Bon Appétit, Idiots

Chloe’s POV

For the Adventure Club’s fall break camping trip, I was in charge of organizing all the food for three days and two nights.

Pine Hollow was deep in the mountains, three hours from the nearest town, with no place nearby to buy supplies.

I contacted Prime Harvest, a supplier my family owned. The menu included wagyu beef, antibiotic-free chicken breast, and organic salad, all at cost. I quoted everyone fifty dollars per person.

I quietly covered the rest myself.

The moment I posted the plan in the group chat, the complaints started pouring in.

“Fifty bucks? Do you think we’re suckers?”

A freshman who had just joined the club posted a flyer.

“My relative owns a food-processing plant. She can provide enough hot dogs and burgers for everyone for just fifteen dollars per person!”

The club president immediately started a poll.

Forty-one to two.

The freshman’s package won by a landslide, and I was accused of trying to make money off everyone.

I didn’t argue. I handed the food arrangements over to her and packed three days’ worth of food for myself.

The day we headed into the mountains, they sat around the campfire devouring meat skewers with grease on their faces, mocking me for putting on rich-girl airs.

Then, in the middle of the night, a scream tore through the valley.

The second I posted my plan in the GroupMe chat, messages started pouring in.

【Noah: Fifty dollars? That’s way too expensive. We’re going camping, not eating at a Michelin-starred restaurant.】

【Emma: Exactly. When we had that cookout by the lake last month, everyone only paid twenty bucks.】

【Liam: Chloe, do you have any idea what most college students can actually afford?】

I stared at the complaints filling my screen and sighed.

What I hadn’t told them was that fifty dollars wouldn’t even cover what the steak cost me. I was paying the rest out of my own pocket.

I simply didn’t want to spend three days in the middle of nowhere eating disgusting patties made from reconstituted meat scraps.

I started typing.

【Chloe: There’s nowhere to restock once we reach Pine Hollow. We need decent protein if we’re going to keep our energy up out there. This is already the best price I could get.】

Before I could send it, a long message appeared in the chat.

It was from Mia.

She was a freshman who had joined the club just a week ago. Blonde and blue-eyed, she was always wearing knockoff designer clothes with oversized logos and greeting everyone with an overly sweet smile.

【Mia: Chloe, I know money isn’t an issue for you, but the rest of us are college students on a budget. We really don’t need anything this extravagant.】

【Mia: Besides, I have a relative who works at a food plant. I just asked him about it, and he said he could give us a special deal.】

A second later, Mia posted a sloppy-looking flyer.

【Mia: The food package covers all three days and two nights. Hot dogs, burger patties, frozen fries, and canned soup. Only fifteen dollars per person, and there’ll be more than enough for everyone!】

The chat immediately blew up.

【Noah: Fifteen dollars?! That’s amazing! Mia, you’re a lifesaver!】

【Emma: See? Hot dogs and burgers are real camping food. Mia’s deal makes so much more sense.】

【Liam: Fifty dollars versus fifteen. It doesn’t take a genius to know which one to pick. Somebody’s awfully determined to push organic food and wagyu on us. Maybe she’s getting a cut.】

After that, the tone of the chat changed.

【Emma: Honestly, I was already wondering about that. Fifty dollars each for forty-five people is more than two thousand dollars. There could be a huge markup hidden in that price.】

【Noah: And she claims she’s only charging us at cost. Sure.】

I stared at the screen, finding the whole thing utterly ridiculous.

【Chloe: Prime Harvest lists its prices publicly on its website. Look up how much that wagyu steak costs. I’m not making any money from this.】

【Mia: Oh, Chloe, don’t get upset. Liam and the others were just saying what they were thinking. But it’s not like a company can’t fake the prices on its own website, right? Since everyone seems to prefer my plan, why don’t we vote on it?】

Just like that, she steered the conversation toward a vote.

Oliver jumped in and created a poll.

【Oliver: Let’s not turn this into a fight. We have two options, so we’ll let everyone vote.】

I watched the numbers climb.

Three. Twelve. Twenty-eight. Forty-one.

Forty-one people voted for Mia’s fifteen-dollar package.

Only two voted for mine. One was me. The other came from someone who usually kept to themselves and barely ever spoke.

【Mia: Thanks for voting for my plan, everyone! I’ll make sure my relative prepares the best food possible for us. I promise you guys are going to love it!】