(This is a short, unrelated scene with familiar characters. It doesn't follow the events of the main story.
A non-canon mini episode – just for fun and to explore a different vibe with the same cast.
Side story (non-series). This has no connection to the timeline or plot of the main book. Ty:)
We went to the lake to swim one last time in August before starting university. I was slightly nervous about beginning something new and hoped I'd meet some new people there. We called this trip "the last vacation" because we wouldn't be seeing each other as often—James, Malachai, Joshua, Ryan, Jeremy and I. That made us all a bit sad.
"Mike!"
I turned around. I was sitting by the lake while the others were playing volleyball. It made me laugh because there was no net—they were just pretending with an invisible force field.
"What?!"
"Come play with us!" James yelled.
Honestly, I didn't feel like playing. I'm terrible at that game.
"Come on, don't make us beg!" Joshua shouted.
"You guys are really getting on my nerves!" I yelled back with a smile on my face.
***
I was on a team with Malachai and James, and we won the game. Joshua couldn't handle the loss and started rolling around in the sand.
"You're such a weirdo," Malachai said, and we all burst into laughter.
"Hey, should we stay and make a bonfire?" Ryan asked. "It's been ages since we had one."
James nodded, and everyone else agreed too.
"Then we're staying," James said proudly.
"Hell yeah!"
"Good thing I brought beer," Joshua said as he walked to Malachai's car, opened the trunk, and pulled out a whole bag full of bottles. I walked closer to get a better look.
"You seriously brought that much alcohol for a two-hour trip?" I asked.
"You know, you always have to be prepared," he replied.
"What have I gotten myself into…" I thought.
***
Darkness fell. We could hear the nocturnal animals waking up. Some of the sounds were annoying, but not for long. The bonfire was hot—almost too hot.
Joshua lay there, drunk, sometimes mumbling words no one could understand.
"Joshua, wake up—your parents are here!" Ryan joked.
"Huh? What's going on?" he stirred for a moment and then passed back out.
Jeremy was sitting next to James and me. He held a bottle of water in his hand, sipping from it every now and then. Recently, Jeremy told us that he's trying to quit drinking and is leaving behind the days when he used to drink until he passed out. I was proud of him—something told me lately that he was trying to stop. He didn't drink with the others at all, and when they invited him out for a beer, he declined. Now we just had to wait for Joshua to follow his lead—though I wasn't sure that would ever happen.
"I hope we're not staying here all night, right?" Jeremy asked.
"Maybe," James rolled his eyes. "Looking at our drunken dear friend, he's not making it home on his own. Someone's gonna have to take him in. Any volunteers?"
Silence.
"Fuck. Guess it's me, then."
"As always,James. You've never taken any of us drunk to your place," Malachai burst out laughing.
"Alright, shut up."
"I'm serious. You never have—"
"Shut up," James snapped, irritated.
I started laughing—it really was funny seeing James get mad like that.
Suddenly I felt sleepy. I didn't know what was going on. I was never tired at this hour. I yawned.
"Looks like we've got our second one down," Ryan said.
"Yeah, yeah… I'm actually pretty tired."
"Then go to sleep. We'll wake you up when we leave in the morning," Malachai said.
"Umm… morning?" Jeremy squeezed his bottle. "I'm supposed to sleep on a beach?"
"You can sleep next to Mike—time will go by faster," Ryan rubbed his eyes.
I lay down on the blanket Malachai gave me, and before I knew it, I drifted off into peaceful sleep.