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I hadn’t seen Austin since he left for college when I was 14 We had never bonded He was 4 years older than I was and our folks got ht Austin was thein the world which is probably why Austin thought I was thein the world

I followed him and his friends everywhere I could and he would slam the door in my face or march me by the arm back to Mom and Dad while he called me a “baby”

By the time I started my teens, I’d come to accept the simple fact that my stepbrother couldn’t stand me So I just avoided him as much as I could and went on with my life

We were just beginning to get to the point where we could talk to each other when he left

When Mo e I did everything I could to get out of it I had just turned 18 and graduated fro the su I wanted to do was go watch a boring co nerd that I had nothing in common with

Oh yeah Austin is a total dork I had terrible taste in ht

Beyond Austin’s total ro to offer Well, that’s not entirely true— he’s s, one of those losers who always does the extra credit assign curve for everyone else Austin is too tall— like 6 foot 5 or soet outside , but it’s not short and he just sort of lets it hang in his face He wears nothing but khakis and short sleeve shirts And, of course, his whole nerd persona wouldn’t be colasses

The plane ride took 6 hours in the air and a 3 hour overlay in Oht that had a stop over in Oraduation was the weekend right after raduation and all I could think of was hoas going to miss out on the trip to the lake with all my friends

I’d helped plan the lake trip withdeal Mandy’s dad was letting everyone stay at his lake house The house slept like 13 people and, of course, there’s always more room on the floor or to camp out on the deck or in the yard At least count we had like 20 people who said they were going Including Stephen

My heart clenched at the thought ofout on a chance to drink around the bonfire with Stephen We’d had so serious enough to inity proble forward to a 3 day weekend at the lake with hied to Nowhere New York to watch e his tassel from one side to the other What bullshit Like Austin will even notice I’m there

When Dad told ht Austin had gone off to a big, sparkly city with sky scrapers and taxi cabs Who kne York had so ? This was so not the city

This place was called Ithaca I couldn’t help but think that “Ithaca” was perfect onomatopoeia— it sounded exactly like what it was “Ick-it-a” OK OK, it wasn’t that bad But it was a far cry from the hustle and bustle one expects fro in New York except the city, so hoas I supposed to know that reen hills and tiny little fare out here? That was just like Austin— to pick so to do but study

We got to the hotel ere staying at and got settled in We were going to be here for al, Austin had soo to and then Dad said ere going to help Austin pack up his apart

All I heard was “blah blah blah…you don’t get to hang out with your friends and do anything fun” I didn’t even understand why I had to go to Austin’s stupid award cere? Where he gets a little trophy for perfect attendance or so? And who the hell cares if he did? I o?

Well, maybe his mom cared And Dad probably cared too, Dad was really proud of Austin, just like he was his real kid But I didn’t understand why I had to go Or why I had to get all dressed up for it

It’s not that Iin a pretty dress, really I just get so sick and tired of hearing all about hoesonition for any of the stuff I do

I et out of high school School is just so not , it’s just so…boring And I’e in the fall I just want to take some time off for awhile Get a chance to explore the world around ure out what I want to do for the rest ofso I hate since Mom and Dad haveon my artwork— I need a “real” job