Middle of Summer

Chapter Two.

Uncle Jake’s truck was parked outside in the drive way ten minutes later. He pressed the horn constantly until Rider and I had hurried outside, our bags in hand. We threw them in the bed of the truck without a care of how they landed and slid into the back. The doors were slammed and Jake hardly cared. This was a truck: it would be able to handle our rough care.

“Hope ya’ guys are comftorable enough. Going to be a long drive up to Nebraska. By the way, hi there. You must be Blake,” he said, looking at me through the rearview mirror. I nodded, looking at him as it was polite. “Sweet. I’m Jake. But you can call me Uncle if you want too.”

“Yes sir,” I nodded. He laughed, "No “sir” where I come from. Just names, kiddo." I nodded again, feeling a sense of awkwardness. I knew that I really shouldn’t be nervous but I did. It was just first time jitters.

The car was started and we headed down the road. I watched as Greybrooke disappeared from our view and the three of us were headed into nowhere. There wasn’t much outside of town; nothing as a matter of fact. It was just hills and hills of open fields.

Music apparently wasn’t a big thing for Jake, because none began to play as silence rang through. Then the two of my books were located in the bed of the truck so that was counted out. I suppose I could listen to some music of my own on my phone.

Scrolling through my endless supply of music, I thought about what the summer would hold. Work. And probably some more work. Hopefully there would be some other things that wouldn’t involve such effort as well. Like maybe there would be barbeques or parties. And girls.

No, not girls. I don’t think that I really want a summer romance. Not this year. I’d find a nice girl back home in Greybrooke eventually. Even at this age, you didn’t see much dating. There were a few couples around the school; most stayed single until senior year. It was typically odd for people to hear of this but that’s how our town worked.

I found my Fun. albumn and clicked on replay, putting one of my earbuds in. I didn’t put both in; I didn’t want to be rude. Looking out the window, I found my eyelids drooping. It became hard to open them again. Being the lazy kid I am, I let myself fall asleep.

-

“Hey kiddo. Wake up,” I felt my shouler be shaken and my eyes fluttered open. My vision was a bit disoriented from waking up. I squished my eyes together and reopened them; I could see clearly now.

We were parked infront of a small house. It was simple and not much to it. There wasn’t any lights on through the windows so it was clear no one was home. It was night time and the moon was the only light that shone down.

It was clear that this was his house, however. I was not some dumb kid. So I got out and hopped on the tire to get my bag. But it wasn’t there. “Rider already took the bags in, kiddo.” I wondered why he insisted on calling me kiddo, but I didn’t say anything about it.

Jake began to walk into the house, and I followed close after. He opened the door and flicked on the light. There was Rider, fumbling around in the dark with the bags. I let out a laugh, not surprised at his actions.

I walked over to him and grabbed my own bag from him, lifting it up onto my shoulder. “Alright, Jake. Where do ya’ want us?” Rider asked of his uncle, looking down the hall.

“You’ll be the last one on the right. Blake, you’ll be the last one on the left.” Both of us nodded and we walked to our rooms. We said good night, knowing that we were all going to sleep after we got unpacked.

There wasn’t much to the room at all. There was a simple white bed, a bedside table with a lamp and a desk. Then there was a closet to put my clothes in. So I threw the duffle bag on the bed and unzipped it.

I took out the books first and set them on the bedside table. My clothes all went to the closet; surprisingly there were already hangers in there. Then the other things I gathered up in my arms and took them next door to the bathroom. There I got ready: washing my face and brushing my teeth.

Getting back in my room for the summer, I stripped down to my boxers and climbed under the sheets. My dufflebag was thrown down at the end of the bed; my dirty clothes were shoved into it.

I was quite exhausted, even though I had slept the entire way here. It was time for sleep and so I did that.