One More To Join

"Over here," she says, pointing, "By the trees."

I roll my eyes, wondering whether she really thinks she is actually getting away with this. I mean it is obvious. It is very obvious. To me, at least, it was. And I am very bad at reading almost everything in social situations so for anyone even remotely more qualified than me else it has to be clear as midday.

"By the trees," I scoff, "You mean in the trees."

And I don't say any of the rest of it. That the place she selected by total chance is almost artfully hidden away from the rest of the field. That it barely offers any view of the screen. That it is so isolated out away from everyone that we can get a little loud, but not too loud, without drawing any attention.

That it is clear she has plans that involved things getting, as she put it, decidedly not PG. And fast, too.

Calling her out wouldn't have been productive for me. Hell, it would have acted against things. Because one look at Jake and doing some simple math in my head has me realizing that things are definitely unbalanced here, with two girls and only one guy. And given Rachel's clear affinity for escalation, I don't have to work hard to see that the balance here is definitely in favor of the feminine side of things.

Or, I guess, the masculine end of the group. Depending on what you valued.

"Yeah," Rachel says, tugging us forward, "In the trees. By the trees. Whatever, let's go and get settled before the movie starts."

She pulls us forward and we walk to the edge of the line and there I stop and turn, looking out over the crowd.

We had drawn a little bit of attention on our way over here, but by now everyone has stopped looking. That meant we have some small amount of privacy, for which I am grateful because truthfully even just sitting down in this dress is going to be an endeavor if I don't want to flash the whole damn crowd.

Still I figure I could manage. If I slip off my heels and if I use a tree for balance maybe. I could probably get down on the ground without humiliating myself too much.

"Blankets!" Rachel calls out, as she watches me start to move, "I brought blankets."

So that's what the bag she has slung over one shoulder carried. I figured ****, and honestly it is probably hidden in there as well. But blankets will be good and helpful, though maybe not in the numbers that she's brought along.

"How many do you have here?" I ask, incredulous.

She shrugs, "Enough for the ground and on top of us as well."

"On top?" I say, "You know it's still summer, right? I mean it gets a little cold but it's not going to drop to below freezing."

Rachel fixes me with a slow and withering gaze that said that I am just about the dumbest damn person she's ever met and that look says so much that I put two and two together and realize that keeping warm is not the purpose of the blankets on top.

The purpose is acting as a kind of screen to keep prying eyes at bay. To grant some measure of privacy to wandering hands and nimble fingers.

"There," she says, settling in on one end of the blanket and patting the space beside her, "Jake here, and Emily you can sit on the other side of him."

"And what about me?" another voice calls out, asking as he steps up and leans against a nearby tree.

He is back to being cool and collected. He's found the confidence that I'd sapped out of him, that I'd drained from him to make him flee.

Blake is back to his old self, and apparently he is planning on joining us tonight.

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