A peak you reach

Round 32: April 2036 (Autumn)

last update/next update

Liam Weaver is 73, Jonas Lachance is 58, Tatiana is 53 and Brendan is 13.
(Dominic is 26, Leslie is 25, Jack and Audrey are both 24, Edward and Lucy are both 21, Caitlin is 13 and Annabel and Georgina are both 12)

Narrated by Brendan Lachance

Without exception, Sunday is family night at our place.

Dad always cooks. Mum has never been keen on cooking and no one likes to leave it all to Grandpa. Cooking for 10 is a big job.

If he had his way, he’d probably spend the whole time talking to Jack. Dad loves Jack.

Neither Mum or Dad really liked Audrey’s last boyfriend, so they’re thrilled that this thing with Jack seems to be for the long-term.

Having everyone over makes me miss having Dominic, Audrey and Edward living here.

I only just barely remember Dominic living here - he was my age when I was born and moved out by the time I started kindergarten. But we’re close now and it would be cool if we could hang out every day.

Dominic and Leslie got married a few months ago and they’ve been busy settling into their new house.

Their place is here in Sullivan, rather than out in Exeter, where they both used to live before they got married. Mum heartily approves of that.

Edward and Lucy are hoping to move back to Sullivan too next year, although assuming he gets a job at the aquarium like he wants, Exeter would be more convenient.

Lucy is keeping her eye open for suitable places already, while Edward focuses on his classes.

I definitely want to go to college when I’m old enough. I want to work for the SCIA and you need a degree for that.

I hope I can do as well as Edward has. He’s had a 4.0 all the way through university so far and he’s working really hard to keep it for the semester and a bit he has left.

For the rest of the week, it’s very quiet around here. Now that I’m older, I’m expected to take a much more active role in helping out on the farm.

So my mornings usually start at the crack of dawn, so I can help Grandpa tend the crops.

It’s not exactly my favourite thing in the world but it’s definitely one of Grandpa’s. He hums to himself the whole time we’re out there. I think it’s how he remembers Grandma.

But anyway, it needs to be done, so I just get on with it.

Some mornings when I’m really tired though, school doesn’t seem like a very appealing idea afterwards. It can make concentration a challenge.

Normally, I love school. That probably sounds really geeky to some people, so I don’t say it out loud too often.

But I do. I get good grades, I like my classes and I even like my teachers. What’s not to love?

I have to admit that it’d be nice if there were some other guys my age at school though. The other guys are all older and they’ve got their own thing going.

So I hang out with Caitlin, Annabel and Georgina instead. I’ve been friends with Caitlin since we were little but I only got to know Annabel and Georgina this year.

Caitlin is the unofficial leader of our group. We generally all just follow along with whatever she wants to do.

I don’t think Caitlin would like it any other way, so she’s just lucky that the rest of us are all fairly easy-going and we don’t mind so much.

She can be very bossy and she’s really bold too. She flat out asked my dad to let her into the arcade for free last weekend.

And he let her too! She put it down to her powers of persuasion but Dad’s just too much of a softie and he likes Caitlin.

I was glad I was working that day and wasn’t with Caitlin; I wouldn’t want Dad to think I put her up to it.

Usually, Uncle Jesse works for Dad but he was taking Mitchell to the Open Day at Suffolk, so he couldn’t work. That left the job to me.

It wasn’t quite as fun as I thought it would be. It’s not like I got to play video games all day. It was mostly just restocking and a lot of work on the register!

But it was okay. When it was slow, I snuck in a few games of pinball, seeing the machines are right there by the register.

I had to get right back behind the counter when Annabel walked up, wanting to exchange her tokens for a prize.

I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m fine talking to Annabel at school but I act like a total idiot when we’re alone. I always say something stupid or I can’t say anything at all. I don’t know. She’s just so pretty and I get flustered.

This time, I completely forgot how to use the register.

Dad explained the whole thing to me that morning and I had no problems with it all day, until I had to serve Annabel.

I hope she didn’t see the drawer hit me in the gut but I don’t know how she could have missed it.

Caitlin was still hanging around, so she had to have seen it too.

When I saw the girls at school on Monday, it was the first thing Caitlin mentioned and she thought it was hilarious.

In fact, they all thought it was very amusing. My register skills were the topic of conversation that morning, unfortunately.

I know they were just kidding around but I was still relieved when Georgina finally changed the subject.

I hope I can avoid humiliating myself in front of Annabel in the future but with my track record, I don’t like my chances.

Notes:

• Title is from A Peak You Reach by Badly Drawn Boy.
• I think Jonas has a little man-crush on Jack. He rolls as many wants for Jack as he does for his wife and children! Actually, all the adults in this house seem to have a favourite out of the kids' partners; Tatiana loves Leslie and Liam is oddly fond of Lucy.
• Open Day is something I've had in the back of my mind to do with Suffolk for a while now. I assume universities everywhere do something like Open Day or Information Day, for prospective students. I'd probably write it into a high school update, if I did it but I'd thought I'd throw a quick mention in here.
• I am expecting some drama with Brendan and Annabel a little way down the road. There's a little bit more to it than I'm willing to reveal at the moment but what I will say is that he's quite fond of her and I suspect she doesn't feel quite the same way. And I don't think they're a great match, ultimately. Not that I'd let that stop me from getting them together, seeing they're so young but it would be interesting.