The Last July: A New Adult Romance

by Breanna Mounce

  I’ve just lost my third game of Candy Land when Daisy comes skipping over to me, her pigtails bouncing. “Penelope!”

  “What’s up, girlie?” I ask her when she plops down next to me, sitting on her knees.

  “Can you help us pull the gymnastics mats out? Morgan wants to show me her cartwheels and stuff!”

  The campers playing the game with me have all gotten up to go try something else so, I toss all the pieces back into the box. “Sure can.”

  I’m happy Morgan is taking the time to actually interact with the younger kids. She seemed very introverted when I first met her, I guess all it took was finding something she loves to do to get her out of her shell.

  I take the board game and return it to the table for other campers to play and then go into the storage room to pull the two huge mats out, one at a time. Kelsey comes over to help me set them up for the girls and soon enough, more campers come to watch and try their turn at a cartwheel or tumble.

  Morgan’s good, no wonder her mom was so stern about her diet. I’m wondering why her parents didn’t send her to a specific camp for ballerinas or gymnasts, don’t they have those options available? Kelsey has a few campers surrounding her and she’s teaching them a cheer with letters to spell out Camp Arthur, but I stay focused on Morgan. She slides her shoes off, to make it easier to spin. Moving to a section of the room without carpet.

  She moves into position and I know there’s a direct term but I was only in ballet for a year when I was five before I quit because I didn’t like being on stage, and then she moves her arms in front of her and spins in six quick circles and returns to her start position. Daisy claps her hands with some younger boys that came to watch, a few get up and try to imitate Morgan’s spins, but they just tumble to the floor or stagger looking like tiny drunk humans.

  The lights in the building flicker on and off with a loud bang of thunder and a flash of lightning in the windows. Three of the younger kids cling to my legs, shaking from the noise.

  Truth be told, thunder and lightning scare me too. It’s tornado season here in Tennessee, which makes me even more paranoid. At least we’re in one of the more stable buildings.

  The electric finally shuts off completely and I usher the kids away from the windows and back into the larger room where some of them are laying on their stomachs around a small laptop screen watching a Disney movie, they’re heads propped up on their hands. Me and some of the other counselors grab flashlights, it’s almost pitch black in the building, so we can get the rest of the campers in a group to find another activity to keep them busy until we’re free to go to our cabins.

  Daisy climbs into my lap while Kenny and one of the other male counselors act out a skit, and asks me to braid her hair in pigtails, I separate her soft, thin hair and style it while I let my mind drift off to thoughts of Sampson and things that will never happen between us.

  JUNE

  We’ve only had the campers for a week, but I’m so relieved to finally have two days off where I can go home. I get up around 5 in the morning and grab my bag I packed the night before while the campers were already asleep. Only one of them is up now reading on her Kindle, her back turned away from me.

  Mr. Garreth told us that when we’re packing up to go home for a day or two we need to do it without the campers there. Supposedly, some campers might grow attached to you because they might have divorced parents and they can’t handle seeing another adult figure leave. We’re not allowed to tell them where we’re going either, and if you’re staying and your co-counselor is leaving, you just have to say that the other person will be back sometime soon.

  It’s silly to me, but I will not argue with the boss.

  I quietly open the door to the cabin and close it softly behind me, making sure not to wake up anyone. I turn on my small flashlight because the sun hasn’t risen yet. The walk to my car is peaceful with the crickets still chirping, and the birds haven’t woken yet.

  “Psst!” comes a voice from the welcome center porch as I pass by.

  I spin around, drop my laundry bag on the ground, and prepare to use my water bottle as a weapon.

  “Jesus, Sampson!” I squeak out. “What the hell are you doing out here?”

  “Couldn’t sleep,” he says shrugging his shoulders. “Came out here because the cabin was stuffy and it already smells like boys going through puberty.”

  “That’s because boys are currently going through puberty in there.”

  “Heading home?” he asks.

  I pick up my laundry bag. “Yeah, figured I needed my own bed for a little bit. I promised my friend at home that I’d go to a bonfire with her.”

  “Are our bonfires not good enough for you?” he teases.

  I blush and thank the Lord he can’t see me that well. “They are, but my friend helped me out, so I’m paying her back. Bonfire’s tonight, so I figure I should make it home by nine and then I’ll have all day to hang out with my parents.”

  “That should be nice, drive safely. You back on Sunday?”

  “Yeah, Sunday evening. After dinner,” I say.

  “I’ll see ya then,” he says.

  I wave and turn around, heading for my car.

  “Mom, dad, I’m home!” I say as I close the front door behind me. I drop my laundry bag off by the stairs and head into the kitchen.

  “Honey, you’re back!” my mom says. She comes around the kitchen island to hug me. “I’ve missed you so much.”

  “I’ve missed you too. Where’s dad?” I ask. I hadn’t seen his truck in the driveway, and he’s always had Fridays off from work.

  “He’s going to meet us for... lunch,” she hesitates a little. “How about you go rest up from your drive? I put fresh sheets on your bed. I’ll wash your dirty laundry and then we’ll go out to lunch. How about that old diner you love, Little Shrimp? You’re old favorite.”

  I smile. “Sounds good. Wake me up in an hour or so.”

  My bedroom is just the way I left it. My parents haven’t turned it into a workout room or storage closet like they teased they would. I kick off my flip flops and crash down on my bed, pulling a blanket over my body. I love camp, but sleeping on a thin mattress you can’t really call a twin sized bed doesn’t make for the best sleep.

  Before I know it, I’ve fallen asleep. I check my watch to see how long I’ve been sleeping, and it’s already noon. I rub my eyes and stretch out, glad that my feet don’t hit the stairs of the bunk bed, just more bed. I get up and walk over to the bathroom, fixing my hair and brushing my teeth. Finally, I get to take as much time as I please, enjoying the quiet.

  I go over to my closet and change out of my gym shorts and into a pair or peach colored shorts with a white tank top, happy that I don’t have to worry about getting my clothes dirty and stained.

  When I go back downstairs, my mom is sitting at the kitchen table sipping on what looks to be tea. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

  She turns and smiles at me. “Sorry, I tried but you were knocked out. Figured it would be best to let you sleep some more. You probably don’t get much with the campers, do you?”

  “Lights out at eleven, wakeup call at seven. I usually get six actual hours of sleep because the girls stay up giggling all night or someone has a nightmare and I have to calm them down.”

  “That sounds exhausting,” mom says. “Why don’t you give your dad a call and let him know to meet us and we’ll head out. Tell him we’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

  She gets up from the table and grabs her purse and keys, heading out through the garage. I call dad, and he picks up on the third ring. He seems a little cheerier than mom, but that’s not saying much. I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t have come home this weekend.

  The garage looks cleaner than I remember it. When I get in the car I buckle my seatbelt and turn to mom. “Did you guys get rid of some stuff?”

  “What?” she asks. “Oh, yeah, we had a garage sale. There was a bit too much clutter in here.”
r />   Dad already has a table when we get there. He waves me over and pats the seat next to him for me to sit. “How’s my little girl doing?”

  I hug him tightly. “Fine, tired. I got up at five this morning to drive home.”

  “How’s your first job treating you?”

  “It’s different than being a camper, but I still get to do most of the cool stuff I enjoyed doing. We have camp games on Monday, so I’m excited for that.”

  “That’s good. Have you made any new friends?” he asks.

  “I mean, sort of. Kelsey is there again, but I have to watch over her now instead of hanging out. That kind of sucks. It’s different, it kind of feels like I have to keep a distance with everyone now.”

  “Are you ready to order?” asks the waitress, her pen already poised over her tattered notepad.

  “I think we are,” says my dad pointing to my mom. “Ladies first.”

  Mom glances over the menu, not ready to actually order as always, so I go first instead. I order my usual, a plain cheeseburger with a chocolate milkshake.

  Dad orders wings and a beer while mom just orders a salad. She never orders a salad while out for lunch or dinner.

  “So, have any big plans for your weekend back?” Mom asks.

  “Yeah, I’m supposed to go out with Janine tonight. I promised her I’d go to a bonfire.”

  “That sounds good. It’ll do you girls some good to catch up,” my mom says, sipping on her water.

  “Yeah,” I look between my mom and dad, neither of them really looking at each other. “Am I missing something?”

  “What do you mean?” my dad asks.

  “You two, you’re being weird.”

  My parents finally exchange a look between each other and then they both look off into two different directions. Before I can ask what’s going on for the second time, our waitress sets me and dads drinks on the table.

  “Your food will be out in a few minutes, holler if you need something,” she says with a smile on her face.

  The three of us nod our heads and the waitress places the bill on the table upside down. “When you’re ready to check out, you can pay at the counter.”

  Once she walks away my parents go back to avoiding me and each other.

  “Tell me what’s going on,” I demand.

  My mom sighs. “We were hoping to leave you out of this. We expected you to be at camp for the whole summer and not be coming home too often.”

  “Well, sorry,” I say, feeling like I’m not wanted around here or anywhere for that matter. “I thought you guys would want to see me. If you didn’t want me to come home, you should have just told me. I’m sure I can find a laundromat to do my clothes.”

  Our food arrives and our waitress must sense the horrible conversation because she’s sneaks off quickly without asking if we need anything else.

  “Your mother didn’t mean it like that,” dad says, wiping his hands on a napkin. “What she meant was, we thought you would never have to know. That we could fix this while you were gone.”

  “Fix what?” I say, still not following along.

  “We’re currently going through a separation,” mom blurts out all at once.

  “You mean you’re getting a divorce?” I ask, pushing my food away.

  “No, that’s not what this means, not yet,” dad says. The ‘not yet’ part hits me like a sledge hammer in my chest.

  I sit back in my chair and cross my arms. “You weren’t planning on telling me at all this summer? How long has this been going on?”

  “Since April,” my mom says. “We’re trying to work this out. We figured it would be easier while you were gone all summer.”

  “Did you move out?” I ask my dad, tears forming, my voice shaking.

  “I’m temporarily staying at your grandmother's,” my dad says. “Don’t worry about us, honey.”

  “Are you kidding me? My parents tell me they might be getting a divorce, and I’m not supposed to worry?” I stand up from the table and walk away.

  “Where are you going, Penelope?” my mom asks. A few customers have turned to look at the small town drama unfolding in front of them. It wouldn’t surprise me if my parents’ divorce ends up in the county paper under announcements, next to a cow for sale and an engagement featuring a picture of a couple clad in all camouflage.

  “I’m going to Janine’s, I’ll be home late,” I say, walking out the door, heading in the direction of Janine’s neighborhood with an empty stomach. Lucky for me, she only lives about a mile away from the restaurant. My parents don’t try to stop me. I can only hope they stay and enjoy lunch together, but I know that won’t be the case.

  By the time I get to the front door of Janine’s house, I’m drenched in sweat from the summer heat. My t-shirt sticks to my back and my hair stuck to my neck. I’m a mess. As soon as Janine opens the door, she knows just how much of a mess I am.

  “What happened? Where’s your car?” she asks, pulling me into a hug, not caring about how gross I smell from the walk here.

  “At home.”

  “How’d you get here?”

  I shrug my shoulders. “Walked from the middle of town,” I tell her.

  She pulls me up the stairs and tells me to go get a shower while she grabs me some better clothes. Thank god we wear the same sizes.

  After I shower, I walk into her room and curl up in her bed wearing the Class of 2017 t-shirt and jean shorts she left in the bathroom for me. She’s already in the bed, scrolling through something on her phone. I rest my head on her shoulder.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” she asks, laying her phone on her bedside table.

  Do I? I don’t know.

  “My parents are thinking about getting a divorce. I’ve been gone for like, two weeks and my dad has already moved out,” I say, feeling a bit emotionally numb.

  “That’s awful,” Janine says, running her fingers through my hair. “I just saw your mom at the store the other day and she seemed fine. How long have they been deciding?”

  I scoff. “No clue, I guess a couple months now. They said they were hoping to fix things this summer in the hopes of me not knowing anything was wrong. What? Was I just not supposed to come home and never know what was going on?”

  “I’m sure they have reasons,” Janine says. “People grow apart, maybe it’s for the best.”

  “For the best?” I ask, sitting up to stare at her. “My parents have been married for twenty-five years, why would anyone throw that away? You know my parents, they’ve always been happy and perfectly made for each other.”

  “I know, let’s just… how about we forget what’s going on with them. Let’s go get a mani-pedi before the bonfire tonight, and then buy something new to wear. You have one of their credit cards for emergencies, right? I think this could be considered an emergency. They owe you for keeping you in the dark.”

  I stare down at my finger nails, dirt and paint from camp under them. “You’re right. Let’s do it.”

  A fifty dollar mani-pedi, eight missed calls from my parents, and a seventy-eight dollar shopping spree later, Janine and I are at one of her friend’s houses waiting for guests to show up for the bonfire.

  My mom’s picture flashes up on my phone again and I decline her call, shoving my phone into my pocket. “When is everyone supposed to be here?”

  Janine’s friend, who I’ve seen around school but never knew Janine talked to, responds. “Probably in fifteen minutes.”

  She pours Doritos into a bowl and then goes to grab a two liter off the top of the fridge, her crop top rising way above her belly button, her bra almost showing. I quickly look away, wondering if she will change before people get here, or if I’m possibly the one who should change. Day three of wearing the same gym shorts and all.

  “Cool,” I say. “So, your parents just let you have parties all the time?”

  She laughs. “Sort of. They never really know about it, they’re always out of town on trips.”

  “You do
n’t go with them?”

  “They haven’t taken me on vacation since I was old enough to stay home by myself,” she says as she pulls red plastic cups from the cupboard. “I don’t mind though, I’d rather stay here with my friends and drink and party.”

  “How do you get alcohol,” I ask, noticing there’s only three 2-liters next to the cups. “I mean, we just graduated high school.”

  “College boys, duh,” she snickers and rolls her eyes.

  Janine and I exchange a look and she just smiles and shrugs. The doorbell rings and Janine’s friend claps her hands and skips over to the door. As she welcomes in the new guests, Janine comes over and hugs me.

  “I know she’s a bit much at first, but she’s been such a good friend to me since you’ve been at camp. Try to have fun tonight,” Janine tells me.

  Five guys come in, all carrying six packs of beers and wearing Greek letters on their shirts. Another six girls follow in shortly after them with four more guys. I recognize only a few. Everyone grabs a drink and heads out to the backyard to start the bonfire, everyone except me and another guy who lingers behind.

  “What’s up?” he asks. “My name’s Denny.”

  “Penelope,” I say simply, pulling out my phone to pretend like I’m distracted.

  He laughs and when I don’t laugh with him he takes a sip of the beer he just opened. “Shit, sorry. Thought you were joking about that being your name.”

  “Why would I joke about that?” I ask, placing my phone on the counter with a thud.

  He shrugs and offers me a beer but I shake my head no. “Girls lie.”

  “So do guys.”

  “No, guys tell the truth, girls just don’t want to hear it.”

  I roll my eyes. “Let me guess, you’re single.”

  “Why do you want to know, you interested?” he teases, arching his eyebrows at me.

  “Nope!”

  “Got a boyfriend?” he asks.