The fire kept crackling but nobody heard it anymore. Jake and Ruby sat frozen, marshmallows melting off their sticks and dripping onto their hands. They looked at each other with the same thought - 'we shouldn't be here for this.'
Thea's smile was gone. She looked from Kofi to Nina, not understanding the game but understanding that something had broken.
Nina stared at Kofi. Her brain, usually full of comebacks and plans, went completely blank. The three statements kept looping.
'Terrified of the trip ending. The best he's ever felt. In love with me.'
The first two felt true. She'd seen it in his eyes all day, that quiet happiness that was nothing like the broody guy she'd first met. But the third one...
'It's the lie. Obviously it's the lie. Has to be.'
It was a joke. Some weird Kofi-style joke that went too far. Maybe payback for all her teasing. A test to make things weird.
'But what if it's not?'
