“I’m serious! His name was Tom and we shared a pineapple. It was dope.”
“That wasn’t a ghost. You just ate pineapple in the woods with some stranger.”
“Classic, Zadie,” Joel muttered under his breath.
“What was that?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Oh, it wasn’t you? I guess it must have been Tom, the pineapple ghost.”
Joel let out an acerbic laugh. “Zadie, I know you think the world revolves around that big brain of yours, but it revolves around the sun. I learnedthatin science class.”
“Well, you must not’ve paid attention or you’d have known what poison ivy looks like.”
“Oh, we’re bringing this up again?”
“I had to apply that cream three times a day.”
“It was on myback.I couldn’t reach it.”
“Yes, you could! I saw you reaching back there constantly to scratch it.”
“You were my girlfriend. That’s what girlfriends do.”
“No, that’s what nurses do.”
Finn let out a sharp whistle through her teeth. “Whoa! Cool it, you two. You guys broke up already, remember?”
Zadie and Joel averted their eyes. They didn’t need reminding.
“Mom’s counting on us. We can’t be fighting with each other. Now say you’re sorry.”
“‘Mmm,sorry,” Joel mumbled.
Zadie gave her sister a begrudging look, then said halfheartedly, “Sorry.”
Finn smiled and handed each of them a marshmallow. “See? Isn’t it nice when we all get along?”
If there were any bears or cougars or ghosts in the woods that night, they steered clear of the Wilders’ camp. The women retired to their tent, and Joel retreated to the station wagon, where they had made him a makeshift bed out of Zadie’s watermelon pool lounger and an old blanket. From their sleeping bags, Zadie and Finn watched him crawl inside the back hatch and turn in circles, trying to find a comfortable sleeping position.
“It’s like a dog making its bed,” Finn observed as Joel pawed at the rumpled blanket.
“Oh my god.” Zadie snorted. “You’re totally right.” As if on cue, Joel flopped belly-first onto the pool lounger, nuzzled his nose under his arm, and let out a low grunt. Once he had settled, Zadie continued, “How are we supposed to do this with him here?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your echoes. What if Joel sees you… you know?” Zadie gave Finn a dead-eyed stare.
Finn waved her sister off. “Pssht.I’m not worried.”
“You know him. He doesn’t exactly keep a low profile.”
“It’ll be fine. Just tell him I’m meditating.”
“He’ll never buy that.”
A loud squeak came from the station wagon. By some miracle of psychics or possibly an act of stupidity (likely the latter), the watermelon had flipped itself on top of Joel. Finn turned back to Zadie, one eyebrow arched.