vinyl vernacular ; emerson & elonna {94th}

He spent the whole last year preparing for this exact moment.

All it took was an eleven-year-old Elonna telling a thirteen-year-old Emerson that she planned to go to the same summer camp as him, and he wasted no time making his intentions to become a counselor known. His first stay had been incredible; new friends he couldn't wait to see again, delicious meals he had never tried before in his own home, a crowd each night that was always eager to hear the songs he would play on his scuffed-up & sticker-covered guitar. That first stay, he collected more points for the last day shop than anyone else. All his peers cheered for him.

Like his father before him, he was a prideful creature that knew the importance of humility. He wore his surname and his ambition like a golden cloak that could protect him from all harm. But the truth was, participating in things that were challenging made it easy for him to ignore the little things that were shifting inside of himself as he grew older. There were mornings, lately, when he felt this weird struggle to be happy. Days when he would stare out the window and think about things that had never troubled him before that exact instance.

Like, why did the rainy days make him feel so lonely? Why did the crows cawing overhead seem like an annoyance now and not a wonder like it once was? Why was his mother laughing and dancing with Elonna in the living room when she could barely look at him for the first few years of his life? Jealousy and melancholy introduced themselves to him in one fell swoop, and he simply turned his head and kept glancing out the metaphorical window. At the things that promised to distract him.

So, yeah. Only his second year, and Emerson put every ounce of his soul into proving he would be ready to be a counselor before his little sister's first stay at camp. He paid close attention to every instruction, took the time to familiarize himself with the layout of the land, looked at things from a perspective of making them fun and not being the one to enjoy them. He had always been creative like that. Not in the way that Eden was, with his neat lines and beautiful colors, but in the way that his hands were restless and always seeking to create something. Be it music, or a card trick, or even a lemonade stand. He remembered the way Elonna smiled at him when he presented her with it on that summer four years ago, wooden planks nailed messily together, but secure. They held strong the entire day, and she earned a whole jar full of pocket change.

What the Emberstatts wanted, they could usually gain. He knew the importance of hard work, sowing the field and reaping the harvest. He went home that year with the knowledge that he passed the trials, that he would be in a position of influence, and that he was going to make the next summer the best one he or his little sister had ever experienced.

Cut to the present. He had his shiny counselor badge pinned right over his beating heart, standing in a line with the other teenagers to greet the newcomers as they pull up in the buses. It had been so cool getting to stay a day earlier, experiencing the camp with only a handful of kids and not a whole army, but nothing compared to this moment. As soon as he saw the flash of red hair, the undeniable energy that Elonna always brought to everything, he couldn't stop himself from beaming like a proud brother and waving enthusiastically in her direction. But the look she gave him was not the same expression she had when he presented her with the lemonade stand. If anything it was a look of dread.

He expected her to at least wave back, maybe run over in excitement and give him a hug. His parents had been forbidden from telling her the truth, that he was leaving early because he was going to be a counselor. Elonna would have been told that he was just going to stay with Papaw Mace for the summer. But now the cat was flailing inside of the bag, tearing itself out, and it seemed that both of them would be left with disappointment. It wasn't until an hour or so later that he was able to find her alone, finally separated from her gaggle of friends.

"Hey, Lonnie!" He bounded over, hopeful that maybe it was just the first day jitters, that something else wasn't changing. If he couldn't be her over protective brother who wanted to give her the world, he wasn't quite sure who he could be. "It's a bummer you didn't get picked to be in my cabin, huh?" He leaned against the building they were standing behind, a mischievous smile on his face, playfulness and hope both shining in his eyes. "I meaaaaan, if you were upset about it, we could probably talk to someone and get you switched, though. I'm just saying." There was a pause that turned too tense for comfort. He cleared his throat.

"It's a pretty sweet cabin, I might add."