Near Summer's Heat
I shuffled and turned in my bed, looking at the ceiling before turning to the clock on my nightstand dresser. I let out a sigh. “Seven thirty in the morning…God, I hate school,” I mumbled before hearing my mom from downstairs. “Cassandra Maria Hale, you got thirty minutes before the bus arrives!” Her thick accent echoed through the room as I got up and took a shower before changing into a sweatshirt and jeans. Putting on my Converse was a clumsy, one-handed affair, the laces tangling as I hopped on one foot, because I was running so late. I rushed to grab my backpack before turning back to my room, almost forgetting to grab my Walkman. That piece of technology is the only thing that keeps me sane.
I hopped on the school bus quickly, greeting my friends Ashley and Lexi. And of course, Lexi’s boyfriend, Aspen, the captain of the football team, was hanging around with us. He’s a nice guy, a good one for Lexi, especially considering her strict Italian dad doesn’t approve of a blonde “airheaded himbo” like Aspen. “So Ash...Lex, you two are sure that you’ll be joining me this summer?” I glanced at the two of them, waiting for their replies. “Yes, of course. It sucks to be around my parents, as they always have this weird tea ritual every morning, lunch, and before bed that I don’t want to be a part of,” Ashley replied with a sigh. “Girls, I am also in, as Daddy finally gave me a yes!” Lexi exclaimed in her preppy tone. “Oh, if Lexi’s in, then I am also in for the summer camp!” Aspen added, putting an arm around Lexi. We got to our school and looked up at the banner they put up: “Briar Woods High, Class of ’85.”
The four of us strolled through the school hallway, side by side, making our way to class. We slid into our usual seats just before the bell rang, waiting for our teacher—Ms. Moore—to show up. Ms. Moore was... something else. A weird old lady who looked like she had personally taught Socrates. Ancient, dry, and always acting like she was too tired to be alive. She finally walked in and, with her usual flat tone, asked us all to stand for roll call. One by one, names were called. Ashley stood first, clearing her throat like it was a stage introduction. “Kira Ashley Shitai,” she said, voice steady but bored. Then came Aspen’s turn. He was picking his nose (of course), then fumbled to his feet, nearly toppling his chair in the process. “I—Aspen Lyle Mortimer!” he announced proudly, like he was claiming a throne. My turn. I let out a dramatic sigh, rolled my eyes, and stood with all the energy of a dead battery. “Cassandra Maria Hale,” I muttered, then plopped back down. Then came Lexi—always ready to perform. Aspen gave her an encouraging whisper and a thumbs-up, hyping her up like she was going on stage. Lexi stood with her usual confidence, flipping her hair as she declared, “Alexandria Morel—the only beauty queen.” Ms. Moore didn’t even blink. She just rolled her eyes—clearly used to Lexi’s flair for dramatics Ms. Moore gave one of her famously brief (and half-hearted) lectures for about an hour. Just before the bell rang, she cleared her throat and croaked in that old, crusty voice of hers, “Since this is the last day of school, I expect a report on Hamlet for next year. You’ll still have me for English, unfortunately for you. Class dismissed.” A few students groaned or rolled their eyes. Classic Ms. Moore—sending us off into summer with homework. Back in the hallway, the four of us were just lingering near the lockers, not really ready to head home yet. That’s when Ashley smirked and turned to me. “So, Sandy… still crushing on Jason Bates?” I shot her a glare. “Shut up, Ash. No one needs to know that.” Lexi giggled. “Oh, come on, it’s just us. And seriously, why him? He’s kind of a weirdo. All into plants and quiet stares.” “Agree, babe. Fully agree,” Aspen added without hesitation, like he was her personal echo. School went on, as boring as it was fun for Ashley. I still have no clue as to why she loves learning. By the time school ended, students rushed out of their classrooms, tossing school works and messing the place as they all flooded out the school doors. The four of us walked home, stopping by the nearby playground. I sat on the swing set, swinging myself slowly while Ashley was talking. “Lexi… can we hang out at your place? I mean, we know what happened last time we hung out at my place… you three did not like the tea as you three were expecting sweet tea rather than the hot version.” Lexi then replied with that preppy tone, “Sure, sure, why not? I mean, Daddy’s on a business trip, he won’t be home until next week.. so sleepovers can happen. My darling boy Aspen, you will bring the Pizza… Ash, you should bring those Japanese desserts. I love those dorayaki, and tell your mom I said Hi, and Sandy, you can bring sodas… as none of those things are in my pantry as Daddy doesn’t want me eating junk.” “Typical, honestly,” Lexi rolled her eyes. We all agreed on what Lexi had said, as her dad was strict with her diet and nutrition, not wanting her to eat junk foods, and we set up a time to go to her house by eight in the evening. Ashley and I arrived at Lexi’s house on the fancier side of the suburb. I waved goodbye to my mom as she dropped us off here, and my mom said before driving, “Be careful, Sandy, ah... you know, the devil worshippers are out this late.” And I rolled my eyes as the satanic panic was huge this time of year before I said goodbye to her. I let my eyes wander around the Morel’s property... white picket fence, you name it, the American dream home if you will… that’s Lexi’s home. Ashley knocked on the door before Aspen answered the door. “Oh, hey… come in, come in… feel at home just like I do,” Aspen said with a cheeky grin plastered on his face as we all know if Mr. Morel was here; Aspen wasn’t allowed to step foot inside the property. We’ve been here once a few months ago. The interior of the home was cozy, even though Lexi’s an only child in this four-bedroom house that she shares with her dad who’s always away on business trips. Lexi always talks about how she wanted a sibling… If I can switch places with her, I would want to, as in my home, in a Filipino American household, it’s pure chaos, especially having two brothers… little Jayjay and the eldest Mickey… and the two of them are like the same person as my dad. Honestly, the three of them are like one person, chaotic yet funny enough to be stupid. And it’s the classic Filipino American love story… “I met your dad when he was in the army, assigned to the Philippines… and the rest is history,” as my mom always says. We started by nine in the evening. We had set up everything in the living room as the three of us sat on the couch while Aspen put the VHS tape on one of those twenty-five inch TVs that they have, and Aspen turned off the lights before sitting next to Lexi as the movie started. After an hour and a half, the movie ended, and Ashley spoke first, “So, guys, next plan? Board games? Whose in?” I then replied with a smile, “I’m in!” Then Lexi, “We’re in,” she said, and Aspen agreed. We played board games from Pictionary, Talisman, Risk, and Trivial Pursuit. We played for hours before we realized that it’s one in the early morning, and the four of us decided to go to sleep, going to our sleeping bags in the living room, and once we were set, the four of us quickly fell asleep. The next day, the three of us girls were chatting in Lexi’s room. “Sandy, you really love your Levi’s jeans and Converse too much… no offense, girl, but pastel pink and lavender are a thing,” Lexi said while she was trying makeup on her vanity. “Lex.. I am not as preppy as you are, and you know that’s how this whole friendship works: we try to understand what each other likes and dislikes... right, Ash?” I said, laying on Lexi’s silk-sheeted bed, staring at the ceiling before turning to Ashley. “Sandy has a point.. so, Lex, I love you being the popular queen that you are, and we love the tomboy in our group, and of course, that’s you, Sandy... and I know what you two will say, that I look like I work in some office or farm wearing pleated pants and overalls.” Ashley said, looking through Lexi’s closet. We then turned our heads when Aspen barged into the room, saying, “Babe, I saw an ice-cream truck, and I got you three kinds: this pink one, this banana-looking yellow one, and this green one.” He said to Lexi enthusiastically, like a little boy, before turning his head to me and Ashley. “I got you two Ice Creams too; I am not that bad of a person,” he said. “My darling boy, thank you very much, I appreciate it honestly..” Lexi said to Aspen, and he looked so proud of himself. “Summer camp is in two weeks… I heard the camp will be held in Camp Waya,” I said to them. “Oh, that haunted camping ground? I thought they closed that a long time ago,” Aspen said, eating his ice cream. “Aspen, Camp Waya is not haunted, those are just rumors, you know... get your facts straight; they just closed it for nature reservation,” Ashley said, fact-checking Aspen. “For real, guys, the camping trip will give me experience, as this is my first time Daddy has let me out somewhere in nature far from home for that long,” Lexi said, gracefully eating her ice cream. “And guys, will you watch me perform against the other school’s cheerleading dance this Friday? I would love your support,” Lexi turned to us, and we all agreed to be there.
We hung out at Lexi’s place for a few days just to accompany her while her dad was on a business trip, and Friday came, and we were there, cheering for Lexi for the school cheer dance competition, as Lexi was nervous about doing their routine right, and as the cheer captain, she was nervous about the whole thing. If our school wins, then it will move to interstate competitions, then to nationals. “You got this, Lex, the three of us will be cheering for you on the bleachers,” I said to Lexi. “Babe, you got this, you work and practice tirelessly to perfect your routine, and win or lose, I’ll still take you to that steakhouse I’ve mentioned before, so good luck,” Aspen added, kissing Lexi on the cheek. “Break a leg there, Lex,” Ashley said to Lexi, giving her a reassuring smile. The event started smoothly as it should be. We cheered on Lexi as they did their routine perfectly and gracefully, and after those intense yet an awe-inspiring sight of the competitions, Lexi and her group won, scoring ninety percent, while the Evergreen Owls from Evergreen High had scored eighty-nine percent, just one percent away from the Briar Woodpeckers, our school, Briar Woods High. After the competition, the four of us celebrated Lexi’s win.
The four of us headed to our favorite diner after Lexi’s win, Dane’s Diner, and we ordered our usual. Lexi got strawberry milkshake and fries, Aspen and I ordered the root beer float, sloppy joes and pan-fried pepperoni pizza for the four of us, and Ashley, even though she’s the skinny short Japanese girl, she can devour the Diner’s specialty burger called the Dane’s Monster, which was bigger than a normal cheese burger, and of course, she would pair it with vanilla ice cream and wash it down with a glass of water. She was one of the few people who finished the second largest monster burger they serve here, and her face was on the diner’s wall of finishers; there were only four pictures up on that wall, including Ash. After we finished eating at the diner, we talked for a little while, hanging out in the diner. “You know, girls… I think we should bring water shoes to the camp, you know, water shoes,” Aspen said so casually. “Water shoes? Aspen, that’s a stupid idea, and coming from you, it’s not that new,” Ashley chuckled. “Do water shoes even exist? And my darling, as much as I love you, sometimes you just sound stupid, and what the hell are water shoes even?” Lexi said to Aspen. “Yeah, Aspen, what is a water shoe?” I asked, looking at Aspen curious about this idea of his. “Well, I mean, water sandals, those water-resistant sandals since, you know, the camp is in front of a huge lake,” Aspen clarified. “Aspen, that’s the first time you thought of something thoroughly before saying it,” Ashley said to him with a playful tone. We strolled around our small town, Briar Woods, having fun, teasing each other, and Aspen playfully scaring kids that he saw riding their trikes. We got to the edge of town, the forest where we hung out in that old cabin not that far from the road, and we hiked towards the cabin, and Aspen tripping over a few times, playfully catching insects to scare Lexi, which would turn into laughter, and Lexi touching the insects as Aspen assured her that it wouldn’t hurt her. Aspen always tries to bring out the adventurer side of Lexi, as she’s always cooped up in their fancy house or buying makeup in the mall, being the typical popular teenage girl. We reached the old, worn-down cabin, and Aspen quickly headed to the old abandoned car nearby. “Lex, one day I’ll have a car, not like this but nicer, and I’ll get your dad’s approval that I am not just a stupid blonde like he always says.” Lexi chuckled in amusement, shaking her head. “Darling, you don’t have to prove anything.” “Will you two cut being too sweet? Ashley and I are being infested with ants here,” I said jokingly. “Sandy’s right, cut some of it out, ants are feisty biters,” Ashley added, itching her legs as if there were real ants on the ground. “Oh, please, as if you two aren’t used to us being like this… and besides, I am sure about buying a car, that cool-looking one, that ’79 Chevy Impala,” Aspen playfully said before being clumsy and tripping over a tree root as he got out of that old car, causing us to laugh. We hung out in the forest for a while, skipping rocks on the nearby pond, exploring a little bit more of the forest before stumbling across an old cemetery. “Hey, San… you brought your camera, right?” Ashley asked me. “Of course… I did, you didn’t see me earlier during the cheer dance competition taking pictures of Lexi and the cheer squad?” I replied to Ashley before Aspen interrupted. “Now we’re talking. Sandy, take a picture of me and Lexi beside this cool-looking tomb,” Aspen said. “Eww, no... there’s no way in hellI am getting near that tomb, you will never know if that person buried there has radiation from their era. And I don’t want my pastel pink sweatshirt to be ruined just because you want a picture next to it,” Lexi said, not wanting to get close to the tomb Aspen was talking about.
“Chill, babe… no one’s gonna put dirt on your sweater, and you can use my jacket so you can sit on the tomb so we can take a picture… please, babe, I want a picture of us in this cool-looking tomb,” Aspen said, and Lexi agreed, rolling her eyes. “Okay, on the count of three, say cheese… one… two… and three, Cheese!” I said to both of them, pointing my polaroid camera at the two of them, capturing a memory of this day. We took a few more photos as a group, or just Lexi and Aspen, as Aspen had said he wanted pictures so he could show it on the day he’ll marry Lexi, and Lexi got flustered, and Ashley and I teased her about what Aspen had said. Our afternoon was well spent. Before we knew it, night fell, and we said our goodbyes and went to our own homes. When I arrived home, I was greeted by that familiar scent of my mom’s cooking. I always love the food she cooks and my dad trying to help her while being ignored, as my mom’s reason that he doesn’t even know how to cook rice is always funny to me about their dynamic. Seeing my older brother Mickey destroying little Jayjay on the Nintendo console that our dad got for us while he was in Japan a year ago. My brother Mickey, he’s the oldest, as he’s twenty-one but still lives with us as mom insisted, even though Mickey has a stable job and helps around the house, he wanted to be independent, so he lives in the garage. His bills are separate from the house bills, and little Jayjay is our youngest, he’s thirteen years old, and I, the middle child, am seventeen… “Ma, I’m home..” I finally spoke, getting their attention, and my dad was the one who greeted me first. “Hey, my baby girl’s home! How’s your sleepover at the Morel’s, huh? Did you have fun?” He said, being so sweet to me as he still saw me as his baby girl. “Dad, I am not a baby anymore,” I protested, and he smiled and kissed my cheek like the loving father that he is, compared to how distant Lexi’s dad is to her a little bit as Mr. Morel is always busy. “You’re always my baby girl as long as you’re not married, because when you’re tied to someone, I’ll step aside and let the man you marry take care of you. But if this future guy hurts you, I’ll give him double of what he inflicted,” my dad said before calling my mom, “Maria darling, Sandy is home!”. When I walked towards the kitchen, Mickey spotted me and came up to me and started teasing, a typical older brother attitude that is annoying. “Sandra, why do you look so sour all the time, huh? Smile a little bit, will you?” Mickey said teasingly, pinching both of my cheeks. “Dad! Mickey’s teasing again!” I said, calling for our dad’s help. “Micheál Vaughn, stop bothering your sister, she just got home, and call Jayjay as we’re having dinner, and don’t make your mother wait too long as she doesn’t like food going to waste,” our dad said to Mickey.
We sat at the dinner table. “Cassandra, remove your stereo as we are in front of the food before we pray,” our mom said, and I sighed, removing my headphones and turning off my Walkman. Mom led the prayer for the food before we started digging into the food she made, and I saw my mom give Jayjay a glare. “Jasper Jean. Don’t play with your food. You don’t know how many homeless people are wishing for food right now,” our mom said sternly to Jayjay. “Sorry… the food is great as always, Ma,” Jayjay said, complementing the food. We enjoyed dinner our mother prepared before the three of us were assigned chores for the night. Mickey was tasked to wash the dishes, while I was tasked to sweep the floors as mom insisted that the broom gets the dust more than the vacuum, and Jayjay was tasked with cleaning the dining table and feeding our two cats for the night. After everything was done, my family and I were in the living room having movie night as Dad rented a new movie, and while we were watching the film, Dad asked me about the camp. “So, Sandy… your friends coming with you for the upcoming summer camp?” “Yes… they’re coming,” I answered plainly, but to be honest, I was quite nervous about this whole summer camp as I don’t like crowds or any attention from the public. I love small groups like my friends and not a bunch of teens thrown into a summer camp for a whole two weeks. “Aspen is one of the camp counselors. I don’t know what head allowed a nineteen-year-old like Aspen to be a counselor for the camp,” I said to my dad. “Oh, Lionel Mortimer’s son? His third kid who was held back a few times in high school, your schoolmate or the other two?” my dad asked. “The third kid. Lexi’s boyfriend,” I answered. “Lexi’s your age, right?” my dad asked, and I nodded. “Well, it seems like the old Alessio Morel doesn’t like an older guy for his princess,” he chuckled. It was true, Lexi’s seventeen and Aspen’s nineteen. Lexi’s the cheerleading captain, last year’s Miss Briar Woods, and a top student, and Aspen’s had been held back in Highschool three years in a row because he had to work odd jobs to put food on their table, but then again, he’s good at playing football and every girl in our school thinks he’s cute, it’s funny how Lexi is so keen on keeping him by her side. “Well, Dad, Lexi and Aspen are happy, and that’s the only thing that matters… to be honest,” I replied to my dad, and he looked at me and said, “You have a point, sweetheart. The only thing that matters is when two people are happy to be in a relationship.” He then turned his head back to the TV, watching the movie as I saw him put an arm around my mom’s shoulder leaning his head on the side resting on my mom’s head. The next day, I stayed in my room until eleven o’clock in the morning before getting up, taking a shower and getting dressed. I got out of the house by twelve o’clock in the afternoon where I rode my bike towards the nearby park where I met up with my friends. “Hey, guys!” I greeted them, and they greeted me back before Lexi spoke up, “To rewind what the three of us were talking, so we decided to go to Ashley’s place. We agreed on giving the tea a second chance.” “Hey… the tea isn’t that bad, and Okasan made dorayaki and shiruko this time,” Ashley said in defense of the weird tea ritual and the dessert she said got us curious, Aspen, with a curious yet confused look, just said, “Those sound good, are they dessert?” “Yes, traditional Japanese desserts, and Okasan asked me to invite you, that’s why we’re going. So, shall we go now?” Ashley answered with a smile and we nodded in agreement and got our bikes. We rode our bikes towards the Shitai household.
The house came into view as a Western Japanese style home, surrounded by these huge pine trees on the back, as if the place was in another dimension and the interior of the home was traditional Japanese rooms mixed with western style rooms. We were warmly greeted by Ashley’s parents, the two in their early sixties Japanese couple. Ashley told us once that her parents became parents during their early forties, having twins Ashley and her brother Kurou Ashton, the two of them are miracle babies as Ashley mentioned. “Kira, I am so glad you brought your friends over again and I am glad they accepted my invite,” Ashley’s mom said to her in a somewhat broken English. “Children, sit, sit.. I have made a Japanese dessert that you will love,” she added, and we sat down on what looked like a chair with no legs. “The tatami floors look great, Mrs. Shitai,” Lexi politely said, complementing the Japanese-style room. “Oh no, no, children, you call me Aunty Meiji... okay?” Ashley’s mom said, smiling at us as she served us the Japanese desserts she made so we could taste those foreign desserts. Looking at Aspen he seems to be drooling over the dessert in front of him. Aspen was the first one to take a dorayaki as it was foreign to him, even calling it pancakes with fillings, and we saw the look in his eyes when he took a bite, quickly complimenting Ashley’s mom and the desserts. “Woah, Aunty Meiji, this is so good… wow, sick pancakes with fillings, definitely a yes in my book!,” the three of us chuckled, seeing his reaction to the desserts. “I have made cold sweet tea, it was hard to follow first, but this one is good… as I know you three probably don’t drink hot tea as much as we do,” Aunty Meiji said, bringing a pitcher of sweet tea she made for us, and I thought that’s so sweet of her, making something out of her comfort zone just to be more accommodating with her kid’s friends. We hung out at their place until eight pm where night already settled in, and we said our goodbyes to Ashley’s parents as we rode our bikes. Ashley came with us when we made a stop at a trailer park. We rode our bikes inside and stopped in front of two trailer vans. “Don’t mind the clutter, guys,” Aspen said. The trailer park is where Aspen and his three siblings live. Aspen’s the third child of their big family. Two of his siblings had moved away and cut contacts with their parents, the other one was killed related to drugs as Aspen’s dad wasn’t the best father that there is. We entered the bigger trailer van where Aspen was greeted by his two baby siblings who were ten and four years old, the kids of his stepmom and dad. Lexi played with them as Lexi loves children, and one of the reasons why she liked Aspen in the first place. “Darling, I love how you have siblings, they’re so adorable, my gosh,” Lexi said to Aspen, and Aspen gave her a smile before turning to his stepmom. “Amanda, where did the deadbeat asshole go off again? And have you, Reagan, Donnie and Ian eaten yet?” Aspen asked his stepmom, who looks skinny for her own good, even for a thirty-five-year-old, and his stepmom stuttered, carrying an infant in her arms. “No… and I don’t know where Lionel went for two days now and… I have fed the kids with whatever I could find in the fridge.” Aspen let out a sigh and shook his head. “Damn it,” he cursed under his breath. “Oh, the little cuties haven’t eaten anything?” Lexi said with genuine concern. “My darling boy... why didn’t you say anything…? you know I could help, I can’t let my boyfriend’s baby sibling starve… look at baby Ian, he needs formula for one, he’s a growing infant,” Lexi added, and Aspen looked at her. “Babe, we don’t need your help, thank you, but I can manage,” Aspen said, not wanting to take the help from Lexi as he felt pathetic enough to ask something from her. We know that Aspen being clumsy and stupidly funny is a façade to hide his problems and worries, we understand that and just let him be himself around us. Lexi then asked if they had a home phone that she could use, and Aspen pointed to the counter top where an old telephone was hanging, and we looked at Lexi making a phone call before hanging up. We didn’t question it as Lexi has a personal on-call valet assigned to her by her dad. And not long after, her valet arrived, carrying paper bags. “Miss Alexandria, your request for groceries is here and also the children’s necessities,” her valet placed the four paper bags on the couch of that trailer van before being given permission by Lexi to leave. Aspen looked at Lexi. “Lex, don’t tell me you just asked your valet to get us groceries..” “Aspen, as much I love to just agree on not helping, but I can’t just stand here looking pretty while there’s starving children. I look up to Princess D. She’s pretty, but she just doesn’t sit there and watch children starving,” Lexi replied to Aspen, and Lexi’s heart melted when Aspen’s baby sister Reagan, who’s four, said thank you to Lexi for the groceries. “Fine, fine… thank you, babe, for the groceries, this will help us a lot, and I promise to give back the help you gave us,” Aspen said, bringing his pride down a little bit for Lexi. And Lexi smiled at him before embracing him and Aspen whispered to Lexi the words “I love you” kissing the top of her head.
After a little while, the four of us got out of the trailer park and rode our bikes towards the downtown part of town. Aspen spotted an old, seemingly abandoned pickup truck out in the street, and he stopped near the truck, picked the lock, and hotwired the truck, bringing it to life, and we each put our bikes on the truck bed before getting inside the truck. Ashley and I are on the back seat while Lexi was on the passenger side. This time of night there weren’t many people around as it was now eleven in the evening. Adrenaline rushing as Aspen sped up, our heads out the window, feeling the air on our faces, our hair blowing with the wind. It might sound stupid, but we don’t question what the stupid and technically legal adult, Aspen Lyle Mortimer, is doing. Speeding every red light, screaming on the top of our lungs while we chuckle how Lexi’s so concerned about her hair being ruined and acting like a mom, asking Aspen to slow down a little bit, but Aspen ignored her, quite surprising that he ignored her request. We stopped by a gas station, and as always, Lexi paid for the snacks, as her wallet is thicker than Aspen’s eyebrows.
Before driving off again to the edge of town where Aspen parked the car near the cliff as the four of us sat on the roof and watched the town’s skyline and we gazed upon the stars. I wandered my eyes, thinking how peaceful and nice this all feels, just the four of us and nothing else. The next morning, we all woke up sore as the four of us cramped in that truck throughout the night. We got out of the car, stretched for a little bit before returning inside, driving back to town where we first saw the truck. Aspen parked it nicely to where it was and put a piece of paper outside the windshield. “We paid for gas,” was written on the paper before we got our bikes down the truck bed and headed to Dane’s Diner to have breakfast. “A week before the camp, are you guys ready?” Aspen asked as his mouth was full with waffles. “Darling, don’t talk when your mouth is full.” Lexi reprimanded Aspen. “Why, babe?” Aspen said, feigning as if he was offended. “Proper etiquette, dear,” Lexi simply answered. “Aspen, you are one of the counselors for the camp, right?” Ashley asked, and Aspen nodded. “Yeah, I am, and even if I am your friend here in the camp, I am a counselor, okay? No silly business,” Aspen told us to respect him as a camp counselor. “Silly business? Aspen, you’re the king of silly businesses… and stupid reckless ones too,” I chuckled, and the rest of the morning was us just having fun. That was the end of the first week before summer camp, and the realization that summer camp is near gives me anxiety as to what will happen to me or to the people around me.
