My Hometown Love

Chapter 25 – It’s The Thought That Counts

Lexie’s P.O.V

“Camping?! What, where, why?!”, I fumbled out as I caught the sleeping bag.

“Come on honey. It will be fun!”, Dad added as he sat on his recliner chair.

“Yeah, sweetie. Jake and Maria will be back from their honeymoon tomorrow, then we can all go have a family camping weekend.”, Mom added as got up to go to the kitchen.

With all the issues, outings, and work stuff, I had almost forgotten that Jake and Maria were coming home tomorrow. They were going to be staying here awhile since the construction work on their house wasn’t completed yet.

I looked around the quiet living room, with Dad watching TV and Mom making tea in the kitchen. I dragged my feet up the stairs dreading the thought of going camping.

Here’s the thing, like I said, I love adventure. But, throughout school, I have been on countless camping trips. Each one was more horrible than the last. Let’s see what happened, shall we?

There was one trip, where I was ditched in the woods alone while we were on a scavenger hunt. A different trip where I tripped on a broken tree trunk and I cut my knee, badly. There was one where we all forgot to bring mosquito nets and we spent the whole sleepless night, swatting mosquitos. Another unfortunate incident was when the boys raided our tents and dumped openly all of our bags into a single pile in the middle of the tent. We spent hours finding out personal belongings and another hour fighting over similar things. The last camping trip I went to actually went pretty well. I almost successfully made it through the entire trip. Then on the second last day, I tripped and fell into a lake, fully clothed, while wearing my jacket. So, I spend that night wearing every single one of my clothing and wrapping myself like a burrito within my sleeping bag, desperately trying to keep warm.

I know I should be dwelling on past experiences to define my future. I know better than that. I have said it to myself in the mirror, countless times. I crash on my bed as I stare at my stars filled ceiling. At that moment, a thought occurred to me, that ignited a spark of excitement and curiosity.

How nice would it be to lie down like this and be able to see the real stars glow in the night sky?

That was it! I knew that I had to grab this opportunity. I mean how bad can it be? I wouldn’t know till I try it, right?

I picked up a writing pad from my drawer. I sat down at my desk and started making a checklist.

*************

Kevin’s P.O.V

I was so glad to be working the morning shift again. As much as I enjoy the peace and quiet of the night shift, I was starting to drain. Mentally and physically.

I pushed the doors open to the JL bakery. The little bell attached to the door chimed, signaling that someone just walked it.

“Kevin, hi! What a nice surprise!”, Mrs. Cooper said cheerfully as she walked in from the kitchen with a tray of fresh croissants.

“How are you, son? How’s your work going?”, Mr. Cooper said as he turned on the coffee machine.

“I’m going well. Work’s as usual. Just got back on the morning shift. So, that’s great.”, I said as I leaned on a table behind me.

“That’s great. So, what can I get for you today?”, Mr. Cooper asked as he rubbed his palms together, in anticipation of my order.

“Just an espresso and 2 of those amazing croissants, to go please. I’ve been craving them all week.”, I said as I eyed the croissants through the display glass.

“Ha-ha. Sure. Grab a seat, I’ll go get them for you.”, Mrs. Cooper said as she busied herself with the coffee machine.

“Oh. Did you know? We’re all going camping this weekend.”, Mr. Cooper said as he bagged my croissants in a little paper bag.

“That sounds exciting! Have fun!”, I replied as I took my coffee cup from Mrs. Cooper.

“Yeah. I just hope Lexie likes it. She didn’t seem too thrilled about the idea.”, she said as she wiped her hands on her apron.

“Oh?”, I replied as I took a sip of my glorious coffee.

“Yeah. That girl does not like camping. I think it must be all that bad experiences from all her schooling days.”, Mrs. Cooper added as she passed me the paper bag.

“Oh! You should come too, Kevin. It’ll be fun!”, Mr. Cooper added as he looked up from the cash register.

“Thank you so much for the offer but I’ll be on-call that weekend. But you guys have fun okay?”, I say as I passed them my p*****t across the counter.

“Oh, bummer. Next time then.”, he said as he passed me back my change.

“Definitely. See you around. Have a great day.”, I say with a smile as I walk out of the store.

I stand outside the bakery, sipping my coffee as I ponder over the conversation I just had.

Doesn’t like camping, huh? We’ll just see about that, Ms. Lexie Cooper.

*************

Lexie’s P.O.V

I put my face in front of the glass as I squint my eyes, desperately trying to get a better look inside. Frustrated, I pull open the glass door, only to be welcomed by a wave of blazing hot air as I stick a toothpick into the cake. I look at the clean toothpick and stand up in triumph.

Yes! Finally, I did it!

I start jumping around in front of the kitchen before realizing that I have to take out the cake. Mom and Dad left a while ago to go pick up the honeymooners from the airport. That’s when I decided to do the unthinkable and prepare a surprise cake for them.

Thank God for the premix boxes that were in the pantry or else I would have been covered in flour and chocolate when they got home. I let the cake cool for a while I whipped up some frosting. I carefully put them in a piping bag, before neatly guiding my hand as I write on the cake.

Welcome Home Lovebirds!

I take a step back and admire my masterpiece with pride. Just as I cleaned up everything, I hear the door opening.

“We’re home!”, I hear my Dad scream.

“Where are you, Lex?!”, I hear Jakey scream.

I quickly swipe a candle from the drawer and place it in the cake. I light it up and steadily walk towards the living room.

“Surprise! Welcome home you two!”, I say as I present the cake to glowing Jake and Maria.

“Oh wow! This is so sweet!”, Maria says as she gives me a side hug, avoiding the cake.

They blow out the candles and soon, we were all digging into my chocolate cake.

“This is amazing! Where’d you buy it from, Lex?”, Jakey said as he cleaned up his plate.

“I didn’t buy it! I made it!”, I say as I whack his shoulder with a pillow.

“You’re kidding. There’s no way you made this.”, Jake continued as he scoffed.

“Well, the premix box helped. But I still did everything else right.”, I said as I hid my face behind the pillow and peeked out at Jake.

“Aha! I knew it. Busted!”, Jake said as he threw another pillow at me.

“Jake! Be nice, this cake is amazing. Lexie did a great job.”, Maria said as she swatted Jake’s shoulder.

I responded by sticking my tongue out at Jake.

“Ok, you two. That’s enough. Let’s talk about the trip. So, we leave Friday morning from here and we’ll be there till Sunday afternoon.”, Dad said as he stood up in the middle of the living room.

“We’ll be taking 3 tents. But since one of our tents is broken, I’m gonna have to find another one.”, he added.

“Oh, Dad! Kevin has a great tent. Maybe you should ask him.”, Jakey said.

“Ok then. I’ll give him a call. That’s all for now.”, Dad said before picking up the phone and walking into the kitchen.

I said my goodnights and retired to my room, in anticipation of this weekend.

**************

Kevin’s P.O.V.

I pulled out my tent from my car and carried it to the front door. I had gotten a call from Mr. Cooper, 3 days ago, asking if they could borrow my tent. So, here I am.

After an hour of explaining how the tent works and how to build it to Mr. Cooper, I stood in the living room, folding up the tent. Lexie’s parents had just left for the bakery and I was hoping Lexie would show up just in time, so I can give her the bag. The bag with things I compiled to help make this camping trip less daunting and more enjoyable.

I smiled to myself as I admired myself for thinking up these cutesy ideas. Trust me, I had no clue how to do all these things before nor did I want to.

I had just put the tent back into its bag when Lexie walked in. Her back was turned towards me and she had no idea I was there.

“Hey you.”, I said.

*************

Lexie’s P.O.V

I had just walked into the house after a visit to Priya’s Mom. I hanged up my keys on the wall and shut the door.

“Hey, you.”

I jumped at the sound of that familiar voice.

“Oh, Kevin. You gave me a scare! What are you doing here?”, I asked as I approached him.

“Sorry about that. Your Dad asked me to bring over my tent and I was just folding it before I left.”, he replied as he pointed to the tent bag on the floor.

“Oh, so you heard about the trip.”, I said as I sighed deeply.

“Yeah. I hope you have fun.”, Kevin replied.

“Me too.”, I said with a small smile.

“Hey, I gotta go. But follow me to my car, will you?”, Kevin said as he leads me to the door.

“Why?”, I say but follow him anyway.

“Just wait.”, Kevin said as he opened his car door and entered in.

He started his engine and rolled down his passenger-side window, in front of me. Sitting in the seat was a large brown paper bag.

“Here, take this. It’s for you.”, he said as he handed me the bag.

“Wait, why?”, I asked as I reluctantly accept the bag.

“Just because.”, Kevin said as he flashed his famous smile.

I stared at him quizzically as I wondered what was in the bag.

“Happy camping Lexie.”, Kevin said as he rolled up the window and drove away before I had the chance to respond.

I walked back into the house and up to my room. I sat on the bed as I peeped into the bag. That’s when I saw it. I can’t believe Kevin freaking Walker did this.

There sitting in the paper bag was his favorite Denim jacket and a box.