101 Ways to Survive Band Camp

My sister leaned forward and squinted her eyes at the the road, the glare from the pavement obscuring the exit ramp sign. I pressed my forehead against the window and watched the peach groves go by. There was a lot left unsaid between Sarah and I. The two of us sat in a frustrated silence. Why was she allowed to be frustrated with me? For the first time in forever I was about to do something I had desperately wanted, something I work hard for. It just so happened that for the first time in forever Sarah was not getting what she wanted.

I pulled my feet up under me as Sarah took a sharp left turn, "Watch it! I'm trying not to die on my way to camp."

Sarah shot me a killer glare and slammed on the breaks for a stop sign, "You're not going to die on your way to band camp." Even as she snapped at me she still came off as angelic. It wasn't my fault we had to move. If I remembered correctly she needed us to move so she could be valedictorian and get a crazy scholarship to Clemson.

Sarah pulled off the road into a gas station in the middle of no where, "Sarah we have somewhere to be!"

"And we won't get there if I run out of gas, you're lucky I'm driving you anyway." Sarah threw open her door and slammed it closed before I could respond.

I left the car and headed into the cool of the small gas station mart. I didn't count myself lucky that I had to spend three hours being driven to the middle of nowhere by my ever perfect sister. I didn't count myself lucky that neither of my parents wanted to see me off, instead they went on a cruise. I didn't count myself lucky at all.

I reached for the door to the water cooler and was met with another hand, one much larger than my own. Attached the hand was a gorgeous man, "I'm sorry miss". The gorgeous man had a southern drawl that made me think about passing out bibles. I pulled my back and pressed my fingers to my lips to keep from saying something I would regret.

When I decided on what I wanted to say a bubbly blonde bounced in and stuck out her hand, "Hi there, I'm Autumn!" Autumn she wasn't, she was bubbly and blonde and tanned skin and a persona that screamed beach bum.

I placed my hand in hers and she shook it with about as much force as a gerbil, "I'm Summer". I didn't feel like summer though. I didn't feel like a bonfire with friends in the middle of the night. I felt like a little kid living in a shadow. I wasn't the star of the softball team and I certainly wasn't a bubbly blonde.

"It's nice to meet you but we've got a place to be. I hope to see you later though!" The man gave me a sheepish smile before letting himself be pulled away by Autumn. I reached back into the cooler and grabbed two waters. I met Sarah at the register and paid before getting back into the car.



Sarah gripped the steering wheel tighter as she pulled into the drive. "Did you at least get his number?"

If I rolled my eyes any harder they would fall out of my head, "No of course I didn't get his number." I reached around into the back seat and pulled my bag into my lap.

"Why not?" I could feel Sarah grasping at something to talk to me about. I didn't want to talk about boys though, especially unattainable boys.

"He was with that blonde. Why would he go for me if he has her?"

Sarah pulled into a parking spot and I threw open the door before she had even put the car in park. "Summer, you can't keep comparing yourself to other people. Life isn't like a Venn Diagram."