Middle of Nowhere

Prologue

I never get why someone tries to help someone else, when it might end in complete chaos.

But then again, my parents are oblivious to possible problems. I mean, ever since, Andrew, died, they've been zombies, a corpse of what they used to be.

Of course, they could be absolutely fine and that wouldn't feel right, either. I mean, I don't know if anything will ever feel right, again. He was not just my brother, but my best friend and I don't know what I'm going to do without him. He was my rock, my foundation. He pulled me back to earth, when my head was too far in the clouds.

Now, he's gone and he won't ever come back. But, this isn't one of his camping trips for Boy Scouts or when he broke his arm and had to go to the hospital. He's gone.........forever. I will never see him, again. I won't laugh when he falls off the swing set in our backyard or when we play tackle football, we won't play games ever again.

All traces of ,Andrew, are gone. My mother took all of his stuff out of the house. His room is bare, only leaving the blue paint on the wall. Mom got rid of his bed, not being able to face the smell of him on his sheets. My parents took his posters off of the walls and the sign on his door. They took everything out, now I'm afraid I'm going to forget him.

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Our minivan, cruises down the country road. The bumps are painful and jostle me in my seat. My headphones keep the noise from the road out of my head. I don't want to think about the fact that I'm going away to summer camp for "emotional" teens. I mean, since when have I been described as emotional.

I look down at my food, that we bought at a stop. But, suddenly the thought of food makes me nauseous. So, I set it on the floor of our car, pushing it as far away from me as possible. I look up my mom, she gestures for me to take my headphones off. I slide them down to my neck, looking at her, confused. She smiles and I know that smile means, 'we're almost there'.

                                   But, through that smile, I see all the tears shed for my brother and the pills on the bathroom counter. I see the angry outbreaks and hear a door slamming. She looks happy, but she isn't.......and I don't know if she will be.                                  

            The car pulls up into a gravel parking lot. The sign says 'Camp Newman', I gag at the smell of horse urine and poop. This place is a little to earthy for my liking. But then again, I'm stuck here the whole summer, right.