Four Summers - By Nyrae Dawn Page 0,1

getting dirty to end up in our way much, though.” We’ve seen it enough to know. Usually, we don’t pay much attention to the people our age who come here, and they’re the same to us.

“I hope so,” I say. “Okay, thanks for telling me. I’m going to go grab the key and get the cabin ready.” I wave at Alec, but he keeps going.

“I guess they’re going to be here earlier than your dad thought, so we gotta hurry. I’ll help you.”

I smile. What a sweetheart. These are the things Alec does that make him my best friend. He’s the only boy in Lakeland Village, Virginia that I can stand.

Really, there isn't much to do in the cabin anyway. It’s already been cleaned, but we like to freshen the cabins up before people get here so they aren’t so musty from being closed up.

Our store’s a little white building with blue trim. It matches our house, which is off to the side and behind it. When people say, “one-stop shopping” this is what they mean. The building houses the limited products for purchase, the rentals, and the office.

Taking the back door, I run inside the office to grab the customer key so I don’t have to run into Mom or Sadie Ann out front. My blue baseball hat is sitting on the counter so I grab it to help keep the sun out of my eyes while I’m working today. After putting it on and pulling my ponytail through the hole, Alec and I are on our way to cabin 3B.

The cabins? They’re much cuter than our house or the office, each one decorated in a theme or color. They're actual cozy log cabins. I can see why people would want to come here. It’s the living here year ‘round I’m still a little lost on. But what can I say? I know this place is going to be my future.

The area of land isn’t huge. There’s a small pond off to one side. We have ten cabins, some on the lake and some a little farther out. 3B is one of the nicest.

“You don’t have to help, Alec. I’m sure you want to go home and enjoy your summer or whatever.”

Just because I have to be stuck here doesn’t mean he should have to be, but because he’s a nice guy, Alec says, “Nope. Plus, I need the money. Your dad’s letting me help out this year.”

Alec is a year-rounder like us, though he doesn’t live at The Village, which is the name of our “dream getaway”. He lives up the street. Our parents are best friends, too.

He doesn’t realize how lucky he is not to have to work here, but I don’t say that. “Thanks.”

We do a quick sweep of the place. I freshen the potpourri, make sure the rooms are spider-web free, and all sorts of stupid things. Just as we’re walking out and I’m locking up, car doors slam behind me.

Great. I had hoped to make it out and put the keys back before they got here so Mom or Sadie Ann would have to be the ones to talk to them. They’re much better with people than I am.

As soon as I turn around, everything changes. My heart speeds up. I feel hotter, almost like I can’t breathe. I swear I’m not one of those annoying girls who pine for their stupid dream boy at fifteen-years-old. I’ve never even had a boyfriend. Or wanted a boyfriend. I’ve looked at tons of boys though: Alec, boys at my school who used to call me “flatty-Rae” instead of Charlie Rae because God obviously decided he could only give boobs to one Gates sister and chose Sadie Ann.

I’ve seen how boys look at my sister, but when I’ve looked at them, I’ve never felt…well almost like I have the flu, to be honest, but I’ve never looked at a boy and felt this.

I can’t see his eye color from this far. His hair is bark-brown, with streaks of gold when the sun hits it. One look at him says he’s so different than me. I shouldn’t be staring, but my eyes won’t move away.

I believe everyone has certain key moments in their lives they’ll never forget. Moments marking the beginning or end of something. Moments that will always own a little piece of you. You can track decisions you make or paths your life follows and they always lead back to one of these defining moments.

This is