Camp

Grace

"Gurēsu o samashimasu (Wake up Grace).  It's time to get ready." my mother says softly, looking around my door into my room.

"Okay" I say, sitting up in my bed, "I'll go wake up Nick for you."

I walk down the hall to my older brother's room and crack open the door only to see him asleep with his guitar in his hands. I quietly step into his room and gingerly take the guitar from his grasp and set it on his desk, then begin setting up my final wake-up prank for the next weeks. It is our tradition to come up with terrible ways to wake each other up and it is finally my turn.  Thankfully, he is a heavy sleeper.

💠

I finish putting the last piece of plastic wrap in place and smile at my work.  I stand in front of his door, put my hands on my hips, and scream, "WAKE UP NICK! I'M LEAVING!" before ducking into his nearby sports closet.

"WAIT GRACE!" I hear him yell back, before unleashing a string of curse words as he begins to encounter the obstacles I set up for him.  I quickly duck into his sports closet, just as he emerges from his room.  After he passes the closet on the way toward my room, where I assume he thought I was going to hide, I slip into his room and plop down on his bed.  I know it is going to be a few minutes before he decides to return.  I realize then that I'm not just going to miss home, but all the little things that are inside.  I'm going to miss Nick's burgundy walls, messy closet, and constant guitar practice.  I'm going to miss my light yellow walls, my master bookshelf, and friends down the street. I'm going to miss our constant pranking and our neighborhood water fights (in which I am team captain for my block by the way).  I am going to miss so much. So much except -

"Shit I .... Fuck you!" Nick tells me as he walks into his room, covered in flour and other sticky products, to find me absentmindedly strumming his guitar.

"Oh Nick" I sigh, placing his guitar back on the bed, "I strongly disapprove of incest, no matter how attracted you are to me. I am flattered, yet disgusted."

He stops in tracks, mouth agape, trying to come up with a suitable comeback.  He sighs, rubbing the mysterious goo into his hair, "Ugh just fuck off. Leave."

I stand up so we can be face-to-face and bring my voice to a whisper, "You'll get your wish... You just better enjoy me while I'm here." I step around him and waltz out his door and down the hall to my room.

"Oh, and mama said wake up!" I scream before closing my door and pulling my half-packed suitcase from underneath my bed. 

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Less than an hour later, I find myself eating my last breakfast with my parents and brother for the next months. It feels just any other day, yet I also doesn't. Soon after we finish, I lug my fully packed suitcase down the hall toward the front door. Halfway to the stairs, Nick picks it up for me and carries it the rest of the way, leaving me to carry my black backpack. We say our goodbyes, consisting of a few tears and my brother carries my suitcase out to the street.

"I'm soooo glad you are going to be gone" he states as he hands the suitcase to me.

I punch his arm, "You know you're gonna miss me."

He pushes me toward the nearby park, one of the South-lake Camp bus pickup spots, "I can't believe I'm about to say this but... I'll be here waiting for you to come back, so take care of yourself."

"And if I don't?"

He smiles, "Then I won't have anyone to prank."

"Goodbye Nick" I laugh before heading towards the park.