“It’s not. We can draw a line under everything.”
I shake my head. “I thought I could, but I would have to choose between you and her. And I can’t do that.”
“Leena—” Eric cuts himself off, holding back whatever was going to say. “Persephone please. Please don’t do this.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, tears pouring down my face. “I can’t do this.”
I’m a coward, and Mabel would be ashamed of me, but this hurts too much. I knew when he asked me why I was being cold that it was for a good reason. That it would end up in pain. I was too stupid and hopeful for this to actually work out. And so I leave. I run away.
19
Eric
Six Years Ago
It’s the last day of camp, and my heart is heavy. I don’t want this to be the end of everything that Seph and I have, and I don’t want the summer to be over. I’m excited for the possibility of some of things to come this next year, but this has been the best time of my life.
I’m eating breakfast with my parents, as is our tradition on the last day of camp. “So,” my father says, “we thought that you might introduce Persephone to us.”
I swallow the bite of pancake that’s in my mouth. “How much do you know?”
My mother chuckles. “You two aren’t as subtle as you think you are. But we like her. She seems sweet. We figured there was a reason.”
I sigh. “It’s just hard. I want more than camp, and she’s nervous that the real world will ruin us. I thought that meeting my parents as my parents might be a little much in the middle of that.”
“Fair enough,” my father says, taking a sip of his coffee. “What are you going to do to convince her?”
I smile, because he already figured out that I was going to try. “I have a couple of ideas.”
“And we have something that might help,” Mom says, holding up a set of keys.
Keys to the family RV.
“What are those for?”
She passes the keys across the table to me. “Your father and I went to get the camper yesterday so that we could use it to haul things tomorrow. If you want to use it tonight, your father and I are okay with that.”
I gape at my parents. Are they seriously saying that they’re fine with me sneaking my girlfriend into the camper and having sex? “Really?”
My dad gives me a look. “We’re not stupid, Eric. You two have been spending time together since the beginning. If you guys haven’t slept together, I’ll be a horse’s ass.”
“Aaron,” my mother drops her face into one hand. “Jesus.” They’re both laughing though. “But yes, Eric. Your father and I both know what it’s like to be your age, and as long as you’re being careful, you can use it tonight.”
I’m not meeting either of their eyes because I don’t really feel comfortable talking to my parents about my sex life, but still. “That’s really nice of you.”
“Don’t tell anyone,” my dad says, raising an eyebrow. “I have a reputation to maintain as a hardass.”
I roll my eyes. Everyone knows my dad enforces the rules, but no would ever say he’s a hardass. Finishing my food, I grab the keys. Now I have more plans, on top of the things that I was already doing.
“Have fun,” they call after me.
I find Seph where I knew I would: writing by the lake. I’ve done everything I can, and now I have to make my play. Dinner has passed, and the sun is setting. We haven’t seen each other much today. Partially because I’ve been busy getting ready for tonight. Partially because tomorrow is going to hurt.
“Hi beautiful.”
She blushes before she even looks up, and as long as I can make her blush, I think that I’ll be happy. “Hi.”
“I missed you today.”
“Me too,” she says, closing the book and turning to me on the bench. This picnic table is one that she’s frequented with her writing, and it’s become the place that I check first when I’m looking for her. “You didn’t seem like you were anywhere.”
I smile. “That’s because I was getting ready.”
“For what?”
“To give you your gift.”
Her eyes sparkle. “You got me a gift?”
“Well, kind of. Actually, my parents kind of did.”
Seph’s eyebrows raise. “What?”
I laugh and tell her about how they cornered me at breakfast, and about what they offered. “You said that you wanted to sleep together.”
“I did say that,” she leans into kiss me hard, and I wrap my arms around her. To hell with pretending that we’re not together. Not when my parents literally got us a room and there are only 12 hours left of camp anyway.
I have another gift for her, but that’s going to come later.
“Think you can sneak out the stuff you need from your cabin? I mean, we have permission but we probably don’t want to draw that kind of attention.”
She smirks. “Yeah. My bunkmates figured out what was happening when I was sneaking out every night. It’ll be fine.”
“Okay,” I say. “We can go whenever.”
Seph laughs. “The sooner the better. We should grab snacks.”
“Done,” I say.
“Really?”
“Where do you think I’ve been all day? I’m prepared.”
She smiles. “I have to see this now.”
Twenty minutes later she hops out of the window of her cabin and into my arms with a bag slung over her shoulder, and we’re walking to the RV, which is parked near my parents’ cabin, but not so close that we won’t have privacy.
I open the door to it and bow. “Your carriage awaits.” She’s grinning when she walks past me. It’s just an RV, and to be honest, there’s not that much that can be done to hide the fact. But I’ve done what I can. I stole blankets from as many places as I could find them, and more lanterns like the one I used at the waterfall.
The blankets are tucked here and there, making the inside of the RV look like a tent, and the bed as made as nicely as I could find, surrounded by the lanterns and flowers that I found arranged on one of the pillows. Along with a bag of Starbursts that I was saving for a goodbye gift.
Seph turns back to me. “You did all this for us?”
“Well, me and my parents, but I’ll take the credit.”
She laughs as she grabs my shirt and pulls me close. “I so do not want to think about your parents right now.”
“Me either. I can think of something else I’d much rather do.”
Seph drops her bag to the floor, and we reach for each other at the same time.
20
Persephone
Six Years Ago
I’m looking up at the ceiling of this camper which right now feels more like an Arabian escape with all the blankets. Everything that happened after my bag hit the floor happened fast. I’m trying to catch my breath while I stare upwards, and Eric is beside me doing the same.