Surprise

The group was sitting around a bond fire. They had all gathered at Ryan’s house after senior prom. With graduation early the next morning, most of the friends had left for bed, or to hook up somewhere else. Only five kids remained, sitting in beach chairs as the fire slowly died down. Leslie was sitting on Ryan’s lap, affectionately twirling her fingers in his hair. Lucas and Cindy were sitting, holding hands and whispering to each other quietly. Jacob was laying with his seat reclined, staring at the stars, with a bud light can dangling in his hands. He was the only one who had really drank that night, Ryan and Lesly preferring weed, and Cindy had been carefully watching Lucas to makes sure he wouldn’t be hungover for graduation.

           Truthfully, the two couples were secretly hoping Jacob would go to bed, but he was sleeping over at Ryan’s and would probably be staying up as late as everyone else was. Jacob stood up and walked over to the cooler Ryan’s dad had brought down. Mr. Notley had filled it up with Gatorade’s and water, but Jacob and some of their other friends had filled it up with Bud Light and White Claw’s. Jacob turned to friends, “Anyone need a beer?” he asked.

           “Nah, but can you get me a water?” Ryan asked.

           “You’re such a pussy, dude.” Jacob responded, but he tossed a water to his friend nonetheless.”

           “Bro, I cannot drink right now. I would get way too crossfaded.” Ryan responded as he caught the water bottle. “I also got really bad cotton mouth. Low key, I’ve been dying of thirst but I didn’t want to say anything.”

           “Ryan, why didn’t you say something? I would have gotten up!” Leslie said.

           “Idk, man. Thought you guys would be weirded out, or something.” Ryan responded.

           “Dude, did you really just say ‘IDK’ instead of ‘I don’t know.’ How high are?” Lucas said.

           Ryan burst out laughing and nearly choked as he said, “Pretty fuckin high, dude.”

           Everybody laughed. Something about the way Ryan laughed was contagious. His mom liked to boast to her friends that he had an “infectious smile” and she was right. He was a kid who got along with everyone, and was quick to welcome anybody to join in whatever he was doing. In fact, he had annoyed his friends when he invited Gabe, a quiet kid who never really talked to anyone, to his house after prom. Gabe had come, and sat quietly by the fire pretending to drink a beer. He didn’t talk to anyone until Ryan had asked everyone to go around the fire and share their favorite memory from high school (Ryan was a camp counselor, and had a habit of forcing everyone to do things around the fire.) One by one, the group shared their memories, things like winning the Lacrosse champion ship junior year, or pep rally senior year were common answers. When it was Gabe’s turn he was hesitant, at first saying “I pass.”

           But Ryan nicely implored him to speak, saying “Come on man, you gotta have a favorite memory. When you look back at high school, what’s the one thing you’ll remember.”

           Gabe looked around at everybody, blushing. He wasn’t used to having so many people listening to him. He looked at Ryan and softly said, “I’ll remember tonight. I think it’s the best night of my life.”

           The group was silent, unsure how to react to this confession that this stupid after prom party was so meaningful to this kid that they barely knew. In the hands of a different person, that may have turned into an awkward moment. Ryan handled it like a pro, giving a high five to Gabe and saying “Me too, man, me too” and raising his drink to give a toast to the night.

           All of this is to say, it is easy to understand why Leslie was in love with him, and as she watched at Ryan laugh at himself for being too high, she realized that she really was in love with him. He may not really love her, they were only in high school after all, as her mom was quick to point out whenever she mentioned any future with him, but she was deeply in love with him. In fact, in her mind it was perfectly reasonable to want to spend the rest of her life with him. This was dawning on her, and as the laughter died she was staring and Ryan intently, with a slight smile on her face. Ryan noticed the look and asked “What? Is there something on my face?”

           Leslie giggled, “Nope! I’m just thinking how much I’m going to miss this.”

           “Miss what?” Cindy asked.

           “Just…this.” Leslie gestured around the fire, “Hanging out with friends without a care in the world. Just enjoying each other’s company. After this summer, who knows what’s going to happen? We’re all going to different colleges, different paths in life. It’s kind of sad.”

           “Alright, shut up with the sad talk!” Jacob said as he stood out of his seat. “We can deal with all of that nonsense at the end of the summer. Tonight? We rage!”

           Leslie and Cindy rolled their eyes as Lucas and Ryan laughed at their drunk friend. “Yeah buddy, this is a rager all right.” Lucas said with a smile.

           “Raging is about mindset, not about the number of people.” Jacob responded as he grabbed another beer from the cooler.

           “Whatever you say, bro.” Ryan said.

           The group grew silent. Cindy yawned and rested her head on Lucas’ shoulder. It was almost one, and they were supposed to be at the school by 7:30 the next morning for one last walk through before graduation. She was about to suggest bed, when Jacob once again broke the silence, “Let’s play a game!”

           Leslie sighed, “What game?”

           “I don’t know, something fun!” Jabob responded.

           “How about truth or dare?” Ryan asked, “Jakey, I dare you to walk to the beach.”

           “No, that’s lame, I don’t want to do that.”

           “Ohhh, what are you scared?” Leslie teased.

           “Big bad Jake is too scared to walk to the beach?” Lucas added in mock surprise.

           The beach was only about a half mile away from Ryan’s house, in fact a lot of the people who had left the fire early had probably gone there. It was a known secret spot for couples to venture to for some alone time. There was nothing sinister or scary about this walk, it was one they had all made plenty of times. That being said, the two couples saw this as a chance to get rid of Jacob for a little and just enjoy the quietness of the fire.

           “Jake, my man. If you’re too scared to walk to the beach in the dark just say so!” Ryan said, knowing the exact buttons to push in order to get Jacob to go. “I can always think of an easier dare. If you’re too chicken to walk to the beach, that is.”

           Jacob stood up and chugged his beer. He stomped over to the cooler grabbed two more, the last two, and turned and stared at his friends. “Fine. I’ll walk to the fuckin beach. You happy?”

           He turned and walked away. Lucas called after him “Make sure you bring back some sand, so we know you went all the way!”

           Without turning around Jacob held up his middle finger. The couples laughed and then settled in comfortably. Leslie, still sitting on Ryan’s lap, draped both her arms around him, and rested her neck on his shoulder. Cindy got up and sat on the ground in front of Lucas. She laid her head back on his lap and he began to play with her hair. Within in 15 minutes, all four of them were asleep.

           Ryan woke up to a bang. He slowly opened his eyes and saw that Jacob was back and was tossing wood on to the fire. He wiped at his eyes, causing Leslie to mumble something he couldn’t make out. “Jake, dude. What time is it?”

           Jacob looked at him and didn’t respond. Ryan asked again, and received no answer besides another log being put on the fire. He struggled to reach his phone without bothering Leslie, and saw that it was 2:17. About an hour had passed since Jacob had left for the beach. “Jake, I don’t think we need more logs. It’s getting late.”

           Lucas had been awakened by the second log toss, and now had realized what woke him up “Jacob, shut up, man”

           Jacob once again looked at him with no response. “What time is it?” Lucas asked Ryan.

           “Like 2:15.” Ryan responded, closing his eyes again.

           “Oh shit!” Cindy said, bolting up from where she now lay on the ground, “My dad’s gunna kill me! I gotta get home.”

           She stood up and walked over to Leslie, gave her a shake and said “Leslie, we gotta go!”

           Leslie tried to shrug her off and nestle deeper into Ryan’s shoulder, but he began to stand up, “Cindy’s right, Les. You gotta get home. Your dad is probably pissed.”

           Leslie untangled herself from Ryan and they both stood up. Lucas sighed and got up as well, “I’ll give you guys a ride.” He said. They began walking towards the car, leaving Jacob behind, until he reached out and grabbed Ryan’s shoulder. Ryan turned and asked “What?”

           Before he could get an answer they heard a yell coming from the driveway, “Guys! Guys! Are you still down here?”

           A person was sprinting around the corner towards the fire place. They couldn’t make out who it was until he was standing right in front of them. Everyone froze. Ryan looked at Jacob and then back at the new arrival. “What the fuck?”

           The new arrival was staring at Jacob. He looked as though he was looking at a ghost. He seemed petrified with fear. As if he was seeing something unbelievable. And maybe he was. Because he was staring at himself.

           Leslie screamed. Lucas stood with a dumbfounded look on his face, Ryan once again asked “What the fuck?”, and Cindy stood clinging to Lucas’s body. The Jacob that had a hold on Ryan’s shoulder smiled. He spoke. “Surprise.”