“Come on Roy!” screamed Chet Meyer. “It’s now or never!”

Maddie Parks joined in, yelling words of encouragement. She was surrounded by the entire senior class of Ventura High School. The crowd whooped and stomped their feet as it worked itself into a frenzy.

On the mound, Roy Jones looked around. There was a runner on first. Roy eyed him up. At the runner’s size, he wasn’t a threat to steal. Roy pulled back his arm and launched the ball toward home plate.

“Strike one!” called the umpire.

The batter looked scared. It was the bottom of the ninth and he was the team's last hope.

Roy didn’t hesitate and threw again. The ball sailed over the plate.

“Strike two!”

Roy caught the ball from the catcher and looked around. He caught Maddie’s eye in the stand and paused to give her a smile. She grinned back. Roy drew back and hurled the ball. The batter stepped into the pitch and connected. The ball popped up in the air. Roy calmly positioned himself under the falling ball, easily making the catch.

“That’s the game!” called the umpire. “The Ventura Hawks are division champions!”

The class of 2017 rushed the field to congratulate their team. Maddie’s diminutive frame leapt into Roy’s arms. She threw her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Congratulations, honey!” she cooed.

“Great game, Roy!” said Chet, closely behind Maddie. He held up his fist and bumped with Roy. “I was worried there for a second. That last batter had a .317 average this season.”

“Thanks guys,” responded Roy, still smiling. He let Maddie down carefully and then shook hands, high fived and fist bumped the fifty or so kids surrounding him.

Monday at school, the talk was still about the Hawks being division baseball champions. It was a small school, so a division title was a big deal. In a few weeks, they would head to the state capital to compete for the Minnesota state title.

Roy enjoyed the attention the win was bringing him, but it didn’t surprise him. He had

always been a sports star. He pitched for the baseball team and played wide receiver for the football team. Back in junior high, he even played basketball.

Maddie Parks walked with him, holding his hand. She had icy blue eyes, long dark hair and fair skin. She was short and thin. The heavy book bag slung over her shoulder threatened to tip her over.

The couple strode into math class and took their seats near the front and next to their friend Chet, who was engrossed in a science fiction novel. He was well muscled with a deep tan and unruly sandy brown hair. He glanced up and favored Maddie with a smile as she passed him.

“What are you reading?” asked Maddie.

“This weird book called Hotel Hell,” answered Chet, “It’s about a haunted hotel not far from here. Supposedly a true story.”

“Yeah, right,” laughed Roy, rolling his eyes. “We should go there.”

“It burned down. It was on the news,” responded Chet defensively. “But it would be a fun trip. We could camp.”

“I was just joking, buddy,” said Roy. “But camping is a good idea. What are you guys doing this weekend? Winter is coming fast. Maybe we should hit the lake one last time.”

“What do you think, Chet? Do you want to go camping?” asked Maddie, her eyes pleading with him. She knew her parents would never let her go alone with Roy. If Chet was going, they always said yes.

“Umm, I was going to play some League of Legends this weekend.”

“Come on, buddy. Let’s get one last great weekend while it is still warm enough,” responded Roy. “You’ll have plenty of time for video games all winter. Won’t be much else to do around here.”

Mr. Maki cleared his throat, getting their attention. They realized the entire class had been listening to their discussion. There was some snickering but for the most part, no one seemed to care. In a town this small, escaping to the woods for a weekend was very common.

As Mr. Maki turned to the board and started writing out an equation, Chet turned toward Maddie and nodded. She rewarded him with a smile.

By Friday, they were packed and ready to go. Roy’s pickup truck was loaded with tents, a small grill, sleeping bags and a cooler. Chet had made a packing list and printed it, carefully crossing off each item as it was loaded into the bed of the truck. He tossed his duffel bag behind

the seat in the cab next to Roy and Maddie’s things.

They drove to the lake, Maddie riding in the middle as usual. The three of them had been friends forever. The conversation came easily and wandered from topic to topic. The only time it hit a snag was when they started discussing their plans after high school. Maddie got quiet when Roy mentioned a baseball scholarship in Indiana. She was certain she was going to be going to college in Minnesota, and that was a whole year after Roy left. The thought of him being so far away terrified her. Chet, on the other hand, had no idea where he was going to school. He had offers from colleges across the country, but his parents were intent on keeping him nearby.

They arrived at the lake and were surprised that it was almost deserted. Only a few other campers were present. They found a quiet clearing and set up camp. As usual, Roy and Maddie had a large tent for the two of them, while Chet was content with a small dome tent for himself. He carefully positioned the sleeping bag, his duffel bag, and a portable phone charger so that things were in the same place as his bedroom at home.

Emerging from the tent, he could hear Maddie and Roy laughing as they wrestled inside their large cabin tent. Chet took it upon himself to set up the grill, position the cooler and to get their fishing gear prepared. After, he sat in one of the three lawn chairs they had brought and opened his book.

About 30 minutes later, Maddie and Roy unzipped their tent. Stepping onto the grass, Maddie was trying to fix her tangled hair. Roy was grinning.

“We should see if we can get some fish for supper. If not, I packed some steaks,” stated Roy. He looked at the position of the sun and determined it was about 5:00 pm. “It’ll be dark soon.”

Chet set down his book after carefully placing a bookmark. Chet would never fold the corner of a book. He paused to make sure the book was perfectly square on the small table next to his chair. Smiling, he grabbed his fishing pole and followed Roy to the edge of the lake. Maddie followed behind, but didn’t take her pole.

While the boys fished, Maddie lay back on the grass and listened to the sounds of the wilderness. There were some houses on the other side of the lake and the occasional burst of noise from the kids staying in them, but for the most part, it was quiet. She pulled off her shirt, revealing her bikini top, letting the sun play across her shoulders.

“Got one!” yelled Chet, excitedly. His pole was bent over as he furiously reeled. Soon, he had a large bass placed on the stringer. Roy rewarded him with a high five. Chet baited his hook and tossed the line in again. He glanced over at Maddie in her bikini top, but said nothing, though a smile played across his lips.

Maddie looked up and down the lake. There was a man and a small child about 100 feet away, down the shore. The other direction was clear. She wondered where all the campers were. Was there something going on in town they forgot about?

She shrugged off the concern and thought about Roy. They had been dating for more than a year. While he wasn’t the first boy that she had been with, he was her first real boyfriend.

Chet had been her friend since second grade. She knew he had a crush on her and though she didn’t often admit it to herself, she enjoyed the attention. She was glad that Chet and Roy got along, because she couldn’t imagine not having both of them in her life. She looked over at Chet and saw him watching her. Normally, she would have covered back up, but today she was feeling adventurous. Instead, she slipped off her jean shorts and fully reclined in her bikini. She smiled as Chet almost dropped his fishing pole. Roy noticed the game going on and just shook his head.

Before long, the boys had added a few more fish and decided they had enough for dinner. After Maddie dressed, the three of them trudged back to the camp, where Roy started the grill and Maddie dutifully cleaned the fish. She turned on some music on her phone and danced alone while she cooked for her boys. After deciding he was not needed for cooking, Chet used hand sanitizer before turning back to his book.

“No!” cried out Chet, diving for his tent. “No! No! No!”

“Chet. What’s wrong?” asked Maddie, dropping the tongs she was using to turn the fish, rushing to Chet’s tent.

“It’s raining. My book got wet!” Chet said, struggling to keep from having a breakdown. “Look!” he said, pointing to a single dark drop staining the page he had been reading.

“Chet,” she cautioned, “Did you miss your meds? It’s just a drop of water.”

Ashamed, he looked down. “I didn’t bring them.”

“What? Why?”

“I just wanted to be normal this weekend,” he replied, not meeting her eyes. He carefully set his book inside his tent. “Your grill is getting wet,” he stated, changing the subject.

“Damn,” swore Maddie under her breath. She frantically tried to shelter the fish with her

arms, but the heat from the grill drove her back. Small tendrils of steam rose up as each fat rain drop hit the hot coals.

“Here,” said Chet. He took a few pieces of wood from their campfire and used a frying pan to quickly construct a canopy over the fish on the grill. When he was satisfied that it was going to stay, he turned and crawled into his tent, pausing to remove his shoes before zipping up the mesh liner.

Maddie smiled, impressed. Roy stood over her, holding his coat over her head while she finished cooking. She delivered a plate of fish and beans to Chet. She and Roy had just made it into their own tent with their plates when the sky opened and it poured.

After they ate, it was still raining. Maddie tried checking her phone, but she was not able to get a signal through the storm. Even in perfect weather, it was a challenge to check her Facebook at the lake. “Roy,” she whined, “I’m bored.”

“We could play cards. I’ve got a deck in the truck,” he replied. “Chet. You want to play cards?”

“I don’t want to get wet,” answered Chet, his steel blue eyes peering out through the mesh of his tent’s opening.

“Chet, you’re a genius. I’m pretty sure you can figure out how to get three feet without getting drenched.”

“Um, no.”

“Chet, please, I’m bored!” begged Maddie, pushing her face out of her tent. She puffed out her bottom lip slightly and waited.

Chet hesitated. “Okay, give me a minute.”

Chet had used the cover for his tent to make himself a makeshift rainsuit. First he had tried to create a tunnel between the two tents, but when that failed, he concentrated on just keeping himself dry. Roy, on the other hand, didn’t care. He snatched a plastic grocery bag and sprinted to the truck, parked only 20 feet away. In less than a minute, he was diving into the tent, dripping wet, but with the deck of cards safely inside the bag. In his other hand, he carried a large cooler.

Chet eyed the drops of water on the bottom of the tent disdainfully. Maddie noticed and used a discarded piece of clothing to mop up any standing water. As the rain beat down on the tent, they arranged themselves in a triangle.

Roy had stripped off his wet shirt and sat barefoot, wearing only his shorts. Despite the rain, it was still quite warm. Opening the cooler, he took a beer for himself before handing Maddie a wine cooler. Chet began to decline, then reconsidered and took a beer for himself. Maddie began to deal the cards.

Hours later, the rain had stopped and the cooler was empty. They were all wet from going out into the rain to pee as the alcohol had worked its way through their bodies. They laughed and told stories. Roy had watched in amusement as Maddie had drunkenly kissed Chet on a dare. Only Chet knew that it was his first real kiss. She missed his look of disappointment when she had kissed Roy right after.

About midnight, Chet had stumbled the three feet back to his own tent and passed out. As soon as they heard him snoring, Maddie and Roy stripped off their remaining clothes and dove into their sleeping bag together. Soon, they were all asleep.