“What kind of girl do you want to date?” Danny asked. “Or marry, I guess. When you grow up.”

“That’s a dumb question,” Noa mumbled from the cabin floor.

It was about thirty-five degrees Celsius and they’d come back from the beach hot and, in the case of Peter and Danny, they were damp from swimming. The others had gone down to the store for ice cream but Rion and the other three had decided to stay and laze around with glasses of ice water from the fridge.

“Why’s it dumb?” Danny asked.

“Because it is,” Noa said.

Rion, who was lying next to him on the floor, giggled at the response.

“It’s an easy answer for me,” Peter said, fanning himself with a National Geographic. “I don’t care if she’s pretty or talented or anything like that. I want a girl who plays video games.”

Rion and Noa both burst out laughing.

“No, but like, that’s a perfect answer!” Danny said, throwing his hands up in the air. “I’m with you! I’d like to have a girlfriend or a wife or whatever who likes video games. The kind of girl who likes to do fun stuff! Then it’s like you’d get to spend the rest of your life with your best friend!”

That gave Rion pause. Spending the rest of your life with your best friend? Yeah, he liked the sound of that. But…

“I already have a best friend,” Noa said.

Danny moved to grin at him. “But it could be cool to have a girl best friend. Right? I’m best friends with Sarina.”

Noa made a face. “Don’t tell me you want to date her…”

“No way!” Danny said, flopping over onto his side, giggling. “Never! She’s like one of my brothers! It would be weird to date anyone, but Sarina would be the weirdest. I’m just saying you should go out with a girl you really, really like. Right? Doesn’t that make sense?”

“Makes sense to me,” Peter said.

“I don’t like any girls,” Rion said.

“Me neither,” Noa added.

“That’s because you’re kids and all the girls you know are kids,” Peter said, sticking his nose in the air like he knew more than they did. “It’s different when you’re older. Girls get cooler. And prettier.”

“Nothing will ever make Sarina cooler or prettier,” Noa said.

“You’re so mean,” Danny laughed. “Come on. She’s not that bad. I mean, sure, she gets a little weird sometimes but that’s just, like, a Sarina thing. Mom says she just doesn’t get enough attention.”

“She keeps asking me to draw her stuff,” Noa said. “It’s annoying. She bugs me all the time about everything. She gets worse every day. I don’t like it.”

“She tried to steal one of Noa’s sketchbooks this morning,” Rion added.

“Yeah,” Noa said. “She doesn’t listen to me when I tell her to stop.”

Danny grinned and looked over at Peter, but Peter just shrugged.

“You don’t have to like her,” he said. “It’s not like Sarina is the only girl you know.”

“Yeah. There’s Monique, Sophie, Celeste, and Jolie…” Danny began to list off. “Who’s in your grade? Kimberly? Danielle?”

Noa shrugged indifferently and Rion did the same. It wasn’t that he hated the girls in his class. Some of them were really nice. Monique could even be cool sometimes, when she wasn’t hanging out with Sarina.

But dating or getting married? That was ages away. That was grown-up stuff. And looking at Jesse and Amber… They both seemed really happy, but Rion silently agreed with Noa; all of that hand holding and stuff was gross.

“I don’t think I want to get married,” Rion said.

“Well, you don’t have to,” Danny said. “What about you, Noa?”

“Not to any of the girls I know,” Noa said. “Dating and stuff is gross.”

“It is not,” Danny said, grinning. “It’s like being extra special best friends!”

“But I already have Rion,” Noa said. “He’s my extra special best friend. I don’t want another one.”

For some reason, that made Rion feel weird. His face suddenly felt hot, and he quickly realized he was blushing in embarrassment. He rolled onto his stomach and grabbed his water. He took a drink to try and hide his face.

Peter let out a bark of laughter. “That’s not the same at all, Noa.”

“I don’t care,” Noa said. “Rion’s my best friend. I don’t want to replace him with some girl.”

“You wouldn’t be replacing him,” Peter said. “It’s a different kind of relationship. You can date a girl and still have a best friend.”

“That’s right!” Danny agreed. “Like, I could still be best friends with Sarina and have a girlfriend. Just look at Amber and Celeste – they’re still best friends even though Amber’s dating Jesse. It’s not the same thing.”

“Well, I agree with Rion. I don’t want to get married. Or date,” Noa said conclusively.

“Okay. Fine then,” Danny said, grinning at them. “The two of you can be single forever.”

“Single? What?”

Amber and Jesse had just come back to the cabin, walking in the open front door. They had plastic bags full of snacks in hand.

Rion and Noa both sat up, the other two doing the same.

“We were just talking about dating and stuff,” Danny said.

“Aren’t you guys a bit young for that?” Amber said, heading to the kitchen, setting the snacks down on the counter.

“I’m not,” Peter said, puffing up. “Especially if you’re not that young for it. You’re not that much older than me.”

Amber rolled his eyes at him. “Sure thing, Peter.”

“I’m not a little kid,” Peter said quickly. “I could date a girl. If I really wanted to.”

“There’s no rush,” Jesse said. “You should only go out with someone you really like.”

“That’s right,” Amber said, taking drinks out of one of the bags and putting them in the fridge. “And that special someone has to like you back.”

She looked pointedly at Peter when she said it. He glared right back, looking like he was considering tossing a cushion at her.

“Peter’s got the right idea. He said he wants to date a girl who plays video games,” Danny spoke up. “And Noa and Rion said they don’t want to be with anyone at all.”

Rion ducked down again. He didn’t want to talk about it. For some reason, he was feeling really embarrassed and he felt funny about the whole thing. Why? It was stupid.

“Oh, well, that’s fine,” Amber said. “It’s way too early to decide that kind of stuff anyway.”

“Give it a few more years,” Jesse added with a smile.

“It’s gross,” Noa said again.

“There’s nothing gross about dating,” Danny insisted. “Come on, Noa…”

“What did you get at the store?” Rion asked, wanting to change the topic.

“Some chips and drinks,” Jesse said.

“The others should be back right away,” Amber added, “they were just finishing their ice cream. The Labelles are probably going to head home, though.”

“Aw, too bad! We’re gonna have to say goodbye to Celeste,” Danny said.

“Claude has heat stroke, I think,” Jesse said.

“Yeah,” Amber said. “He was out in the sun a lot today. He isn’t feeling well.”

“What about my family?” Danny asked. “We’re not calling it early, right?”

“No, but Angelo disappeared somewhere,” Jesse said. “He went off for a walk. I think Gabe was going to go and take a look for him.”

“Urgh… Again?” Danny groaned, flopping backwards onto the couch. “He always disappears at the lake! So annoying!”

Rion noticed how Amber smiled and shared a glance with Jesse, who smiled back. What was that about?

“I’m sure he’ll turn up,” Jesse said. “He always does.”

“I think he said something about going fishing,” Amber said. She made a face, like she was trying to think about it really hard, but she couldn’t stop herself from grinning. “I think that’s what he said back when he gave me a ride out here to pick up Noa’s sketchbook.”

Rion could feel Noa shift next to him. He turned and their eyes met. Noa quickly looked down.

Noa had been really upset and worried about leaving the sketchbook behind. He hadn’t wanted anyone to see. He’d only ever shown Rion and maybe his psychiatrist what he drew in there. Rion remembered how Noa panicked when they got back and he realized he didn’t have the sketchbook with him. Amber had offered to go and get it for him.

When Rion turned back, Amber was looking his way. He quickly glanced down.

“Angelo does not fish,” Danny said. “Who likes fishing? It’s so boring!”

“The point is, he’ll be back,” Jesse said. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

That was when the others arrived. Sarina came bounding in first, followed by Monique.

“Noa!” she cried out. “Monique and I got candy! Want some?”

“No,” Noa said as he got to his feet. “Rion, want to go play Mario?  Let’s beat that water level you’ve been stuck on.”

“Yeah, okay,” Rion said, getting up.

“Oh, come on! No fair!” Sarina complained as the adults came in behind them. It was a crowd. “You guys can play Game Boy later!”

“We want to play now,” Noa said. He took Rion by the hand and gave him a tug. They weaved around the couch. “Talk to you later, Sarina.”

Sarina let out another protest but Noa darted into the bedroom, pulling Rion along. He closed the door behind him and let out a breath.

“Too many people?” Rion asked.

“Yeah,” Noa said.

They were still holding hands. Rion suddenly felt awkward about it and pulled away. Even though he still wanted to hold hands.

Why was it making him feel weird? There was nothing wrong with it…

“They’re our friends,” Rion said. “They’re not scary or anything.”

“I just don’t like it,” Noa said. “I don’t know what to say to anyone. I think of something and then someone else says it before I can, and I just get more and more quiet… They don’t need us anyway.”

“I guess,” Rion said.

He went and grabbed his Game Boy. He sat on the bed and Noa plopped down next to him. He flicked the on switch, tilting the screen towards the window so that he could catch some sunlight and see things better. He would use his Worm Light, but it drained the batteries faster…

“We’re going to be best friends forever, right?”

“What?” Rion said, turning to Noa.

“We’re going to be best friends forever,” Noa repeated, “right?”

“Yeah. Of course,” Rion said. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

“I don’t know,” Noa said. “If you got a girlfriend or got married like Danny said…and a girl was your best friend…”

“What?” Rion said again, but this time it was with a laugh. “That’s for sure not going to happen. Never. And even if it did, you’d still be my best friend. No matter what.”

Noa’s gaze was searching. “Really? You promise?”

“Pinky promise?” Rion asked, holding up a hand.

Noa hooked their fingers together. They shook.

“Cross my heart and hope to die,” Rion said.

“Stick a needle in my eye,” Noa added.

Rion grinned and Noa smiled back.

“There. Don’t worry about it,” Rion said. “We’re best friends.”

“Forever,” Noa added.

“Yeah. Forever and ever,” Rion said. “Now, help me beat this level. And stop worrying about stupid things like girls.”