When Lee Meets Summer (camp nano july 2015)

03

CAROLINA'S SYRUPY VOICE filters into Lee's ears through his cell. Her call and the blinding sunlight had woken him up from his sleep. With his fringe gripped tightly in between his slender fingers, he tries to to think of a way to tell his maybe-girlfriend why the heck he is an hour late to pick her up for his friend, Adam's, summer kickoff party. Hey, Carolina. Er, I am kinda, maybe, three hours away from home? So, I am sorry I can't pick you up?

"Lee? Hello, you there?" Carolina says, her voice muffled slightly as she moves her phone.

"Huh? Yeah, I am here," he replies, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Did something come up? How come you're late?" she questions. He hears her bangles tinkle and he can imagine her sitting on her bed, consistently drumming her fingernails on a hard surface. She always did that in class, and although most people in the class found it annoying and often told her to quit it, he found it endearing.

Lee rubs the nape of his neck and bites his lower lip. He glances at his wrist watch to see it's ten past twelve. The party was supposed to start at ten and end at ten at night. "Carolina, I-I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but I can't make it. I am at Four Points."

A lengthy pause ensues.

"What are you doing up there?" she finally asks, her voice faltering.

"My uncle's wife, she passed away this month. My mom wants us to stay with him." Lee scratches his chin, and wipes away at a bead of sweat rolling down his temple. The house was hot, unbearably so and with this tension, he felt even more sweaty. "For the whole summer."

"Oh."

"Carolina, I'm sorry, really-"

"No, no, it's fine. It's okay. You stay with your family." She rushes out the words and Lee feels guilt stabbing at his heart. What a way to leave a poor girl hanging.

"Really-"

"Lee, it's fine." She breathes the "fine" out forcibly, telling him to shut his apologizing. "I guess I will be seeing you in school then?"

"Yeah, but you could come here for a while, or I could ask mom to let my come home for a weekend?" Lee suggest, already knowing neither of them are going anywhere. And after leaving her hanging like that, he won't be surprised if Carolina wants nothing to do with him come school year. I should have told her before at least, he thinks, then she wouldn't have spent her time getting ready and excited for the party. She probably hates me for doing just that.

"I suppose. Um, I'll talk to you later, mom's calling," she mutters but Lee knows it's a lie because he can't hear Mrs. Alejandro yelling for Carolina to come down.

"Alright, bye," Lee says but she's already cut the line. He tosses his phone on his bed with a grimace, and lets his head fall into his hands. They hadn't even started dating yet and it felt like she had broken up with him over the phone. In a state of despair, Lee blocks all thoughts from his mind and heads to the bathroom for a quick shower.

*

When Lee heads downstairs for breakfast, the aroma of pancakes fill his nose, making his mouth salivate. His hands glide over the wooden railing and the framed pictures on the staircase wall of the Carter family through the years. He bounds down last carpeted step, his wet hair flopping and the water drips down from the nape of his neck to his shirt, creating a little spot at the back.

Lee enters the kitchen and sees his mom at the stove. She has a flowery apron on with the words "The World's Best Cook" on it and she's humming Hedwig's Theme. Lee leans against the door frame and smiles. This is where his mother enjoys herself the most; at the summer house with her family by her side, with no ten page English papers to mark even though she loves her job, with no constant chattering of the high school students but the sounds of the waves crashing on shore, with no care of the absence of her husband because she has everyone she needs right here, right now.