Less Than Three

Chapter One: The M-Bomb

Summer vacation lasted two whole hours before my mom dropped the M-bomb on it. I was sprawled on the living room floor, talking on the phone with Brady (Boyfriend Extraordinaire) when she walked in. She half-smiled, stepped over me, then turned. "I hope you're planning to do something meaningful this year," she said.

I stared up at her. "Meaningful?"

She kept her eyes on me while she kicked off her shoes. "I'd really hate to see you waste all your days on the phone."

Ahhh, the phone, the lake, the TV, the internet – I almost grinned. That was exactly how I planned to spend my days. Along with sleeping in, skateboarding, hanging out with my friends Madison and Craig, Kiersten. And, of course, with Brady.

Could there be a more perfect boy to waste a summer with?

Not that I could say that to my mother. Not that I could say much of anything to her lately, but at least I tried. "Maybe I'll work on my vocabulary," I said.

"That is an excellent idea. But how will you fill the other twenty-three hours and fifty minutes of every day?" That was Mom again. There was an edge to her voice that stopped just short of shrieking.

I told Brady I had to hang up. He kept me on the phone though, teasing that some cute, shirtless boys had probably followed me home from the last day of our freshman year. "You won't want to waste your time with me anymore," he said.

For the record: I will always want to waste my time with Brady.

That's what I was telling him when Mom raised her left eyebrow. I said goodbye and ran my fingers through my hair, hoping to massage a strategy into my skull. It's pink, you know. My hair – not the strategy.

"I'm not a kid anymore," I said finally. "I've been thinking about my future and maybe I'd like to do something with --" With what? I needed an answer fast. I stood and scanned the room just beyond Mom's shoulder. I rejected the television, the bookcase, my dorky dad perched at the desk – no doubt surfing the internet for another cliché to add to his vast collection. Wait.

"Computers. I think I'd like to do something with computers."

Mom's eyebrow cranked a quarter inch lower.

"So." I took a breath and let it out, slow and measured. "What if I learned to build a website?"

Mom's mouth dropped open a notch. Close. I was close.

"And what if that website was about--" I looked around the room again until my eyes landed on the vase of spring flowers on a table. "About your garden club."

Her lip twitched at the corner, but I could tell I still wasn't there. Not yet.

"But more than just the garden club," I said, "like all the things you guys do, you know, for charity and stuff."

That got her. She smiled and said, "Oh Summer, that's so--"

"Meaningful?" I asked.

The ringtone on my phone sounded again and I stooped to pick it up. I had my finger on the talk button when I caught Mom's expression. That eyebrow. Sheesh. "Make it short," she said. "You've got a website to work on."

An hour and a half later:

1. I'd made plans with Madison and Kiersten to hit the mall ASAP. The search for the perfect swimsuit was on – as long as I could talk my older brother into driving us to the city.

2. I'd reassured Brady. I didn't want him to think I was turning complete nerd-o-rama on him; improving my vocabulary and creating a website were simply sacrifices to the volcano known as My Mother.

3. I'd carried on a text discussion with Craig about going to the movies. Correction: the movie, singular. New Concord, Indiana is still in the dark ages when it comes to entertainment options. No multiplex for us, just an ancient theatre showing one flick at a time. Oh well, I could deal.

What I was not sure I could deal with was Craig's insistence that Dave Brown tag along. Ever since that kid traded Chem Club for skateboarding, it was always Dave Brown this, Dave Brown that.

I plugged my phone into its charger, slumped into the desk chair and stared at the laptop. A website. About gardening. What was I thinking?

I knew I could probably find one of those sites that had the templates in place so that all I had to do was fill in the blanks. Easy-peasy. But if it was too simple, or I finished too fast, Mom might expect me to come up with some other 'meaningful' task.

I checked a few favorite spots while I considered my dilemma. I picked up the dictionary that sat on the edge of the desk. I flipped through it, let my finger fall on an entry, and read the definition. I clicked open Facebook and checked the online list.

Craig messaged me. He offered to help search for website examples then sent a link to zoolio.com/blog/aliens-exist. Somehow I didn't think extra terrestrials, even gardening extra terrestrials, were what Mom had in mind.

But a blog? That might work.

"Where should I start?" I didn't realize I'd said the words out loud until I heard an answer.

"No better place to begin than the beginning."

"Uh, thanks Dad."

Welcome to Summer's Blog.

Tuesday, June 10 7:15 PM

The New Concord Garden Gals (Plus One Guy) was established in 1994 ...

Yawn.

... when three mothers got together to ...

Stretch.

... drink coffee and talk about flowers while their children played nearby.

Who knew 'meaningful' could be so dull? I clicked back to Facebook and then to my favorite band's Twitter site where Gordon Toledo, the lead singer of PaperKut, seemed to mock me. His only update in the last five hours read: Boring. I played a round or two of Penguins Versus Pandas before I returned to the blog and started typing:

Term of the Day: Sotto Voce - In an undertone

When I was born my father tried to name me Stormy Day but my mom thought it sounded like the stage name for a stripper. She suggested Serena -- maybe I'd grow up all calm and peaceful-like. Dad disagreed. He wanted my name to represent the day I was conceived (sotto voce), "And there was nothing calm and peaceful about it."

Somehow they compromised and called me Summer. In case you're wondering, I have an older brother with a nice, normal name, Tim Day, but sometimes my dad calls him Twister. I don't even want to know why.

I heard a sigh and swiveled in my chair. I found Mom leaning against the doorway on the other side of the room. She wore one of those sweet, proud, mother-ish expressions. I swallowed my guilt and smiled back at her.

"How's it coming?" she asked.

"G-great," I said, hoping she couldn't read what was on the screen. "Looks like it will take a lot of work though."

Mom launched into a monologue about struggle and growth and how nothing worthwhile ever comes without effort = blah blah blah. I kept the smile on my face and waited for her to run out of words. As soon as she finished, I put on my headphones and cued up my favorite PaperKut song. It wasn't long before I was tapping my feet, bobbing my head – and coming up with a brand new strategy.

Two blogs. A boring one that I could show to my mom. Another one for just for me.

Craig, Madison and Jacob showed up at my house a few minutes later. We were meeting Brady at the coffee shop where Kiersten worked. The three of them followed me back to the desk -- where I was careful to clear the computer's history before shutting it down.

Craig punched my arm. "How's that, ahem,  website going?" he asked.

I gave him the shhh sign and pushed all three of them out the door before I responded. "Mwahahaha, I am brilliant."

<3