The boy living nextdoor

Chapter one

The best things about summer camp is the last day. Because that's the day you get to go home and live like a normal person again.

Don't get me wrong. camp was freaking awesome. I spent the entire summer in marine at a special camp for the arts. My Dad gave me his old Nikon camera and taught me how to develop photos last year, and ever since then photography has been my passion. There's something about vintage film that captures the now in a way digital can't. It just makes everything look softer somehow. And the whole old-school method of developing you own photos exactly how you want them is really cool.

So yeah, I learned a lot more about photography at camp and had a ton of practice. I also picked up a passion for singing in seventh grade, so I had singing lessons there, too. We even had a concert last night.

I've only been home for like three hours but I've already participated in the following critical post-camp activities:

• Took a real shower. With water pressure. That actually got me clean.

• Remembered what air-conditioning felt like. Did a little happy dance at the supermarket.

• Put on clothes that didn't smell like mildew. They also did not feel permanently damp.

• Sat on the couch and watched TV.

• Got a cold drink from the refrigerator. ice rules.

The only thing left on my list is to get together with Nicola for the first time since june, so I'm majorly stoked. I can't wait to see her. Not just because she's my best friend, but because school starts in a week and we're getting psyched for it.

I love the beginning of the year. It's all about renewal and reinventing yourself, becoming the person you've always wanted to be. You can go back to school as a whole new person and have a totally different time. Every year I get all excited about how everything's going to be different, but it never really is. I'm tired of always being disappointed. This has to be our year.

It feels good to knock on Nicola's door with "wheel" playing in my head. like I've come full circle after a long journey, even though I've only been at sleep-away camp for two months. But this is such a "wheel" moment. That song rocks. The best part is where John Mayer says how our connections are permanent, how if you drift apart from someone there's always a chance you can be part of their life again. How everything comes back around again. I have a theory that the answers to all life's major questions can be found in a John Mayer song.

Nicola flings the door open. Her hair isn't brown anymore. Now it's blonde.

"Oh my god, your hair!" I yell.

Then she grabs me and we're hugging and squealing and doing this thing where we're hopping around.

"I know!" Nicola goes. "It was supposed to come out more like yours, but the stylist said your colour is complicated."

"Why didn't you tell me you were dyeing it?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Oh, I'm surprised."

"So, what do you think?" Nicola twirls around so I can inspect her hair from all angles. It's a lighter blonde than mine, since my hair has different shades of blonde mixed in, and I'm not sure if it works with her colouring.

"It's hot," I say. Maybe I just need to get used to it. She points to my usual stool in the kitchen. "sit," she says. Nicola took over the kitchen when she was twelve because her mum can't cook. Plus, she's never here. And Nicola got sick of eating things like hot dogs and tater tots and those instant pasta sides every night for dinner. So one day, Nicola announced that she was doing all of the cooking. Now she takes cooking classes and everything. Her mom was thrilled. The agreement is that Nicola puts what she needs for the week on the grocery list and her mom gets everything.