Summer Lovin

Chapter 5: Sweet Progress

"It makes no difference as to the name of the God since love is the real God of all the world." – Apache Tribe

"Jeremy slow down!" Sammy shouts as we hike up the rest of the canyon I've never hiked a mountain before, but I think the altitude is making me high. My legs were aching and I think I have a blister on my big toe. "I will never understand how he can run a mountain and not break a sweat," I say more to myself. "Jeremey ran cross country back in high school, remember?" Sammy says grabbing my water bottle out of my hand. 

"Watching him run like this makes me wanna throw up," I say dramatically checking off the things in my checklist. Dillon comes up behind me snagging a granola bar. "Why do you always have that thing with you?" He asks taking a bite out of the snack. "So I have the satisfaction of doing this." I check off hiking up the Grand Canyon. I smile knowingly. "Really," Bethany says. "Creat your own content Mads. Stella said it better," 

I puff out my cheeks and swing my arms. Looking off into the distance my heart races as the beautiful sunrise is at its high point. "What's your favorite color?" Dillon asks beside me. "Um, light blue," I smile down at my light blue converse. "How about you," 

Am I being too dry with my answers? Should I smile? Oh my goodness he's never going to like me? What if I- 

"My favorite color is dark green. Looks like the wheels in your head are turning," He states brushing his hand with mine. "Oh, ya know the usual second-guessing," 

Dillon stays silent beside me. Ugh, good one mads. 

"What's your favorite animal?" I let out a giggle as Dillon asks another question. "Mm, probably a koala. And yours?"  "I like elephants," He answered back. 

We go back-in-forth with questions all the way to the lookout point. My breath catches in my throat as I look out in the canyon. "Holy s**t," Sammy says sitting down on a bench near the edge. "Google maps could never," Jermey buts in hanging closer to Jackson. I stare at the two of them, Jackson and Jermey, they would be cute together. Jeremy must've felt my eyes on him because his eyes meet mine. I give him a little smirk and narrow my eyes on Jackosn then back to Jermey. His face gets red as a small grin appears on his face. I look back out to the canyon and sigh. 

"I don't think I can walk any farther," Bethany says laying her head on a table. "My feet are killing me," she wines. "Your so dramatic Beth," Sammy comes up behind her and rubs her neck. "I'm hungry," Beth wines again. "Stop being winey, your so annoying," Sammy says. "I'm going back down," Jackson says holding the stair railing tightly and looking up. 

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"Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midnight.

Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away

Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midnight. 

Take me through the darkness to the break of the day",  Sammy sings loudly on the way to the cultural museum.  Sammy, Dillon, and I are all in the jeep driving to our next stop. While Bethany, Jackson, and Jeremy went to the music festival. 

I read through the brochure from the campground welcome center. The museum holds ancient bones from a great Indian chief and there is a bunch of tribal. "This looks super cool, look." I pass the brochure to Dillon in the backseat. He seems bored and I kinda felt bad. When we got back and divide up the groups he didn't seem as static as me and Sam. "Dillon you could've gone with the others," I say looking back at him in the mirror. "It's okay, my head just hurts," I look back at him with wide eyes. "Did you bring your medication?" He opens the bag next to him and grabs a pill bottle. I smile at him and sit back looking out the window. 

My mind wanders and plays out scenes of Dillon forgetting his pills. Dillon lays on the floor seizing and foam coming out of his mouth. Dillon's head explodes and his brain matter everywhere. 

I mentally slap my face and turn up the volume. I hum along with the song and rock my body back-in-forth. "So am I gonna have to be a third wheel or is Dillon?" My eyes shoot over to Sammy's then Dillon's. "I don't know," I say staring intently out the window. 

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"And over here we have some artifacts from the Apache tribe that were forced to move because of the American soldiers in the 1800s," Our tour guide said. "And this is the end of the tour, if you have any questions please ask!" She quickly walks away taking a sit in the main office. "Mh some things never change do they," Sammy says looking at the old portrait of an Apache child. I silently hold back a smile and look around the room. Small and large baskets hang on the walls. There are patterns and different stories cast upon each one. 

"Varlebena," Dillon says from beside me. "What does that mean?" My eyes never leave the baskets. "It means forever," Dillon points at a small sign in the display case, "Varlebena. It means forever. That's all they say."

"So you can't speak any cool languages?" I ask looking at his hand. They seem so big and soft. "No," He says plainly. "We should get one of these baskets in the gift shop," Sammy says grabbing my hand. In the back, there is a little old lady make a new basket with a girl around our age sitting at the counter. Sammy and I race to the counter before Dillon can even blink. "Can we get one of those baskets?" Sammy asks pointing to the almost finished basket of the old lady. "My Shichu is finishing one right now but we have more in the back," She goes and gets 2 from the back and sets them on the counter. They are beautiful with bear-looking things and a sunrise. "Bears are known to enforce and punish the evil in the world. Our ancestors," she looks to the old lady and finishes, "Our people believed that the bears were the strong soul of ancient beings that protected our tribe,"

"My Shichu still tells me stories that have been passed down from generations," I acknowledge the older woman as she set the finished basic on the counter. "Can we get that one too?" Sammy asks. "Oh, I don't Kn-," The cashier is cut off by the older lady. "Of course, of course, take, take, take," the old woman smiles brightly. "Thank you," Sammy says politely. 

We walked out of the museum, Dillon sits in the back seat resting. While we waited for the lady to bag the baskets he started feeling worse so he went to get his meds. "We'll be back to the campgrounds in no time.  Then you can take a nap," I smile gently at him. He gives me a soft one back. "Hey Dillon, is it okay if I turn on the radio?" Sammy asks checking in the rearview mirror. He gives a slight nod and closes his eyes again. I rest my head on the side of the car door closing my eyes and replaying the day in my head. 

I open my eyes and see I'm lying in my bunk in the Rv. I push my hair back from my neck when I feel a warm breath on the side of it. I softly turn around to see Dillon peacefully sleeping next to me. Hairs fall along his forehead and the longer ones cover his eyes. I sweep it out of the way and kiss his forehead lightly enough not to wake him. I see my bag at the end of the bed and slide of carefully for Dillon. Opening the current the sight in front of me is scary. Jeremy is pressed against the wall with Jackosn practically sucking his face off. "Holy s**t," I say dropping my bag catching the attention of the two boys. "Mads, I-I uh," Jermey stutters looking flustered. "Are you guys like a thing?" I question stilling standing still. "No, I mean I don't kn-," Jackson cuts him off, "If you mean we're fucking." He stares at Jermey as a smirk plays on his lips. "Yes, yes we are f*****g," 

Jeremy lets out a  squeal as my eyes widen. That is certainly not what I meant. 

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AHHHHHH. I may be more excited than some of you readers! I've been meaning to play in Jermey and Jackosn's storyline. I couldn't make up my mind if I wanted Jermey and Jackosn or Sammy and Jackson. But I'm thoroughly happy with the outcome of the end of this chapter. Yay get some Jeremy! 

-Sincerely Renee

P.S (Happy pride month!)