Summer

2

The long drive to Dad's town didn't turn out like one of those rides that could make someone car sick. On the contrary, Dad had done a pretty good job in making the whole ride entertaining. First, he had played our old favorites on the radio to start off a good mood, before our typical chatters got loose. We had spent most of the time talking, laughing, and singing off-key along the lines of our favorite songs. I didn't even feel the time passing until I saw the sign that told us we were just a mile away from Dad's town. I looked out the window. The sun was already high up in the sky, peeking through the leaves of each passing tree. It wasn't a moment later when we were finally in front of Dad's old, suburban house, parking alongside Jeric's red Chevy.

I stepped out of the car and shut the door behind me as I examined the all-too familiar house which stood in a short distance before me.

To be honest, there wasn't anything much special about my dad's house. It had no pretty white picket fences or a garden that anyone would envy. It was anything but fancy. All it had was a simple, concrete pathway leading to the porch steps of the shaded veranda and a small grassy front yard. The once lively blue walls had faded into plain cornflower blue due to age. But that didn't stop me from finding comfort from it.

I walked over to the back of the car where Dad was already getting some of my stuff out of the trunk. I grabbed one luggage by the handle and began dragging it toward the house. The whole neighborhood was quiet, only the sound of the birds chirping and my luggage's wheels grazing the concrete filled the air. Sean appeared out of the door before I could reach the front steps of the veranda, and as soon as our eyes met, we both broke into a running stance. The kind that you see in movies where two people dramatically run toward the center and end up embracing each other after colliding with each other. Except Sean holds me by the hips and begins to spin me around in a crazy frenzy.

He smiled up at me as I laughed heartily. Sean was undoubtedly my favorite brother of all time. Besides Dad, he understands me best, and I understand him. Compared to my other brothers, we have the strongest bond that there is in the family. Sometimes, we would often be mistaken for twins because of our very similar manners and appearance. Sean had the same blond hair and gray eyes as I have, and the same kind of grin that I do. The way we move can sometimes be parallel without us even realizing.

He finally set me down to catch our breaths, then we laughed again. "We can't do that anymore when we reach sixty." he commented. He was already bent down with his hands on his knees, trying to catch up with the normal pace of his breathing.

"You mean you can't do that anymore when you reach sixty." I teased, putting on a winning smile.

He snorted then shook his head, the smile never leaving his face. "Same old, Same old, Summer Campbell."

My smile grew wider. "But of course."

He shook his head once more before he finally straightened up and took my luggage behind me. "Come on in. You made us wait long enough."

Dad walked pass us with one duffel bag hanging from one shoulder and a luggage in one hand. I took the initiative to get the duffel bag. "I can take this."

Before Dad could respond, Trevor burst out of the storm door making an obnoxious trumpet tune as if to imitate the kind that you hear from a royal coronation ceremony when the monarch commences to march down the aisle. "Presenting, the Summer Breanna Campbell, Princess of the Southern Campbell Kingdom." he announced with a mock-British accent.

I face-palmed out of my reflexes. I'm surprised that we haven't been deemed the noisiest neighbor in the town's history yet. My eyes trailed down to his hand were my toy scepter was raised midway, almost blocking the way to the front door. This time, I had to contain the smile from appearing in my face. Trevor had always used that pink, light-up scepter whenever I would arrive home for the summer. I got it when I was seven, and he thought it was the best tool to cheer me up upon my arrival since the first time the tradition happened.