~Melanie~
We follow my dad to the cabin as Mr. Page begins placing the cooked burgers, cheeseburgers, and hotdogs on two large serving trays. We enter through the low-hanging wooden door frame into the kitchen.
The kitchen looks the same as it always has since before I was even born, with the dark wooden cabinets and countertops, the yellow farm sink, the brown metal fridge, and the matching dark wood round table and chairs placed in the middle of the room.
Both my grandmas and Bianca's grandmas, Mrs. Page and Mrs. Hill, all sit at the large round table, gossiping, of course. They stop once they see us.
"Mellie!" Grandma Rogers smiles and reaches her arms out to me, still seated in her chair.
I lean down to hug her and try to wrap my arms around her large body, but my hands still don't meet. Either she's gotten larger, or I've stopped growing. She smells like lavender, as always, which makes me smile.
Grandma Hansen attempts to stand up as her boney body cracks. I cringe.
Dad steps in closer to her, "Don't worry, Ma, Melliebean will come to you."
I walk around Grandma Rogers and hug Grandma Hansen.
She shakily kisses my cheek, "Good to see you, dear."
I smile, "Hi, Grandma Page and Grandma Hill. I hope they haven't been working you too hard."
Grandma Hill scoffs in her baggy kitten tie-dye tee shirt. Still wearing clothes way too large for her, I see.
"If I have to make one more potato salad, I might as well croak," she says.
Grandma Page chuckles, and her enormous bosom bounces along with the rest of her body. "Who is this young boy?" she asks.
I look over at James and frown. His gray eyes are wide, and he forces a smile. Why is he so nervous? Maybe I shouldn't have told him about Marisa and Kevin in the car...
"This is my boyfriend, James McGill. James, I'd like for you to meet my Grandma Rogers and my Grandma Hansen, and these are Bianca's Grandmas, Mrs. Hill and Mrs. Page."
"It's wonderful to meet such a handsome young man not part of the family," Grandma Page says.
Grandma Hill rolls her eyes as she hides a grin.
"Oh, shush, Brandi. James, it's very nice to meet you," Grandma Rogers says.
"Yes, please, make yourself at home," Grandma Hansen says.
"Hey, Ma," Dad interjects, "do we have an extra sleeping bag for James?"
Grandma Hansen puts her skinny finger on her wrinkly chin as she thinks. "Check the attic."
Dad nods as he heads toward the back hallway with the drop-down ladder to the attic.
"Thank you for having me," James musters up as he shuffles his feet.
"Come on, James." I grab his hand. "Let's go put our stuff down and have you meet everyone else!" I say, trying to help him escape the anxiety I can see taking over.
He trails behind me as we walk back outside toward the right side of the cabin through the beaten-down brush path, where a clearing shows ten two-person tents scattered about in a somewhat oval shape around the large bonfire pit in the center.
I walk toward the tents in the far back near the cluster of pine trees where I know all of us kids will be sleeping. I pop my head into one and see stuff already in it. I walk toward the next as James follows and pop my head into another one. This one is empty, so I toss my stuff inside.
"Don't forget, this purple and green tent is ours this week. I don't want you stumbling drunk into someone else's tent." I laugh.
James puts his hands up, "Oh, no. I wouldn't."
I place my hands on his shoulders and look up at him. "You're so uptight, right now. Try to relax and enjoy yourself. Everyone is going to love you. Don't worry so much."
James nods with a sigh, "You're right. I don't know why I'm so wound up."
"Come on, they're starting lunch, I think."
We head back to the canopy tent through the beaten-down brush path. I see Bianca walking back from the docks with Ethan, Sean, Kara, Graham, and Charlie, all already wet in their bathing suits.
"Hey!" I call out to them.
They all look over at us except for Ethan, who continues to stare at the ground. Everyone but Charlie and Ethan starts running over to us as they continue to head toward the picnic tables. What's that about?
~~~