It starts off slowly, almost like she has a weird case of the hiccups, or something stuck in her throat she’s trying to clear. One singular laugh, followed by another. Faster and faster, until she’s cackling like she’s completely lost it. This girl. She’s bent down, her hands on her knees, like someone winded from running a race. Her shoulders shake as she continues to laugh. Tears are running down her cheeks, but I don’t think she’s crying. Something catches in her throat, and she snorts mid-laugh. And I can’t help it, I laugh too. And when I laugh, she laughs harder. And then I lose it. I don’t even know what we’re laughing about. I’m laughing at her, because she looks completely ridiculous right now, losing her shit by the boathouse.

When Olivia finally pulls out of her breakdown, two seconds haven’t passed before she says, “We shall never speak of this.” She holds her hand up dramatically, and I’m not sure if she’s joking or serious. Either way, it’s hard to argue with, as a guy who doesn’t currently want to talk about anything. I just nod.

Olivia starts to pull a canoe down from the rack, and I help her, easing the other end down to the ground. I get the next three canoes down from the rack and tell her to get the kayaks and cooler floats that go with it. We don’t actually call them cooler floats, because drinking on the river is technically illegal. The paperwork says they’re “accessory floats,” but we all know what they use them for.

Once our equipment is staged, I walk Olivia through sending the first family of the day out on a trip. We pull each boat down to the docks, pack each with red flotation cushions, and pass out life jackets and height-appropriate oars to the parents and four children. Before they leave, we remind them to look for the giant red sign along the river that says STOP HERE. She pays attention to everything I do, and does it identically, always asking if she did it right, and letting out an excited little squeak with every affirmative nod. Now that I’ve had a front-row seat to her laugh-fest, and she seems to be happy to be working with me, it’s really hard to keep up my plan of not talking to her. Because she doesn’t seem anything like Zander. And maybe if we’re friends, she’ll just keep him away. Maybe that’s my best bet anyway; to make her an ally.