Polaroid Summer (I'm too lazy to update)

Chapter 1

I hear the chimes again of the door and I see mom striding out the door with two subs in hand and a plastic bag. She smiles at me. I unlock the door for her and she enters and says, "I have food."

He pops awake as if it was Christmas morning and snatches a sub out of her hand, not caring which one it is.

"Hey," Mom says, "This one is yours." She hands the other other one to him and extracts the sub he had first taken out of his hand.

She hands the one hat Chris had first taken to me.

I nod, and peel back the wrapping and bite into the sub.

"Buckle up," she says and I pull the seat belt across me and sit back eating.

Mom continues driving quietly along the boring road which has been looking the same for the past ten minutes. Its basically just trees and water in he distance which never seems to grow closer. Wherever we are.

"Mom," I ask quietly.

"Yes, honey...?" she says, sounding a bit preoccupied, probably not paying attention to what I'm saying.

"Where are we?"

"I believe we are enter a town called Canezz, where your aunt lives."

What kind of name is that for town?

"Well, you'll like it. Auntie Lou says it is a very nice place. It's a little empty but very peaceful. You'll enjoy it," Mom muses, still sounding preoccupied.

Chris does a half-scoff, half-grunt.

I just say quietly, "I guess." I wasn't convinced that I would enjoy "a little empty place." That just makes it sound like a ghost town.

It's ten more minutes, and we still aren't there. Ten minutes is pretty long by itself, but in a hot car with an annoying brother, being squished up against the door by a suitcase, and miserable? Think again.

My mom suddenly swerves the car sharply. I slam into the car door. Mom parks the car in front of a charcoal gray and cream house with a turret.

"We're here," she turns off the ignition and steps out of the car. There isn't an expression in. Her voice but she's smiling.

I step out of the car and close the door. I look at the turret sitting at the top and shield my eyes from the glaring sun wih my hand. Maybe I should've taken out my sunglasses, but I didn't know where we were going. I wasn't sure what to expect, but at least a normal looking house. This wasn't exactly normal.

Chris steps out of the car.

"Uh, Mom, are you sure we're at the right place?" he grumbles, kicking at the dirt on the ground.

Mom pulls out a sheet of paper, "Yes."

Just as quickly as she pulls out the sheet of paper is as quickly as she stuffs it back into her bag. I doubt she even read the paper or the street sign. The house looks old fashioned, and what those "interior" designer people would call "victorian." It is made of horizontal slabs of wood and has one, excuse me, two bay windows sticking out of it. A porch wraps the front of the house.

The "trimmings" are painted white but the rest of the house is painted a charcoal gray color. It wasn't very pretty or nice looking as the other houses, which were placed a fair distance from each other.

A thin, young looking lady bounds out from the glass door, "Hi! Sherry! I haven't see you in forever!" She hugs my mom. No one calls my mom Sherry. Ever. Only Dad calls her that. Mom doesn't correct her.

"Hi Lou, it's nice to see you doing so well," Mom says, sounding a tiny bit indifferent. Or was it just me picking that up? She brushes off the front of her shirt and hitches her bag straps higher up her shoulders.

"Auntie" Lou smiles and says, "You seem to be doing pretty well yourself."

Mom shrugs, "I guess so. Well, look at the time. I have to go. I have a plane to catch."

What a cheesy line, Mom. Or are you just tyring to get rid of us and avoid "Aunite Lou." Mom hands my aunt the plastic bag that came from the "General Store."

She hugs me and then reaches over to attempt to hug Chris, but he just shrugs Mom off, "You two be good. Listen to Auntie Lou. Alright? I'll call you when I get there."

And that's it. Three and half sentences and then she's off. Gone. Just left us. I wave bye to her car, driving off into the distance. I don't bother "watching it until it becomes a black speck on the horizon then disappears" as people always talk about. I look back at the house, where I'm going to spend my whole summer.

"Auntie" Lou turns to us. She looks just as she does in the photos but just a little older. Still the same curly black hair and dressed in a sweater and slacks. "You two must be Christopher and Cassandra."

"Chris."

"Casey."

The two of us correct her at the same time.

She does a double take between us and then smiles, "I guess since you both have an alternative name, please don't call me Aunt Lou, Auntie Lou, Ms. Peterson, whatever your mother told you to call me. Just call me Lou."

She looks at the two of us. I look at Chris, he looks as uncomfortable as I do, in awkward stiff stance.

"Let's go in!" Lou says brightly and starts heading towards the house. He shifts his backpack so both straps are on both his shoulders and he picks up the luggage. I grab my duffle bag and begin following them up the steps.

"Why do I have to carry the luggage," Chris grumbles.

"Maybe because you're bigger and stronger than I am...? Is that not obvious?" I ask.

"Shut up, Casey."