Untitled Short Story

Author's Note: I started writing this in February, I think. I ended up finishing it in April. And yes, I did say I wouldn't be posting any short stories, I thought I would finish this one. I don't plan on writing any more this month. So, enjoy this while you can.

I sat on my porch licking a grape Popsicle and letting it drip onto the wood. I watched the kids pass on their bikes. These were the little kids swerving and wobbling on princess or Spider man bikes. I felt my skin, drenched in sweat and red hot. For the middle of May, it was really hot. My skin had blistered and was peeling off, so I went inside.

“What happened to your face?” My mom screamed when I went back inside. I felt it again, flakes of it falling to the ground.

“I don’t know, don’t care,” I said sitting at the table where a juicy plate of watermelon was sitting. I squeezed the sweat out of my hair and took of my shirt. Then, still in my shorts, I turned on the water and soaked in a cool bath. I let the water drain, then took an actual shower with water that was a decent temperature. I shook the water from my hair and wrapped my body in a towel.

“Barbecue is ready!” My dad yelled from downstairs. I realized that my cousins had come over and we were having a barbecue. I rushed around my house, trying to find a clean pair of swim trunks. I finally found a pair of blue and green camo trunks and put them on. I rushed down stairs and saw that everyone was hanging around the pool. I could smell the barbecue roasting in my dad’s grill.

“Hey, you finally came,” my cousin, Jeanette said when I came to the backyard. I felt the soft grass smashed around my feet. I didn't feel that there was a place for me here. But it was almost sundown, and we were going to start roasting marshmallows soon after dinner. Then, I was hoping that I could get out my telescope and look at the stars.

My male cousins were playing some sort of ball game in the pool. I wouldn't know, I wasn’t much of a sports fanatic. My brother, who was their age was on a lawn chair alone. He was sitting and tanning, oblivious to everyone else around him.

“Kyle, why don’t you jump in the pool with your brother?” My mom coaxed. I shook my head and backed away. But my mom motioned to the pool and I finally jumped in. When my little cousins tried to dunk me under the water, I tried to squirm away. I finally started to wade around, not knowing what to do. 

"Kyle! Do you want to play volley ball in the front yard?" Jeanette yelled. She was holding the fence gate and a beach ball. 

"Sure," I said, climbing out of the pool. As my other cousins stepped out, I saw brother on his lawn chair. Then I coached my cousins as the pried Harry off his chair. 

"Get off," he said, trying to sit back down. 

"Come on, Harry," I said, almost ready to follow Jeanette to the front yard. But he plopped back down and turned away. 

When I got to the front, my dad had already set up the volley ball net. As we all bounced the ball back and forth, Jeanette stated to talk to me. 

"So, how's school going?" She asked.

"Good," I answered.

"How about college? What are your plans for that?"

"I got a scholarship to MIT."

"Are you going to take it?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?" 

"Well," I started to say. But before I could finish my sentence, the beach ball hit Jeanette in the head. Though, it still went over the net. 

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jeanette said. "But, you are not. Is the scholarship a full academic scholarship?"

"It is a full academic scholarship. But, everyone in the family goes or went to CU, and I want to follow the tradition. And, Harry left a legacy there, and."

"Before you finish, lets go to the backyard and sit down. Then we can talk it over." I hit the ball back to one of my cousins and we walked back. We sat down on a bench and watched everyone in the backyard. 

"Kyle, you're a smart kid. You should follow your heart and choose the college that is best for you, not the family."

"But, Dad thinks I'm going to CU and even got a special bumper sticker and, I just want to be like Harry and leave a legacy there."
"Be like you," Jeanette said before spiking the ball at me. I crouched in fear and waited for the soft touch of the beach ball. "Come on." Jeanette called, offering me a hand. I got up and we walked to the back yard. Everyone had gotten out of the pool and were lined up at the grill.
By the time we got our food, everyone had almost finished. After eating the dinner, Mom brought out small glasses of ice cream. We all dove in and smothered our faces with ice cream, a family trait. Then, when we all finished, I approached Dad. I turned around and saw Jeanette giving me two thumbs up.
"Dad, I got a scholarship to MIT. I think I want to go." And so it began, the beginning of everything at the end of this story.