“When we signed up for this camp, I never thought we’d be stringing beads,” Scottie says as her feet dangle over the dock, the lake right below us.
“Neither did I,” I answer. “Nor did I think I’d enjoy it.”
“Same,” she says as she holds up her bracelet. “What do you think?”
I take in her pink, purple, and white alternating beads and her name in the middle of it all. “Love it,” I say. “You need to add more beads though.”
“My wrist isn’t that big,” she says.
“Who says that’s for your wrist?”
She stares down at the name and then back up at me. “It has my name on it.”
“Yeah, and are you forgetting who is supposed to be claiming you?” I point to my chest. “That would be me.”
“Are you telling me you’re going to wear this friendship bracelet?”
“Isn’t that why you’re making it? For me?”
“Uh, I was making it for me.”
“Well.” I shake my head. “Don’t I feel like a fool.” I hold up my bracelet, showing her the black beads and the letters in the middle that spell out “Wilder’s Girl.”
“Wait, did you make that for me?”
“Yeah, Pips. That’s the whole point of this activity. To make something for each other.”
“Where the hell did you get that idea?”
I reach to the side and lift up the activity paper that Ellison gave us. “The directions.”
She takes the paper from me and looks over it for a few seconds and then says, “Huh, it does say that.”
“Yeah, it does. Then again, you’ve been in a fog since we got here, not saying much.”
She starts stacking on more pink, purple, and white beads and says, “Yeah, I know. Sorry about that.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“I don’t know,” she sighs.
“Maybe you should. Because isn’t that what we’re here for? For you to shed the burden of your ex that you’ve been carrying around?”
She slowly nods. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“Let me ask you this,” I say, helping her out with the conversation. “Did your ex not give you the attention you deserved? It seems to be a recurring theme with everything we’ve talked about in these sessions.”
She sighs. “Because toward the end, he just stopped caring. Didn’t say hi when I got home from work. Didn’t care to kiss me good night. Didn’t even think it was important to have dinner with me at times. He just…just didn’t consider me important enough to grant me his time.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. “Seems like his loss though, because I’ve enjoyed spending time with you immensely.”
“You don’t have to say that to make me feel better,” she says.
I tie off her bracelet and then take her hand in mine. I slide it over her wrist and say, “There’s one thing I can guarantee you—I won’t say shit just to make you feel better. I say what I mean.” I look her in the eyes. “I enjoy spending time with you, Scottie. You’re fucking cool.”
Her cheeks blush as she stares down at her bracelet.
“Thank you.”
