The summer we turned thirteen (Published)

The summer we met: The boy in the silver minivan

Harlee

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I still remember the exact moment I first laid eyes on him.

He was climbing out of the back seat of a silver minivan.

There was a girl beside him that looked a few years older than him with a bored expression plastered across her face. She was twirling her blonde hair with one finger while leaning against the car in a backward position. Unfriendliness and lack of interest glared from her countenance.

I quickly looked away before she could notice my staring.

My attention went back to the brunette boy who was hugging his mom as if this would be the last time he'd ever see her.

I felt a pang of sympathy for him. After all, I had been a little nervous about coming to Camp Fairington too, but then, I met Hally and Polly, and now the three of us were all having fun. That's why I knew that if the boy could just come out of his shell, he'd be okay.

Everything in me wanted to go and start bringing him out of that shell right then, but sadly my camp counselor, Kelly, was currently leading my group away to do arts and crafts.

I crossed my fingers that he'd end up in my group somehow.

I didn't know what was pulling me to this kid, but something was.

There was just something special about him to me.

Hopefully, the universe would hear my unspoken prayer.

Hopefully, we'd get to talk soon.

The universe didn't grant my request.

It had been an entire week since the new boy had arrived at camp, and we hadn't spoken to each other once. He wasn't in my group, and that meant our schedules differed greatly. Since there were so many kids at Fairington, if someone wasn't in your group, it wasn't likely you'd see them often. And of course, we weren't in the same bunk, so the only times I did get to see him were during activities that involved the entire fourth grade and meals.

But even during those, he was always alone. Whether he was hiding behind a menu or underneath a table, he was a master at staying closed off.

Until one day, his game of eternal hide and seek backfired on him.

The way it played out was as memorable as the first time I saw him.

My group had just arrived at lunch.

We were sitting at the middle table of the outdoor dining area. The weather was a bit windy for early June but still warm.

"This looks awful, honestly. What is it with cafeteria lunches and camp food?" Hally complained as she disgustedly dissected the contents of her tray.

Polly, her twin sister, shrugged and said,

"I'm not sure. Maybe it's revenge from the cafeteria ladies and camp kitchen staff for all the times we kids misbehave."

"Yeah, maybe they're subtly trying to get rid of us with poison,"

Timothy, another one of our group members, joined in.

I heard their theories but didn't bother to reply.

I was too entranced by James Whitmire.

That was his name, according to Judy, the counselor for his group. I knew this because she was always yelling it whenever he refused to eat lunch with the other kids.

In my opinion, she was quite cruel. I mean it wasn't James' fault he was shy.

This time Judy had forgotten about James and was currently going off on someone else for accidentally spilling their juice on her white sneakers. Judy was seventeen years old, but she acted more like she was our age or younger. She had a short temper that she lost every time things weren't going her way.

I watched intensely as she angrily demanded the poor boy help her clean off her high-tops immediately. He helplessly followed her away from the picnic tables, unable to shield his embarrassment from the onlooking crowd. I stuck my tongue out at her retreating back.

What a jerk.

My eyes wandered back to the usual victim of Judy's outbursts.

James was peeking his head out from underneath the small wooden table he'd been hiding under.

Relief washed over his face upon seeing her exit.

I couldn't help but smile at his relief.

But much to my dismay, my expression did not go unnoticed by my friends.

"Why are you always staring at him like that, Harlee?" Hally asked.

I quickly pulled my gaze away from James.

A knowing look was resting on Hally's face as the other two watched me curiously.

I silently willed my cheeks not to turn red, but once again, the universe ignored me. I felt the flaming red appear on each cheek, and immediately Hally and Timothy began laughing.

"Harlee has a crush! Harlee has a crush!" Timothy began to chant while making kissing noises.

I angrily socked him in the arm to shut him up.

"Be quiet!" I demanded. "I do not have a crush on James."

Timothy laughed again but stopped his taunting.

Maybe because of the shooting pain in his arm from my punch, or maybe it was just because he couldn't talk and stuff his face with food at the same time.

"Then why were you staring at him like that?" Polly asked curiously, refusing to join in the teasing.

I gave her a grateful smile before responding.

"He looks sad and lonely. I want to be his friend," I told her.

"It looks like he already has friends," Hally observed as we watched two boys saunter over to James' table.

Seeing who it was made my heart skip a beat.

My actual crush Jasper Collins was one of the boys going up to James' table with his best friend, Mike Douglas, beside him.

Jasper had the cutest face and blondest hair I'd ever seen, and my nine-year-old self was infatuated with him. Unlike Polly, Hally, and Timothy, Jasper attended the same school as me. I'd talked to him a few times before during recess, but we didn't know one another that well.

Hope began to course through me. If he was already friends with James, and then I became friends with James too; then maybe we could all be friends together. And one day, when we were much older, Jasper would realize that he wanted to be more than just friends with me...

But as I continued watching things unfold, I realized their interaction with James was anything but friendly. First, Jasper pushed the menu James was hiding behind off the table; then, once James tried to pick it back up, Mike kicked it across the grass.

I felt my breath catch in my throat.

The boys were not friends with James at all.

They were bullying him.