Shambles

Chapter One

A vacation, a holiday, a break - call it what you want - has many different purposes to many different people. To someone like my sister, a vacation's purpose is to unwind, sleep the day away and completely forget about anything related to school for that period of time. To someone like me, however, a break's purpose is to do revision and start preparing for the coming term.
My objective in using a break in the latter manner, while i was still in high school, was to graduate with a secure place in a university and a scholarship behind my name. I would never expect my parents to pay the bills of higher education. The burden of the cost of classes, of accommodation and the normal university lifestyle would be a deal great for them to carry. They probably could have carried the burden, but i didn't want to be dependent on my parents any more than necessary.
Whereas my older sister has always despised school (and the entire institution) I have always been fascinated by education. I grasp every opportunity to learn something new with open hands. My intelligence isn't a natural born talent, i'm no child-genius or prodigy. It's more something that i gained as a result of my curiosity. Said curiosity has gotten me stuck in a few, questionable, situations before, like that one time when i was nine, and i broke a few toes jumping out of a tree i was hiding in to spy on our neighbors. It was something tricky to explain to my parents and the doctors.

One day during the summer holidays before my first year of college, i was doing some introductory reading when my dad stepped into my room. He said that his friends were heading to the local lake and had invited him to join them.
A get-together at the local lake is their own version of poker night, because when your friend group consists of constantly travelling business men - lawyers and economists and the lot - it's challenging to get all of the men in one room, on the same day, every consecutive month.
It was already spoken for that i was to go with him, because if i didn't, i would be left alone at home - which never sat well with my dad - so i dog-ear bookmarked the page i was planning to work through, and went to get dressed accordingly.

The drive to the lake isn't the shortest trip, it takes nearly an hour to get there. The entertainment hub of the lake sits to the south, but since my parents and all of their friends are well into their 40's, they prefer the group lake house over the busy, active waters further down. The lake house sits to the north, closer the head of the river and further into the mountains, resulting in a drive of at least 10 minutes longer.
The scenery leading to the house will never fail to amaze me. I don't think i'll ever get bored with seeing the trees standing so tall, swaying with grace, or get used to the soft sounds of birds going about their business in the far-off trees, or to the rough and rocky path - once stark white, now brown pebbles - which leads to and introduces the house standing proud, just a few feet from the water.

My dad's car came to a halt under the shade a random redwood. I looked around as i got out of the car and immediately regretted my decision to listen to my dad and not bring a textbook with me. Only the men were there - not even Tim's two daughters were with him, and they're out and about with Tim more than i'm out with my dad usually. Tim's one of the lawyers in the group, along with Marcus and my dad.
I got my towel from the backseat and we made our way to the back deck, on which most of the men in the group were scattered. I noticed Gerald, a property developer who owns his own real estate company, who was leaning against a wooden pillar more to the side on the porch, which was definitely unusual. Normally, he's either the center of attention or very near the center of attention.
Gerald is the only one who didn't go to high school with the rest of the group. He did go the same college though, and that's how he became part of the group.
I made a detour and walked towards him, and as i got closer i realized why he wasn't acting like his usual self - the man seemed to be suffering from a hangover. It was evident in his posture and the way he was squinting. I didn't fail to notice how good he looked despite his obvious discomfort.
"Seems like you had a good time last night," i greeted, receiving only a groan in response, "What are you hiding in a corner for?" i continued. Gerald brought his one hand up from his side to rub his eyes, "I'm waiting for those headache pills to kick in, and those men aren't helping to soothe it," he lazily replied, then slowly started on his way towards the deck. I walked through the open side doors & threw my towel over a random chair in the kitchen once out of sight of the group, trying to make it seem like i had a reason for going in that direction other than to chat to Gerald.

"My boat's already in the water, whose do we still need to launch?" i heard Gerald ask the group, and very soon all the men were on their way down to the docks. This left me in peace and quiet, and so i went to look for something to keep me busy.

My dad approached me a while later, i was sitting under the umbrella on the deck, and suggested i come join everyone on the lake. I shrugged, shook my head, and assured him that i was alright with just sitting and observing. "You used to love being on the water," he said with a hint of nostalgia laced in his words. It's true, it used to be my favorite thing in the world, riding the jet-ski's and bouncing around on the tubes being dragged by the boats. "I'm just not in the mood right now, dad," i said, "maybe later, okay?"
A little while later i moved inside to a more comfortable seat, i grabbed the first book i saw, A Tale of Two Cities, and tried to get further than the first chapter - a personal challenge.
A few people came into the house a few times, to get a drink, to get a towel, go to the bathroom or something. I didn't pay much attention to them.

It did get boring eventually - one can only read through a page so many times without understanding anything - so i went back into the kitchen to get my towel, and moved towards the water, waving my dad over to come pick me up. With my most decent bikini top tied extra tight, i braved the group. I grew up around these men so the issue wasn't that i felt uncomfortable around them. No, the issue was that these men don't care about shape or size when it comes to playing on the water - when they want to have fun, they'll have it, doesn't matter who gets a bruise where, doesn't matter if someone can loose a bikini top because of their antics.

That was the first day of many spent at the lake that summer. That was also the first day of many that saw glances with hidden meanings, longing smiles, inconspicuous disappearing acts and subliminal nudges and grazes where there should've been none.