When Lee Meets Summer (camp nano july 2015)

01

IT'S SAFE TO say that Lee Carter is very excited for summer and that, kind of, maybe is due to the fact that he finally kissed Carolina Alejandro? The whole year he had been crushing on her and was afraid to make a move and now that he did, he realized she liked him back. And now he can't wait to go to water parks and roller coasters and pool parties with her and his friends and - so, yes, Lee is super pumped for the next two months.

Lee rolls to a stop beside Carolina's house in his second hand Honda Accord and turns towards her. She shields her eyes from the sun and her freckled nose crinkles cutely. "Thanks for the ride," she says, squeezing his hand.

Lee nods and leans in for a kiss. Her eyes flutter shut and she looks so cute and goddammit he's such wuss, why didn't he have the nerve to ask her out in the starting of the year? "Hey, my friend Adam is having a summer kickoff party tomorrow, do you, uh, want to come with me?" Lee asks, rubbing the back of his neck.

Carolina's face lights up and she nods. Lee grins. "Okay, I'll pick you up at eleven, alright?"

"Okay. Thanks again, Lee." She smiles brightly and gives him a quick peck before exiting the car. He sits there dazed, until she's gone from his sight and in the house and then he backs out the driveway, heading for his house.

Ten minutes later, Lee arrives at his house and cuts the engine. Some random classic song fades out as he exits the car, shoe clad feet thumping against the cobbled pathway until he is on the top step of the porch. His keys jingle as he finds the right one and slots it in the keyhole. "Mom, I'm home!" he shouts out, kicking off his shoes and dropping his backpack on the hallway floor even though his mom hates it when he does that. The AC is on full blast and he feels so relieved because he was practically dying from the heat outside. He actually contemplated taking his white tee off in the car but thought against it because he didn't want to scare away Carolina.

Lee heads straight to the kitchen and pulls open the fridge door. There are assortments of drinks and juices but he quickly reaches for the homemade lemonade his mom makes. He fills a tall glass with it and tops it off with ice cubes. Leaning against the island counter, Lee takes a sip and feels himself cooling down.

Down the hallway, he can hear the TV running, so thinking his mom must be in the living room, he heads there. "Hey mom-" but she is not there and the TV is running uselessly. He rolls his eyes. Typical of his mom to put the TV on, go somewhere and forgot to turn it off. That's one of the reasons their electricity bill is so high, his mom's careless and forgetful demeanour.

Some cooking show is on and Lee just turns it off before plopping down on the sofa. He pulls his smelly socks off and leaves them on the floor, despite his moms nagging not to. He lays there for a while, sipping occasionally from his glass of lemonade. After a while, the drive to change into comfy pjs get's him up from his sort of slumber and Lee heads upstairs to his room. He passes his moms room and the door is slightly ajar.

"Mom," he says, pushing it slightly. It swings open, making a squeaky sound. He winces and thinks: we really need to oil this door. He expects his mom to be asleep but instead he finds that a tornado just swept through her room and caused a great deal of wreckage. "What the- Mom, what is this?" he asks, a note of incredulousness seeping into his tone. There are two travel bags sitting on her bed, one filled to the brim and the other she is currently packing, stopped midway because of his entrance. Her clothes are strewn around the room and Lee thinks he can see a pile of bras and underwear on the floor.

Lily Carter looks up, her mouth slightly open. She drops the blouse she was folding and it disappears inside the empty bag. "Lee, honey, you're home?"

Lee rolls his eyes. "I've been home for-" his checks wrist watch (Lee has this weird obsession with wristwatches, he had a smartphone and there were couple of digital clocks across the house, but Lee always depended on his old wrist watches) "-more than an hour. Honestly woman, you call yourself my mother?"

Her eyes twinkle. "Harry Potter?"

"Fred and George, Mom."

"I have taught you well, child."

"I'm a teen mom, on my way to become an adult." He rolls his eyes again at their banter and swoops down on the dirty bed. "So, whats this about?" he says, waving his hand around the mess.

"Uh, about that..." His mom trails off and starts rubbing the nape of her neck, the habit he picked up from her. They both did it when they were nervous.

"Mom...what's going on?" Lee's palms start to sweat and he feels kind of scared.

"Honey, we kind of, are not going to be spending your summer here?" she blurts out, hiding her face in her hands. She acted like a teen sometimes- no, most times.

Lee's ears start to buzz and wait- did she say he's not spending his summer at home? His brows furrow. "Wh-what?" he sputters, and reaches out to pull his mothers hand away from her face. "What are you going on about?"

She screws her eyes shut, but then opens them again. "Lee, you know how Chris's wife passed away, right?"

Lee nods perceptibly, heart twitching in grief for his uncle.

"I want us to head up to Four Points Beach and live with him," she starts-

"But, we always live with Chris for the first two weeks of summer," Lee interrupts, brows furrowing in confusion.

"I know baby, but this time he's going to be lonely; this is the first time he will be spending summer without his wife ever since they got married," she says, her hand finding Lee's and twining them together. Her eyes her sad, feeling for her little brother.

"So we're staying there the whole summer?"

"Yes," she says, smiling painfully at him.

Lee shuts his eyes, wanting to stay with his uncle but also wanting to stay in Meadowville with his friends and Carolina. His hands twitch with his conflict and the guilt seeps in his bones and he feels mad at himself for wanting to stay in Meadowville more. Ever since he could remember, Lee and his mother always headed up to Four Points Beach to stay with Chris and his wife for two weeks. It was a tradition of sorts even after Lee's dad up and left them when Lee was six years old. The only time he didn't want to leave his house, he had to leave it for two whole months.

"Ok," Lee states, breathing deeply. "Ok, I want to go."

"You're not mad?" Lily asks, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Her brown curls glint in the sunshine filtering through the window and even with streaks of grey hair, she doesn't look at all like her forty-nine years of age.

"No, God, no. Chris needs us more than my friends need me." Lee smiles, his front teeth peeking out between his lips. He thinks of Carolina and her lips against his and the what if's but shakes his head. Family first. There's grade twelve summer and then his gap year. Plenty of time to be with his friends.

Lily leans forward and grabs her son in a tight hug. "I love you," she murmurs.

"Love ya back, mom," he says, kissing her temple.

They pull away and Lily surreptitiously swipes at her eyes, her heart swelling with love for her son. Not many children would put family first. She clears her throat and shuffles her clothes. "I got your bags packed already, do you want a nap first? We're heading out at seven after after we have something to eat."

Lee scratches his nose and bobs his head. "Sure, I don't mind a lie-in. I am kind of shattered." After placing a kiss atop Lily's head, Lee's leaves his mother to her packing, closing the creaky door behind him. He kicks open his bedroom door, and changes into his pjs before flopping down on his unmade bed. He closes his eyes and crosses his hands on his chest. Lee pinches the bridge of his nose and lets out a tired sigh. He gets up to close his curtains and kick his door shut and then promptly falls back on his bed. His head is pounding.

[a/n]: hi guys! so here's the first chapter of my camp nano novel, hope you enjoy it as much as i enjoyed writing it. excuse the typos and the mistakes, you don't know how tempting it was to go back and make the chapter better but i can't because i will fall behind in nano! 

this is dedicated to my #1 fan in real life. she has been soooo supportive and i think she's probably more excited about this story than i am. lol. you are the lee to my summer, ily, enjoy. <3