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Calliope does not like bugs. She doesn’t mind nature, rather enjoys the peace of outdoors. But she just prefers it if wildlife can keep its distance to her.
So she’s not sure what made her even suggest camping in the first place. They should’ve went somewhere hot, maybe even out of America.
But instead, she had found a small woods only a three hour drive from Savannah. It seemed quiet and peaceful enough to take a weekend break.
School had finished for autumn break, so the couple had decided on going away for a few nights, to have some time together outside the Burns and Fairmont houses.
”Have you got the tent?” Ben stood at their door, arms crossed and peering at the two over his sunglasses. Calliope gestured to the red bundle in her arms. “Obviously”
Juliette nudged her, “play nice” she stage whispered. Ben nodded, piece of paper at hand. “Tick. Next, clothes?” Juliette dutifully held up her small backpack “Tick!” She saluted, and Calliope snorted at her playfulness.
“And most importantly....” Ben pauses for dramatic effect, and Juliette drums a beat on her lap. “Bug spray?” He questions and the girls shoot each other a look. “Really ladies, you are going camping and bring no bug spray?”
Calliope shrugs, “I’m sure we’ll be fine” and Juliette nods in agreement, swinging the backpack over her shoulder. “Thank you for letting us borrow your jeep” she hugs her best friend, taking Ben’s keys.
“Have the best time! Do exactly everything I would do Jules” Ben laughs, releasing Juliette before enveloping Calliope into a quick hug. “And you! Make sure you take care of my best friend!”
”Hey!” Juliette exclaims. “I am perfectly capable of taking care of... ouch” Calliope watches her girlfriend trip over the pile of tents she had deposited onto the rug.
Ben raised an eyebrow, “Point proven” he murmurs as Calliope helps her up. “That was an accident” Juliette replies, dusting herself down.
After gathering up the rest of the belongings, they finally walk to the door. ”You’re a walking disaster Letty” Ben proclaims, hugging his best friend tightly again.
He turns, directing his attention to Calliope. “Don’t let her drive either. Last thing you two need is an accident before you even get there” Juliette huffs in protest again, and Calliope nods her assent, taking the keys
”Thanks for letting us borrow the car” Juliette tells her friend, climbing into the passenger seat. “You’re very welcome. Please return it in the wonderful state it is now in” Ben replied, stepping away from the car and waving at the pair.
Calliope starts the car, handing her phone to Juliette to choose a song. “You know, I don’t think my driving is that bad” Juliette comments, picking out her “Roadtrip” playlist. “Sure, tell yourself that babe” Calliope replies, driving down the road.
”I only hit your bins once” Juliette adds, humming along to the beat of the song. Calliope remembers that day, the disbelief on her parents face as their bin lay crushed in the road, rubbish splayed across the concrete.
She was pretty sure that her dad used that as an excuse to be even more mad at Juliette. Apollo saw the funny side though, and thought Jules’ driving was hilarious.
So she usually took the reigns now when it came to driving, especially somewhere they had both never been before. “One time too many Jules” Calliope responds.
The car journey passes like a flash, Juliette bringing a plethora of snacks and various drinks for the ride. Although she didn’t need to eat food, she still enjoyed snacking and considered it, “a staple of road trips Cal”
Calliope wasn’t complaining, stuffing herself full with Cheetos as she finally pulled into the clearing of the woods. “Finally we have arrived!” Juliette clapped her hands full of twizzlers together.
It was a lot more quieter and secluded than Calliope had expected. The area was nice, big and spacious with a small area off the road to park your car before entering the footpath to the woods.
There was no other cars parked, so far. That was an exciting prospect, having the woods to themselves for the weekend, and Calliope shivered involuntarily at the thought.
“Where shall we set up camp?” Juliette asks, clambering out of the car and looking over at the woods, hands on her hips.
She looked utterly ridiculous, in the best way, Calliope thought. Gone were the long shirts and layered jumpers, instead she wore a pair of dungarees, with a light purple t shirt underneath, and Calliope was fairly certain that it was her t shirt too.
The look was finished with some mismatched accessories. An oversized pair of orange sunglasses, another thing Calliope thought must be stolen from someone else’s (presumably Ben’s) wardrobe.
And quite possibly the most ugly garment Calliope had ever seen, a faded dessert brown bucket hat. It did not match the outfit whatsoever, but it was very much camping attire (maybe more suited for a forty year old man).
Juliette somehow pulled the look off, managing to look cute instead of totally absurd.
Calliope took a moment to observe the woods. A few patches of untouched land separated the trees and logs, and a few paces into their walk, sat a nice open area.
The ground was patchy but fairly even, and there was enough distance from the trees to ward off any foxes or animals in close proximity. She places the tent down, “Yoy think this works?”
Juliette nods enthusiastically, “Great, wonderful. The area looks...” Crash. “Whoops”.
Calliope shakes her head good nature fly, picking up the backpack from the ground. “Two left feet on me today apparently” Jules’ sends her a grin, which she returns.
They set the bags and supplies on the ground, and Calliope decides on setting up the tent first.
It’s a small contraption, the only thing left in the store since most people had the common sense to order ahead for a camping trip instead of hitting the nearest open shop at 3AM the night before.
Perhaps they should have planned the trip more, but Juliette was insistent that the tent was fine when she had brought it to Calliope’s the previous night.
It wasn’t big, and Cal didn’t even think it would fit the pair of them in. There was also only one colour left, and they were stuck with bright blue which Juliette defended as being her favourite colour.
”At least we don’t have to” Juliette mimed hitting a hammer, as she pulled the tent from its bag. “Yeah, it’s a pop up so that’s handy” She read the instructions, proclaiming that they were a lot more difficult than expected.
“Unfold the tent. Line up the poles, fold them together.” Juliette listed, “Why is this so complicated?” She frowned and read the instructions again. Then lined up the poles, but they didn’t seem to reach.
”I think the pole is upside down babe” Calliope looked from the photo of the tent on the label, to the crooked flat blue sheet which Juliette was insistently tugging on.
Juliette unhooked the pole, twisted it around. “Calliope! You genius!” The poles finally hook together and Juliette leaps at her girlfriend, pulling her in for a celebratory kiss.
It takes a few attempts but the pair manage to click the tent into position, and stand back to observe it finally completed. The result is, anticlimactic to say the least.
”Uh. It looked bigger on the photo” Juliette defends, looking down at the small pop up tent. “I’m sure we’ll both fit” she adds, ever the optimist.
However Calliope is the realist. “I don’t think this tent is made for people above five four Jules” Juliette clutches her chest dramatically. “Ouch. Wounded”
Cal chuckles, playfully swatting her, then bringing themselves closer together for a kiss. “This is nice” she tells Juliette against her lips.
And it was. The quietness was something they rarely found, only seeking solace in each other’s bedrooms late at night.
They finally pull apart as Juliette begins to pant heavily, and as much as Calliope loves her girlfriend, she does not want to start off their trip by sleeping together in the woods.
(And yes, she is totally ignoring what happened the last time they both got heated in the woods)
Instead they sit down, crossed legged in the clearing around the tent. Calliope decides to make a fire, which would help if she had brought a lighter or something.
”I’ve got just the trick” And Juliette produces a pack of matches from the large chest pocket of her dungarees. She laughs at the incredulous look on Calliope’s face. “I promised Ben I’d be prepared. He thinks I’d be a danger to myself in the woods without any preparation”
Cal doesn’t dignify herself with a response. She can’t bring herself to tell her adorably ridiculous, dork of a girlfriend that maybe Ben is right.
”Very useful thank you” Cal squeezes her shoulders, pressing a kiss to her cheek as she gathers a small pile of logs and branches together.
Juliette rustles around in one of the giant backpacks she had dragged along. Calliope focuses on the fire, eventually catching a small spark which spreads to a burning flame.
”Got them!” A large packet of jumbo marshmallows is thrust in her face, and she can just see her girlfriend’s beaming face behind them if she squints. “Can’t have a campfire without marshmallows!”
Calliope is a big fan of sweet things, but marshmallows, less so. Especially these ginormous off brand atrocities. But tradition is tradition, so she skewers three onto a long, windy branch.
She hands the stick to Juliette, who suddenly has developed an affinity for industrial marshmallows, judging by the two poking out of her mouth as she mumbles a garbled thank you.
Calliope makes herself a smaller skewer, then hovers the stick over the flames. The sounds of the marshmallow blistering and crackling is loud and surprisingly soothing.
“Ben used to have marshmallows at his place all of the time” Juliette explains as she crunches an entire marshmallow from the stick. “He is a big fan”
Calliope cannot relate. “Why?” She asks, taking a much smaller bite from her own stick. Juliette shrugs and wipes at her mouth messily. “He thinks they’re fun”
She pauses, deep in thought and Calliope let’s her finish. “He used to always have them all the time as kids, and even though I never had to eat, I would always eat them too and pretend I was full so it didn’t look as bad when I never finished my dinner” Juliette had a far away look in her eye, and Calliope reached for her hand, squeezing it.
“I think he’s a better friend than I ever was. I don’t think he lied to me about anything” Calliope sits forward. “Hey, hey. You’re a great friend. You know how much Ben loves you”
Juliette wipes at her eyes. “I lied to him for years Cal. We’ve been best friends since children and I’ve just made excuse after excuse” Calliope stroked her hand.
”But it’s all in the open now, he understands Jules. He was the one who got you all prepared for this trip” she gestures around to the collection of bags on the floor. Juliette nods with a small smile.
”There’s nothing you can do about it now, we can’t turn back time. But we just have to move forward, and you two are as close as ever, right?” Juliette wipes her eyes again with the back of her hand and straightens out. “You’re right”
She laughs. “Sorry to bring the mood down”. Calliope pulls her girlfriend into her arms, sticks discarded on the floor. “Don’t be sorry for how you feel. It’s okay” they hug for a moment, the only sound being the crackling roar of the fire.
They spend the rest of the evening talking and relaxing around the fire. Calliope stuffs herself full of the snacks, and Juliette eats what must be triple her body weight in marshmallows.
The sun sets and the woods darken, when Juliette suggests they sleep. Or at least attempt to. As suspected, the tent is even smaller on the inside than it looked.
Juliette produces a sleeping bag from one of her multiple bags, probably organised by Ben. Calliope is unsure the sleeping bag itself will even fit in the tent, but it just manages to fit.
”How will this work logistically” Juliette muses, cramped in the small tent as she hovers over the sleeping bag. “We can both fit if we squeeze together?” Calliope suggests, laying down flat on the sleeping bag and extending her arms out.
Juliette lays down too, managing to press herself tight against Calliope’s body. They barely fit, their limbs intertwined.
It takes a moment to get comfy, but Juliette lays her head on Cal’s chest, and it feels nice, she thinks as her arms come to circle the smaller girl’s waist.
The tent zipper breaks as Juliette attempts to lean and close the door. But Cal reasons with herself that they can hold their own against any potential danger in the woods.
Finally content, she closes her eyes and falls into a peaceful sleep.
But things aren’t as relaxing when she wakes up. Calliope prides herself as a light sleeper. Years of training means she learnt to wake at the smallest sound.
Although the night passes by silently, a loud crash stirs her immediately. Her first instinct is to protect, and she blindly reaches for Juliette without even opening her eyes.
But her girlfriend is gone, and the entire door of the tent has torn off completely. Calliope swears under her breath and crawls out of the tent.
She finally spots Juliette, who is laying in a heap where the bags sat.
”What’s happened” she exclaimed, rushing over to check her girlfriend. Juliette frantically gestures to her arm, where a gigantic spider sits.
Calliope is relieved there’s no actual danger, and is also slightly amused at the antics. Juliette was very much a nature and animal person, the bee incident was the example of that.
But her big no, was spiders. For some reason; she despised them and tried to stay as far away as possible.
”Cal, get it off me” Juliette pleaded, eyes wide in shock. In hindsight the whole incident was laughable. One would expect a gigantic tarantula by the fear in her eyes, but the spider was most likely a baby or at least very small.
”Okay okay babe chill” Calliope took a deep breathe. This would be easy. Pluck the spider off, and be the heroic protective girlfriend.
They really should’ve listened to Ben and taken bug spray, and maybe the spider wouldn’t have chose to take up residence on Juliette’s scrawny pale arm.
Juliette took a deep breathe, eyes turned as far away from the spider as possible. “What if it’s bit me? What if it’s poisonous?” She questions, and Calliope rests a hand on her shoulder.
”I don’t think it’s poisonous Jules, it’s tiny” Juliette barks out a peal of nervous laughter, hands coming up to shield her eyes. “I’m tiny and I’m not exactly harmless”
Calliope sighs, cupping her hands together. “Okay, just don’t move” she instructs. “Are you talking to me or the spider?” Juliette asks from behind her hands.
”Both of you!” Cal replies, then moves before this could drag out any longer. “Aha!” She triumphantly closes her hands together, trapping the spider safely.
Before it could move or even think to bite, she walks a few paces away further to the woods and away from their tent. “There we go” she tells the spider, dropping to a crouch.
She releases it onto the ground, and it scurries away without so much as a backwards glance. Calliope douses her hands in the jumbo sized bottle of sanitiser Juliette had brought and returns back to the camp.
“All done” she waves her hands, showing the lack of spider and Juliette shudders in relief. “That could’ve turned fatal quick” she exclaims
Calliope chuckles. “I don’t think you’d have it in you to harm a spider” she retorts and Juliette throws out her arms. “I was talking about me!”
They laugh together, but then Juliette shoots Cal a soft, almost coy smile. “Thank you for saving me” and there’s a tell tale blush creeping around her ears.
Calliope raises an eyebrow, so this is where this was going. She winds an arm around Juliette, pulling her flush against her chest. “You’re very welcome”
Juliette reaches out first, a soft tentative kiss. They smile against each other, and Calliope all but tugs her girlfriend into her lap.
And she decides, bugs and everything, maybe camping isn’t such a bad idea after all.