“Ours too. We were just thinking about going and checking the grounds out, maybe finding some food. Want to come with?”
“I’d love to!” she positively beamed, and with that, they set out.
The event was certainly a spectacle to behold. As they walked through the expansive campgrounds, enjoying the picturesque Northwest spring day, they noticed a flurry of activity. Luke pointed out the few things he knew about—the impromptu talent stage, where events both scheduled and unscheduled unfolded, currently occupied by a guy juggling several insane items, including a bowling ball and a knife. Spontaneously, a group of men passed them tumbling along via cartwheels. Luke ran into a bouncer he worked with at the restaurant and nightclub he managed downtown, who gave him a hug and then a slightly jealous look at both Kiana and Melanie. He didn’t bother to correct his misconceptions, enjoying the look of envy. After a bit, they came to the food tents, and settled on a sort of cornish pastry stuffed with chicken, potatoes, and veggies, and they ate until full. They walked around a bit, coming back toward the stage, stopping to take in some actors. Kiana and Luke were enjoying the Shakespeare, but Melanie was bored, so she broke off and promised to find them again later.
After about an hour, they went back toward the camp, and Luke began bopping around with their friend John, working on preparing dinner. Kiana and John’s girlfriend Bev went to the small country store about 15 minutes away in order to retrieve ice and a few more drinks, and as they returned, John and Luke were finishing up seasoning the steaks. They all cracked open a beer, and Luke went to work building up a fire, as the sun was starting to get a bit lower in the sky, with sundown maybe an hour away. As it began to take, John fired up his camping grill, and threw the potatoes wrapped in foil on first, then the steaks. As darkness began to fall, Melanie returned, a bit tipsy. “I went to the tablero tent,” she exclaimed.
“What’s that?” Luke asked.
“It’s a drinking game. There are tournaments tonight and tomorrow night,” she explained.
“Be careful with that game,” a young guy named Joe offered. “It sneaks up on you because they use beer, but it’ll get you fucked up.”
Sensing their friend may be a bit too intoxicated, Kiana and Luke offered Melanie to stay for dinner—there were easily a dozen in their camp already eating around the fire, and they had tons of food, so one more was no big deal. She readily accepted, and quickly chowed down—Luke had done an amazing teriyaki marinade on the steaks, and they were unbelievably tender and delicious. Doubtless aided by the booze, she was a bit flirty and friendly with Kiana, and especially with Luke, offering up lots of silly jokes about the great quality of his meat and how much she loved it in her mouth, etc. Both of them couldn’t help but smile.
After dinner, Joe broke out his guitar, and a few people sung along here and there as they enjoyed the music and the fire. Someone broke out a bottle of nice bourbon, and it began to get passed around, with the admonition that it was quite strong and needed to be sipped with care. Luke and Kiana both tried to moderate, but Melanie, despite their urging, dismissed their reasoning. After a few passes, she began to look a bit woozy. “Are you okay, honey?” Kiana asked.
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