Pretty Follies

Amongst the warm crackling fire, the loud crickets in the distance and the joyful laughter, both my family and the Johnsons were sitting around the bonfire. The sun had set almost an hour ago but the fire illuminated the air around us and the flames were so hot, I felt my leg hairs burning from the radiating heat.

Chris had arrived with his fiancée, which officially meant we were settled and ready to start our camping adventures. I wasn’t sure exactly what my parents had planned, but I was sure it would be fun.

My dad talked with Hank about their plans for the week, clearly excited to be able to go out and do some fishing. “There is a stream about thirty to forty miles out,” Hank commented, motioning his hand behind him aimlessly. “If I remember correctly, it hooks up with a lake at some point. It might be a long drive, but it would do us some good,” the men talked. I was listening, bored, with no intention of caring about what they were talking about. I wouldn’t need to know where any of the lakes and streams were.

Along with the men, Kate and Alyssa were planning all the things were going to do also. My mom, Cheryl and Sophia gossiped about work and neighbors and I was sure they would somehow end up planning Sophia and Chris’s wedding at some point.

Sometimes Lorraine would add in a few comments, but I knew she wasn’t really paying attention; none of the topics of conversations really interested her. So instead, like me, she listened but not very attentively.

She sat across from me in the circle we had created around the fire and twirled a stick around in her hand. I watched her in her stupid shorts. Her legs were too skinny for her tall body. Her caramel hair had started to go back to its wavy state from the humidity, but she had still danced around all day. She laughed with Alyssa and Kate and was sweet to our moms. If only they could see her nasty side.

I watched as her pink lips turned into a frown and she swatted her arm. Seconds later she was walking to find what I could only assume to be bug spray. Besides the fact that Lorraine had made be grumpy earlier in the day, I was enjoying myself quite a bit. We had eaten a couple sandwiches and sat around the fire all night, but I was having fun with everyone.

“Lorraine,” my mom said as Lorraine’s boney figure came towards the circle. “Before you get comfortable, could you go get some more wood?” Her head turned towards the edge of the forest to where the large pile of wood sat and she nodded. She walked across the circle towards the wood that was waiting to be used for the fire pit. As she walked past the dying fire, I casually stuck my foot out. I covered my smirk as Lorraine caught her clumsy foot on my shoe and lunged forward with a little scream.

A couple people gasped when they say Lorrain’s fragile body smack the hard ground. “Oops, sorry, Laney,” I said, faking sincerity. She was on her knees, brushing off the palms of her hands so I put on a show and bent over in my chair to offer a hand to her. Without even considering it, she yanked her arm away from me and glared so no one could see her anger. I saw her lips move silently “Fuck you” as she stood up, limping to gather the wood.

“So Lorraine,” my mom said as Lorraine returned and sat back down in her lawn chair. “We have barely seen you this summer; your mom said you came back at the end of May.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve been catching up with old friends and just kind of getting out of the house,” she smiled. It reeked of fake sincerity and I scoffed at how much of a show she was putting on. I wasn’t stupid. She had been spending a lot of time at home, but avoiding the family get-togethers that our parents threw. “Unfortunately I was busy and couldn’t stop by very often.”

I saw my mom brush it off and continue to interrogate her. “Are you still going to Michigan State?” From across the fire I could see Lorraine smile and nod excitedly.

“Yeah, I’m still studying to be a nurse. I’m really enjoying it.” She successfully stayed clear of the family dinners this summer but I had too. I went to one throughout the entire year due to touring with my band and the one that I did show up to, I surprised to not see Lorraine there. But when I asked, her parents explained she really loved college.

I couldn’t personally understand why Lorraine was so enthralled with school. We had spent thirteen years in the hell hole and then she goes off and wants to do more of it. I was sure if I hadn’t had the band, I probably would have gone to college too, but the way Cheryl and Hank talked about what Lorraine had said, I couldn’t believe Lorraine liked it so much.

“Actually,” she continued. “I have enough credits from AP classes in high school to start taking some—”

“Oh Lorraine,” Cheryl interrupted. “Your knee is bleeding.” Everyone glanced at Lorrain’s nubby kneecap and saw blood dripping down her leg.

“Crap,” she said after looking at it and poking at the blood a little. “I’ll be back.” Her small body quickly faded towards the tent areas in the dark.

“Alex, why don’t you go and help her,” Cheryl suggested. “I moved the first aid kit from the picnic table to our tent so she might not know where it is.” I put on a smile and mumbled an agreement, picking up a flashlight to help me see the tents.

I hadn’t seen Lorraine for almost a year. I was so involved with my band and clearly Lorraine was busy in Michigan but when we got back together, nothing changed. Our parents always made sure to let Lorraine and I spend time together because they honestly believed we were best friends. I think our parents thought that because when we are together, we seem so comfortable and our friendship looks natural and that’s why we are so chill around each other. Oh, if only hey knew why we were so calm each other; we didn’t give a fuck about the other. I thought lanky Lorraine was the most unreasonable person I had never met. I don’t really know why exactly I thought that, but she was. I know we felt the same way about each other because we tell each other constantly.

So to have Cheryl tell me to go help Lorraine was expected. It was a completely normal occurrence and it also just proved the point that we were always paired together. Just like the tent we were forced to share. After retrieving the first aid kit, I stepped into the two person tent, causing the tent flaps to echo as I did.

“Go away, Alex.”

“I came to help, Laney,” I said over sympathetically, holding the kit in my hand above her sitting body.

“Don’t pretend like you care,” she retorted. I shined the flashlight down on her to see her face crunched up into an unflattering expression as she dabbed the cut on her knee. “Can you make yourself useful and hand me that stack of napkins?” I rolled my eyes at her tone of voice, yet I shoved the napkins in her hands and positioned myself to sit cross legged next to her, shining the flashlight on her knee so she could see.

“Next time you gotta watch where you’re going, Laney.”

“Maybe next time you don’t have to be such an asshole and find a way to torture me in every way imaginable.”

“What’s the fun in that,” I smirked. She clenched her jaw and I couldn’t tell if it was because she was irritated with me or because it hurt to touch the open sore. “OoOoOo!” I tried imitating a ghost, holding the flashlight under my chin so the light shined up on my face wickedly.

Lorraine snorted, “Grow up.”

“God forbid I try to have a little fun,” I exclaimed sardonically. Her brown eyes snapped to mine with a disapproving look and then back to her knew where she placed a large band-aid over the gash. I could tell I put her in a bad mood and I congratulated myself quietly.

She scooted over to her bag and started to dig around. “Get out.” Her voice was short and definitely aggravated.

“No,” I said simply, folding my arms over my chest. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

“Alex, get out.”

“No. Maybe I don’t want to.”

“I’m going to sleep. Get out.”

“It’s only eleven!” I exclaimed.

“Get out, I need to change.” I rolled my eyes and mumbled a “whatever” as I turned to leave. Apparently I wasn’t going fast enough, because I felt her hands shove my shoulders and I landed on my stomach outside of the tent.

“Oww..” I complained. She reached over and snatched the flashlight from under me, stomped back into the tent and I heard the zipper yank closed.

Ignoring her annoying antics, I picked myself up from the ground and brushed off my legs. “Goodnight, Laney,” I called back to her, mockingly. If she was going to continue to pester, I was going to continue to call her Laney. “I hope the bed bugs bite.”

She didn’t respond but a few moments later I saw the illumination from the tent flicker and it went dark, signaling Lorraine going to bed. I grumbled at the thought of the past ten minutes and how much it had annoyed me and put me in a bad mood. I tried to ignore it though and walked back to the fire where my family sat, smiling and laughing.