly brushed away when I think of Denver.

Susan brings some of her shots from her bag, and Meggie and I get more.

"Do you need help with your tent?" I'm surprised to see Aaron.

"No, thanks," one guy says, "I'll sleep in the car. I don't have one."

"Maybe you can share the tent with Cassidy," Danika jokes around, and my body tenses up since she is saying those things while sitting by Mike and the strange guy that holds a bottle of vodka.

"Nope," Danika admits. "She is going to share her tent with Denver."

"I'm not sharing with everyone, Danika."

"But you didn't even bring a tent. If it wasn't for me, how would you sleep, anyway?" I see the sarcastic smile on her lips and Mike cracking a laugh.

Oh no. The last thing I wish is to share the tent with someone I don't feel comfortable with.

"Really? Is there something going on with Cassidy and Denver?" Susan asks.

"No," I admit, completely annoyed. "It is Danika always starting shit."

"What did you just say about me?" She wants to pick up a fight.

"You keep implying to the world I have something with Denver. I don't have anything to do with him, and I feel very uncomfortable with your statements. I don't go ahead and say you and Mike had something in the past." The words accidentally leave my mouth, and everyone is in awe.

"What?" Meggie asks out of suddenly.

"Maybe you should ask your friend. I'm not sure about anything. I heard a conversation on the way to the bathroom at the last party. Apparently, Mike wants every girl he lays eyes on."

"Do you need help with your tent?" Aaron interrupts the conversation, and I decide to go with him.

"I don't have a tent, and I don't know what to do."

"I have an extra one in my car. It is tiny. And when I say small, I mean it. It only fits one person, maybe two, but would it be very tight."

"I take it," I am excited I don't have to put up with Danika anymore. "I don't know how to set it up."

"That's why I'm here for," he shoots me a smile, his muscles exposed underneath his shirt.

"I need to go to get my blankets and pillows in Danika's car."

"I realized she is giving you a hard time. Let me talk to her, and perhaps she'll give me the car keys."

Aaron heads to Danika and grabs the car keys with her. Then he returns, and I help him to get my blankets. He points a flashlight in the trunk, and I get everything that is mine.

Meggie follows Aaron and me. "I'm supposed to share the tent with Danika, but now I don't know. Is that true, Cassidy?"

"I don't know," I say honestly, "I only repeated what I heard. "I never asked her any questions. You know. It appears to be something that happened in the past, anyway."

"I don't understand her. At the last party, she defended me, and now she is there sitting with him like they are best friends."

"You have to pay attention to who is your real friend, Meggie."

"Tell me where you'd like to set it up." He asks, and I point to a more deserted area where I can't hear so much chatting and snoring through the night. Aaron starts the process of setting up his small tent as I point the flashlight at it. Then he pulls the blankets from my arms in an attempt to help me as I hold my small bag of clothes and a tiny air mattress.

"Sounds nice. I'll sleep with you tonight," Meggie tells me, and I can tell how hurt she is just by the expression on her face. "In fact, I will go to the bathroom to wear my pajamas." She tells me, and I stay there with Aaron.

AS I'm alone with him to watch the stars, the jell-O shots kick in suddenly. First, I feel a burning in my stomach, and then my head spins, "You know, Denver is something. He is a nice guy, even though he can be a little stubborn at times."

"Why are you telling me this?" I don't know Denver that much," I confess. I'm not angry at Aaron. "I haven't seen him more than three times since I moved to Madison."

"He made a song for you and asked my help. I can never forget your name because I hear him singing and repeating a hundred times a day when we practice.

"I don't know if I like the idea of a song with my name," I tell honestly. "Denver and I are not together."

I look at the sky. So many stars above me. Where is Denver?

"Well, my tent is not far from yours." He points to the blue and green one in the distance, but it is too dark even to see it, "You can call me if you need me."

Then he inflates the air mattress with a pump and places it inside the tent with my blankets and pillows.

"Wow. Thanks. It makes me want to go to bed soon."

"You're welcome. If I don't see you tonight, see you tomorrow at tubing."

I call Aaron, and he turns to face me, "How did you meet Denver?"

"In the studio. We used to play drums and some guitar for a while. He is pretty involved with the community. You know that, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"He volunteers for shelters and stuff like that."

"That's nice.

"Yes, it is not everyone willing to give their time for people in need."

"Yeah."

"He helped me with some stuff in the past, too. I'm always going to be grateful for what he has done for me. My closest friends turned their back on me, but Denver was the only one who did not."

I want to ask Aaron what Denver has done for him. Having this conversation with Aaron shows a side of Denver I had no idea that existed. 

***

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