"Did you remember to pack the cooler?" Jenna called, her voice slightly muffled from the inside of Adam's mother's Suburban.
"Yeah," Clare shouted back. "It's right underneath the green beach bag."
"Which one?"
"The green one!"
"Which green one?"
"The one with the beach towels in it," Clare hollered back.
"Clare," Eli put in, "why don't you just go in there and help her find the cooler?"
"Because," Clare said, grunting as she lifted the sides of the large Rubbermaid bin that contained some of their food supply for the weekend, "it's right there in front of her face under the big green mesh bag. She's got to be blind not to see it. Now, help me with this."
Eli rolled his eyes, then grabbed one of the side handles of the bin, and the two of them walked the bin towards the SUV.
Jenna squatted in what little space they had left in the nearly full trunk area, her eyes darting around as she searched for the hidden cooler. Recognition dawned on her face when she found it, and she excitedly scratched it off the list in her hand.
"Cooler, check," she said, then glanced at the tub Clare and Eli were holding. "That the food?"
Clare nodded. "Did Adam remember to pack the bug spray? It gets pretty vicious this time of year."
"I don't know. ADAM!" she yelled across the yard. "Did you pack the bug spray?"
"YEAH!" he shouted back from the back door of the house. "It's in the bag with the sunblock."
"Which one is that?"
"The mesh one!"
"Which mesh one?"
"Okay," Eli sighed, lowering the tub down onto the driveway and scrambling into the van with Jenna. "We're gonna do this the easy way. Without shrieking." He motioned for Jenna to climb down. "It's seven thirty AM, guys. Waaaaay too early to be yelling like this."
He took the list from Jenna, and got down on his knees, peering around the claustrophobia-inducing trunk space, every now and then checking something off the list Clare had made of all the things they needed to bring before they headed out.
He peered at the list and raised his eyebrows. "A first-aid kit?" he asked Clare. "Really?"
She put her hands on her hips. "You never know what might happen."
"Yeah," he said drily. "Wouldn't want to get mauled by a rabid squirrel or something out there."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Laugh all you want, but there's no way we're heading out into the middle of nowhere with at least some band-aids and rubbing alcohol. That's like begging for trouble."
"So is leaving the house without phone chargers," he reminded her. "Did you bring yours?"
She nodded. "Did you remember to pack the flashlights?"
"I didn't," he said. "I thought K.C. did that."
"I'll check."
"Please just go ask," he begged. "I don't need to hear anymore yelling, at least until I get a cup of coffee."
She made a face at him, then headed back into Adam's house, where the rest of their party was gathered in the kitchen. Adam was busy tossing some last-minute items into a knapsack, while K.C. and Jenna loaded the drink cooler full of water bottles- and a few cans of Budweiser, strategically hidden underneath the piles of Zephyr Hills.
"K.C., did you remember to pack the flashlights?"
He glanced up at her. "Yeah. They're in the same bag as the bug spray and suntan lotion. The red mesh bag."
She nodded. "Jenna, did you remember…"
"Yes, Clare-Bear," the girl cut off in an exasperated voice. "I packed the towels, the umbrella, the extra case of water… we brought enough to survive a nuclear war. It's just for the weekend, Clare."
"I know," she insisted, sounding like a ninny and she knew it. "But you never know."
"This is coming from the girl who packed six extra bottles and an entire 24-pack of diapers, along with an entire separate bag filled with baby toys, just for Alex to spend not even two full days with my mother," K.C. teased Jenna.
The blonde girl flushed, and Clare couldn't help feeling a little like cheering at K.C.
Alli, who had been helping Adam haul the beach umbrella out of the garage, rolled her eyes at them.
"Okay. Seriously, everybody in this room needs to step back and take a break. R-E-L-A-X," said, though whether it was to her or Jenna Clare couldn't tell. "This weekend will be fine. Everyone will be fine. So let's all just breathe and enjoy it. Right?"
K.C. hoisted one of the duffel bags piled by the car and headed out to the van to help Eli finish packing. "She's got a point," he called over his shoulder.
Jenna sighed, then pulled her cell phone out of the pocket of her cut-offs.
"No messages," she muttered. She glanced at Clare. "What do you think that means?"
"That nobody's awake at this time of day?" she joked.
Jenna didn't crack a smile, but instead glanced out the kitchen window to watch K.C. and Eli loading Mrs. Torres's Suburban.
"This is the longest we'll be away from the baby," she said, her eyes glued to the boys. "I don't know how it'll be. What if something happens?"
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Clare reassured. "It's only for a day and a half. Not even two full days. You'll be back by Sunday night."
"I know," Jenna sighed. "I just…I hate to leave her. It's hard enough leaving her to go to school most of the time."
"She'll be fine," Clare said again, repeating K.C's refrain.
Jenna gave her a weak smile, then her eyes slid to Alli.
"How about you, Alli?" she asked. "You doing alright?"
Alli shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know," she said with a small laugh. "As well as can be expected, I guess."
Jenna sidled closer to her, sliding an arm around her sympathetically, and Clare touched her shoulder.
"Are you sure you're okay with this?" she asked suddenly. "This whole weekend? Cause if you're not…"
Alli glanced up at her. "I'm okay with it," she replied, her tone insistently chipper.
"Are you sure?" Clare pressed. "Cause Alli, if you're not, we totally don't have to do this. We can just hang out, you and me…and Jenna," she added, when she saw the look the other girl gave her. "We don't have to do some big weekend getaway. We can just do whatever you want. This is about you."
"Clare," Alli put in, "I'm okay with this, okay? Promise." She offered the girls a bright smile.
"Believe me," she added, "you couldn't get me to spend a weekend out in the gross outdoors unless I really wanted to do it. So don't feel like you forced me to go, cause you didn't."
She paused, then added in a much quieter tone, "I just…really can't be home right now."
Jenna squeezed Alli's shoulders tightly. Clare drew her friend closer, and the three girls pulled together, tangling their arms together in a knotted hug.
"Ahem."
Clare heard the sound of someone clearing his throat behind them, and she untangled herself from her friends to see Adam standing awkwardly in the doorway of the kitchen.
"You guys all set?" he asked. "We've got everything all packed."
Clare nodded. "We just need to get this cooler out."
Adam came over to help them, and the four of them carried the weighty drink cooler out to the car, where K.C. and Eli nestled it into the tiny little space they had left in the brimming trunk.
"All ready," Eli announced. "All aboard."
Eli climbed into the driver's seat, and Clare slid in beside him, giving Adam a sympathetic look. She wanted to sit in the middle seat bench with him and Adam, but unanimously voted the best with directions and the only one who had ever been there before, she needed to help Eli navigate.
Adam rolled his eyes, not entirely kidding. While his mood had improved somewhat about the whole weekend situation, he was pissed about not being allowed to bring Drew- for obvious reasons. Sure, he had Eli and K.C., whom he had grown to be friends with through Drew, but it wasn't the same. Besides, two couples living with him for the weekend was a visceral reminder of Fiona's absence, even with dateless Alli along.
Alli and Jenna sqeezed in together on the bench in the backseat, and K.C. took the seat beside Jenna.
"Alright," Jenna cheered as they backed out of the driveway. The sun was just beginning to come up, light poking into the dimness of the early morning and bleeding out onto the horizon. "And off we go."
"Just after we get some coffee, first," Eli reminded her weakly.
