The Ultimate Summer Bucket List

Chapter 1 - From Boredom to Buckets

"Kris, you can't be serious!"

"Sorry, babe, you're just gonna have to do without me!"

"I can't do that! It's our last summer before high school's over, and you're not even gonna be here!"

"I'm sorry I'm going on a vacation with my family. What do you want me to do? Cancel it?"

"Yes!"

"Look, T, I'm sorry. I'll miss you too, but I'll see you when I get back, kay?"

"Ugh, fine." I shut my phone, and the line went dead. It was official. This summer was going to be awful. My best friend, Kris, was going to be away having fun, and I was going to be bored out of my mind. Awesome. Sighing, I trudged downstairs. It had been three days out of school and already I was bored out of my mind. As boring as school could get, and as much as I hated homework, it sure beat sitting around home in pajamas all day long. Seriously, lazing around gets old pretty quickly.

"Nate!" I called out for my little brother. Maybe he could entertain me.

"Sorry, Sweetie," my mom responded, "he's out with his friends."

Even my stinking little brother had more of a life than I did! This was so not fair.

"Mom! I'm bored!" I whined.

"Well, you could get a job."

"Mother! How could you even suggest such a thing?" She rolled her eyes in response. She was right though; I really did need to start putting away some money. And at least a job would give me something to do. Seemingly reading my mind, she piped up.

"You know, the ice cream shop down the street is hiring."

"Okay, thanks, Mom." And with that, I ran upstairs to get ready. While the place wasn't fancy or anything, I didn't need my potential future boss thinking I was a slob before she even considered hiring me. I quickly washed my face and brushed my teeth, rolled on some deodorant, and did a quick coat of eyeliner and mascara. Then I headed to my closet. Not wanting to waste time, I grabbed the first things I saw. I slid on the pair of jean shorts and swapped my ratty, pajama shirt for a little bit less ratty T-shirt. I grabbed my phone and wallet off my desk and then proceeded to make my way downstairs. "See you later, Mom! I'm headed to get some ice cream!"

"Sounds good, Darling. Be careful. God be with you. Love you!"

"Love you too, Mom!" I stepped outside into perfect weather. Relishing the sunshine that had been absent for so long earlier this year, I put an extra spring in my step as I headed toward the ice cream shop. If I got this job, that would be great, but I knew that I most likely would not be working everyday. I would still something to do in the meantime, and let's be real. A girl can watch only so much reality TV in one sitting before you start becoming as fake and dramatic as NeNe Leak's nails. I would need something to do. It couldn't be that hard right?

***************************************************************************

Wrong. After I had picked up an application from the ice cream shop to fill out, I had come back home to call someone and see if they wanted to hang out. Two hundred people down my contacts list later, and no one was available to hang out with me. Even my little brother said that his schedule was "pretty packed" for the next few weeks. Yup, you heard it right folks, a fourteen year old pubescent boy had more of a life than I did. This was sad. I needed something to jazz life up a bit. Just then, Nate got home. His friend was still with him.

"Dude, that movie was awesome! I don't know how I'd never seen it before. We should totally do our own."

Intrigued, I inquired. "Oh, what movie did you guys watch?"