I cross my arms, annoyed. “I don’t want to go, Mason. I don’t want to sit around the fire and sing ‘Kumbaya’ with strangers.”
“All you talk about is getting out of this town and away from our parents. Here’s your chance.” He sits beside me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.
“Tell me…when will I have the chance to build my portfolio? You know that Mama snubs her nose at the idea of me being an independent woman, and being an architect means precisely that. I need to hide my work at all costs. The summer would have been the perfect time to start my future. With her and Daddy at work during the day, I could really focus on myself for a change.”
He sinks lower in the mattress and lets out a defeated breath. “I’ll figure something out, Madeline, I promise. I’ll have supplies sent to camp for you so you can work on what you need to.”
I turn toward him and take a good look at my brother.
He’s the best person in the world and I literally don’t know how I would do life without him. If he weren’t there for me, life would be a lot more suckier, that’s for sure.
“I love you.”
He knocks my shoulder and smiles. “I know.”
“Jerk.” I smile for the first time all day. “Say it back.”
He throws his arm around my neck and puts me in a headlock, ruffling up my hair with his other hand. “Ahh. Mason, are you crazy? I just did my hair. Stop.” I laugh out loud. “I’m going to pee my pants,” I wheeze, and he backs off and then pushes me back onto the mattress when he gets up.
“I just want to make sure you remember who’s in charge.” He pauses at the door. “I love you too, and Madeline?”
“Yeah?” I sit up, breathless, swiping the hair out of my face.
“You won’t understand until you’re there, but you’re going to realize this summer will change everything. I didn’t get it until the first time I went. I was just as naïve as you. But you’re going to get a taste of the freedom you’ve dreamed of, and realize all your dreams, the ones you have of becoming a famous architect who builds skyscrapers in New York City, are going to come true, and opportunities for people who are determined and hardworking are endless. You’ll meet kids our age who live all over the world, and for the first time in your life, you’ll feel alive.” He pauses, staring at me for a moment like he’s trying to ingrain every word into my mind. “Who knows, it might be the best summer of your life.”
He closes the door before I can comment on his very mature speech, then I flop back over, looking up at my bare ceiling, and take in his words.
The best summer of my life.
Yeah right. There’s no way.
2
Six Months Later
July
Maddie Grace
My knee bounceswildly as the car creeps down the endless, tree-lined drive toward Camp Horizon.
Mason and I landed in New York earlier today, and we’d been driving for hours mostly in silence. But now, as we near, my nerves are creeping up at lightning speed.
It was too expensive for my parents to take us, so Mason and I flew together. When we landed, a car from the camp was waiting to pick us up.
I’ve never been to New York or anywhere north of Georgia, for that matter.
The farthest we’ve traveled has been to a neighboring state, like South Carolina or Florida, and only when we could scrape together enough for a weekend away.
Yet, now that I’m finally in New York, all I can think of is how much I want to visit Manhattan. Only we’re driving in the entirely opposite direction.
Far from the place I’ve always known I would live since I was a young girl, sneaking episodes ofFriends.
“You’re going to be all right. I promise. Don’t be nervous,” Mason whispers.
“I’m fine,” I lie, my eyes glued to the trees flying past.
He reaches over, stilling my knee with his hand. “Yeah. Okay. I believe you.”
