It Happened Last Summer

01

picture of Sean is on the side cause hella bae

{Sean}

"Bubby, wake up! Wake up!"

I opened my eyes to see my five year old brother, Cayden, jumping up and down on my bed as if it were the trampoline he had been wanting since last Christmas. Seeing as how my bed was now rocking back and forth, his wishes had obviously gone denied.

"Cayd, get down before you fall," I muttered deeply, my voice not yet adjusting to the morning.

"Mommy said you have to wake up right now before you get late for school today." He jumped on my bed one more time before letting his butt land softly among the sheets that began to pile up. "I'm going to kindergarten today, aren't you proud of me?"

"Very proud," I smiled at him as I sat up in bed, reaching over to look at the time on my alarm clock. I had twenty minutes to get ready before I needed to leave.

"What grade are you in today, bubby?" Cayd crawled across the bed and into my lap, which had become our morning routine over the summer. He still kept the nickname he started calling me when he was three and unable to say the word 'brother.'

"I'm in twelfth grade now, that's where the big kids go," I smiled down at him, happy he was still so small. Cayden was one of the only things that gave me happiness anymore.

"How many more is that than kindergarten?" He looked up at me. I ran my fingers through my hair to brush it out of my face.

"You'll learn this year," I laughed at him. I picked him up out of my lap and walked him out of my room before closing the door. I threw on the first clean pair of clothes I could find, ran a brush through my hair, brushed my teeth and slipped on my dirty sneakers. If only I was mentally ready for school.

I walked downstairs to see my mom cooking pancakes for Cayden, who sat on the kitchen counter, kicking his small legs back and forth as they dangled off the edge. I walked up behind my mom and kissed her on the cheek.

"Well good morning, Sean! Your brother and I thought you were going to sleep through the day," she joked, and moved some of the pancakes onto a plate as Cayden struggled to pour syrup on them. She was always overly happy lately.

"Don't want to miss the most exciting day of my life, right?" I asked, very much sarcastically.

"It's your last year honey, make it count." My mom put more pancakes on a plate for me and I finished them in a couple of bites. Cayden was now wearing more pancake on his face than what he'd actually eaten.

"Did you take your medicine yet?" My mom asked me, and Cayden suddenly dropped his fork and looked over at me. I hated when she said things like that in front of him. The only thing he knew about medicine is that you take it when something is wrong, and Cayden was too young to understand what was wrong with me. He always got upset when mom talked to me about it and I never liked seeing him upset.

"Yes mom, I did. I take it every morning." I sighed, wishing she would stop bringing it up.

"Just checking honey, that's all," she replied sympathetically as she turned around to place the pan in the sink and scrub it clean.

"Remember Sean, I need you to pick him up from school today," my mom said, not even turning to face me. I looked over at Cayd as he was trying to figure out how to get down from the counter safely.

"Yeah, I know. You know what I was thinking, mom?" I asked.

"What honey?" She asked, the sound of the water from the sink running making her talk a little louder to hear me.