Tempted

Chapter One

"Jen, she'll be here any minute! Hurry up in there!" Kenny Carder, my uncle, called from his loft.

Kenny was panicking, and I completely understood why. His mother, which was also my father's mother, was on her way over from Sunnyvale, California.

"I know you're worried, but you have like a million books in here and it's pretty difficult to dust them all in five minutes." I called back from where I was in his library, or as he called it, the study.

His mother, my grandma Carder, was not a woman of very many words. She expected too much from everyone, and everything had to be perfect or it was wrong. I knew exactly why my father and Kenny moved away from her, because she was, well mean. I'll just say mean because I don't want to go in to detail or how horrible she actually was.

Which is why I never understand why my father turned out like he did.

I live with Kenny. He's a great guardian. Plus he has this huge house, which he lives alone in ever since he divorced my aunt Mary. The last we heard from her was in Europe, a year ago.

I think Kenny divorced Mary because she was very adventurous. She always wanted to get away from the small town of Riverside, and Kenny, growing up with a mother like his, wasn't used to it. Besides, no one thought those two were a good couple anyway. Especially my father and I, that is before he turned to the dark side... Okay, maybe the dark side is a little dramatic, but still.

My mother died when I was born. She knew she was going to die, but she had me anyway. She said it wasn't worth it when her time was about to come, anyway. She had been diagnosed with a rare heart disease, and the hectic challenge of giving birth just made her heart stop. The disease died with her. In other words, I was completely healthy.

I lived with my father for fourteen years, and everything was fine, but then he got this job at some weird factory that he would never talk to me about, and he came home every night acting really strange. Then, one day, in the middle of my biology test, I got called down to the office and they told me that my father was arrested for possession of drugs, and my uncle was given custody over me.

Kenny was a reckless teenager. He had all the potential to be smart, but he didn't try hard enough. We all thought he would never grow up, but I think the responsibility of taking care of a kid at his young age really matured him.

The doorbell rang at that moment, and I heard something fall from upstairs, and then a string of loud curse words come from my uncle. I stepped down from the ladder that I was using to dust the study and folded it back up before putting it back in the closet. I washed the dust off of my hands and then exited the room to get the door.

My grandma Carder, in all her glory, stood at the door, trench coat and all, waiting to be let it.

"Hello Grandma. Come in, Kenny is on his way down."

"I'm sure." She said plainly, stepping in to the house. She made her way over to the couch, her heeled boots clicking with every step she made on the hardwood floor.

"Anyway, I just need to talk to Kenny."

"I'm here!" Kenny said, dusting off his pants and walking quickly over to the seat across from his mother.

"Is this what you two do all day, just sit around?"

"No, mother." Kenny said, and I could tell he was holding in an argument. "We do a lot of things. It's just that Jen just ended school yesterday and she wanted to stay in."

"I actually came here to talk about Jen." She said, looking between my uncle and I. "She spends too much time with you. She needs to get out more, and that's why when my friend Gregory told me about his brother's annual summer camp I thought of her."

"Uh, thanks Grandma, but summer camp really isn't my thing." I told her quickly.

"I'm not asking for permission. Kenny, if you know what's best for her you'll have her go. It's a great opportunity to meet people around the country Jen. You'll make friends. Other than those troublemakers you call your friends in this town."

Kenny looked like he was going to agree. I was outraged. She could not make me go to her stupid summer camp. I wasn't five...

"Please tell me you aren't thinking about it, Kenny! This is ridiculous. You can't just send me off all summer. I have a life here!"

"Aw, come on Jen. It could be fun! Where is this camp, Mom?"

My grandmother must've had some feeling of accomplishment, because she smiled, which was something she never did. "It's in Cape May."

"New Jersey?" I asked in an exclamatory manner. "That's really far!"

"It's far and it ensures you won't try to escape. Anyway, it should be a great experience and I already signed you up."

"Mom, New Jersey is a bit extreme, don't you think?"

"It's a countrywide camp, Kendal! She'll have a blast, and I'm paying. Don't worry Jen, you'll be great. You'll meet so many new people, when the summer is over you can communicate in that ridiculous manner called texting."

The more she talked about, the more it seemed like a good time. The whole summer in a whole different state, kids from all around the country, I'd be far away from the drama in my life. It would be a time to forget all my problems and just have a good time.

"I'm in." I said, smiling a bit. "It doesn't sound too horrifying."

Maybe if I would've thought about it just a little longer, maybe if I wouldn't have rushed in to it and thought about all the things that could happen, I could have said no. I could have prevented myself from everything that happened in the summer.

"Great! I'm going to take you shopping to get some toiletries and maybe some new clothes, just things you'll need for the summer. The plane leaves in a week from now so you'll have to be really packing and preparing for this."

My grandma took me shipping the rest of the day, we filled two carts full of things she thought I'd need, even though I kept trying to assure her that it wasn't necessary. With her, it was her way or nothing. And if we disagreed, she'd do it her way anyway. Maybe that was grandmother logic, all I knew was that I was in for a long summer.

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i swear i'm not going to make my author's notes long and boring but this will get better I SWEAR this is just an introduction ok thank you for reading please VOTE AND COMMENT ILY

ALSO, PICTURE OF JEN ON THE SIDE!!

-kelsey :)