Zay watched the helicopter seed twirling to the ground in a slow, lazy spiral. He grabbed another off the ground and launched it into the air, but this time the wind took it away. He looked up, and Smackle was almost out of sight already, so Zay ditched the seeds and ran to catch up, almost tripping over a rock on his way.
"Hey, where's Farkle anyway?" He asked her. They were the only ones who ended up attending the afternoon hike. Riley was injured, so she was out for the count, Lucas was probably looking at the sky in deep contemplation like he was on The Bachelor, and Maya was probably fawning over Josh somewhere. But Farkle loved nature, so his absence was unexplained. Smackle looked up at the sound of Zay's voice like he was shaking her out of deep thought. It's like that a lot with her, Zay realized. She's always thinking about something and you're always interrupting her.
"Oh, he accidentally ate some abrus precatorius so he's adopted quite the vendetta against nature for today." Zay blinked, shaking his head in confusion.
"Abrus pre-what?"
"Poison berries," Smackle clarified. Zay nodded, grabbing a long stick and poking the ground with it. "The sign did say "tree's a crowd," so it's probably good that it's just us. Once we go home, we'll be back to before." Zay looked at Smackle and then started walking again, tracing the dirt with his stick as he went.
"Will we? It's like Mr. Matthews was saying about this place. Things happen here." He chuckled a little under his breath. Riley, Maya, Lucas. Maybe this was it.
"Don't tell me you subscribe to trivial superstitions, Zay. It's only an educational trip." Smackle shifted a little on her feet, grabbing her bag and rifling through it. She pulled out a notepad and a pen and jotted something down.
"We're in an abandoned lodge in the middle of nowhere. Sure, you're totally right, nothing bad could ever happen here." Zay ditched the stick, tossing it into a nearby bush. Smackle didn't even look up from her journal.
"The Mount Sun Lodge is far from abandoned. Besides, no matter what decision is made, I doubt it would constitute being counted as something bad."
"You see, Smackle, that's where you're wrong. You might be good at school, but I'm good at people. Think about it. The whole reason the six of us are friends is because of Riley and Maya. And whatever Lucas decides, however you spin it, this could split us all apart. Now, I'd go with Lucas, you'd go with Farkle, and whoever gets heartbroken will go with you guys, and whoever ends up with Lucas will go with me." Smackle stopped, turning to face Zay, shutting her notebook and tilting her head ever-so-slightly to the left.
"What about you and me? We wouldn't be friends?" Zay looked down, then back up at her, biting his lip. He'd thought about that lots of times. How if Lucas chose Maya, then Farkle would go Riley, and Maya with Lucas, him with Lucas and Smackle with Farkle. And if he chose Riley, it might be the same outcome. And, while he'd only just recently met Smackle, she'd grown on him a lot. A lot was riding on Lucas here. All their friendships hung in the balance. But the way Smackle was looking at him, eyebrows furrowed in worry, like the very idea of not being friends with him shook her to the core made him know, just know that everything was going to turn out okay for everybody.
"Nah, course we will," he finally responded. "That was just … worst-case scenario. Besides, maybe one of them only thinks they like Lucas." He tried to backtrack. He forgot - Isadora doesn't always understand people so well. She probably never even thought of this outcome. "Look, Smackle. Lucas knows this. He's gonna make the choice that's best for all of us. And he's only gonna make it when he knows things are gonna turn out okay. Okay?"
Smackle looked at Zay, and then at a spot just past his shoulder. She quickly opened her notebook again, scribbling furiously.
"What are you writing about in there anyway?" He asked her.
"That's a Spicebush Swallowtail. They're very rare." She didn't look up. The trouble of the moment before was lost for the sake of science. Figures.
"Oh yeah? Tell me about them." Zay asked, leaning against a tree and sighing. Lucas would make the right decision. In fact, once Smackle started rattling off various fun facts about the butterfly, Zay was sure he would.