The Lake House

by Growing Up In Modern Day

Have you ever been to a place where everything just feels safe? At this place there are no worries, no college finals, no high school drama, no one had to put on the façade they had to everywhere else. For as long as I can remember the Lake House was that place for me. Not just me though, but for my family and the five other families we spent the summer with.

"There is nothing more important in this world than family and friends. Especially when friends have become family and family have become friends"

Have you ever been to a place where everything just feels safe? At this place there are no worries, no college finals, no high school drama, no one had to put on the façade they had to everywhere else. For as long as I can remember the Lake House was that place for me. Not just me though, but for my family and the five other families we spent the summer with.

Twenty-five years ago a group of six high school basketball players decided to spend their last summer before leaving for college, together at a gorgeous lake house in Lake Harlow, North Carolina. 8 hours away from their hometown. These six guys were best friends and each other's family. It was at the end of a two month period that these guys agreed they would come back every summer.

As the years went by, the boys became men and got real jobs, married, and had kids. But they kept their promise, the day of their last exams in college those boys drove to the lake to meet their best friends. On the third summer their girlfriends joined them and as they got older it started meaning they had to bring their kids to the house. And that house got smaller and smaller, that's when at the age of 24 each of the men bought one of the houses that were side by side.

This lake was where lives were celebrated and love was created. This lake was passed onto the next generation as well.

That's how we got to where we are today.

The six families were the Taylors, the Gatina-Sawyers, the McFaddens, the James, the Scotts, and the Davis'.

The Taylor family consisted of Charles and Denise Taylor and their three kids Antwan, Sean, and Ava. Antwan, known to all of us as Skillz due to his simply awesome nature, is currently a freshman in college. He goes to UNC Chapel Hill on a basketball scholarship; this boy is the one who turns every frown into an uncontrollable laugh fest. The Taylor family lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Sawyers consisted of Larry and Anna Sawyer and their daughters Peyton and Rachel. Peyton is 19 and Rachel is 17, Peyton is a freshman at UCLA Art School. She and I have been like sisters our whole lives. Rachel is our brat who has changed the most out of anyone as the years have gone on. The Sawyer family lives in San Diego, California.

The McFadden's consisted of Marvin Sr. and Katelyn and their son Marvin jr. Marvin J is affectionately known to us as Mouth, this is because of the smile that is permanently on his face. Mouth is 18 and a freshman at UNC Chapel Hill with Skillz. The McFadden family lives in Tree Hill, North Carolina.

The James family consists of James and Lydia James and their four kids Quinn, Taylor, Jake, and Haley. Quinn is the oldest at 22, she just graduated from NYU with a degree in photography. Taylor is 21 and is currently abroad in Europe but is supposed to be coming for a week or two this summer. Haley was the baby of our group and she was my little sister in every way possible. Jake and Haley are 17 year old twins and just graduated high school; we always celebrate their birthday at the cabin. Jake is heading off to Duke to play basketball in the fall and Haley is heading off to Stanford for music and pre-med. The James live in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Scott family is made up of Dan and Deb Scott and their son Nathan and Dan's son Lucas. Lucas was born when Dan was a senior in high school, he's a year older than Nathan. Lucas's mom, Karen, and Dan share custody. Lucas is 21 and Nathan is 19 they both go to Duke and play basketball, Nathan is a freshman and Luke is Junior. The Scott family lives in Tree Hill, North Carolina.

Then there is the Davis family, Richard "Ted" Davis and Victoria Montgomery-Davis have two children Clay and myself, Brooklyn. Clay is 22 and just graduated from Winthrop University in South Carolina. As for myself, I am 19 and attend New York University.

It's been about a year since the Scotts, McFadden's, and my family have seen the other three. After less than a week of leaving the Lake house, we were all brought back together in the wake of tragedy. My dad had a severe heart attack and died on our way to the hospital, it was the hardest thing we, as a family, have ever had to go through. I've pushed people away a lot this year and so much has changed. My mom has tried to do everything to make us feel like we haven't lost him, but when she does, its only more apparent than ever.

My mom is the only one of the wives to have been with the boys since they started this tradition. My parents where high school sweethearts, the couple that fell in love young and never tarnished it.

I've been driving for five and a half hours already to get to Duke so I can see my boys. The plan is for me to pick up Luke and Nathan; they have their last final today so we're grabbing dinner before heading to the Lake in the morning. Quinn, Clay, Skillz and Mouth are already there with Mouths parents. Peyton is getting there in a week and the rest of the James clan would be here in three weeks. Dan, Deb, Karen and my mom would be there three days.

~5 hours later at Duke~

I arrived at Pegram on the East side of campus where Nathan lives; I'd be picking him up from here and driving over to Craven Quad where Lucas lives.

I told Nathan when I would be at his dorm and that he should be outside so I could just pick him up, but here's a shock, Nathan wasn't outside. So I call his cellphone.

"Hey you've got Nathan. Clearly he isn't answering his phone because he is too busy hanging out with his awesome best friend! (Brooke really?) so my boy will call you back if we decide you're cool enough!" I hear my own voice, we recorded it two years ago when Nathan got his new phone.

"Hey Nate, where are you? Cause you aren't outside like you're supposed to be. Love you." I say quickly and hang up.

I turn my head to look at the entrance to Pegram, I had helped move Nathan in here in August and I've visited once a month. I notice Henry Clemmens, a boy who lives down the hall from Nathan entering the building.

"Henry!" I yell running up to him, he turns and grins as he sees me.

"Hey Brooke" he says as he hugs me "You here to pick up Scott?"

"Yep, but he's not waiting like he was supposed to." I say as I bite my lip. "So, could you let me in and up to his room?"

Henry laughs and puts his arm around my shoulder. "For Nate's baby? Of course."

We walk into the building and he signs me in and we head up to Nathan's room. As we get off the elevator, I see Nate's roommate Damien West, a kid we had rivaled with growing up in different towns.

"Damien" he turns and takes out his head phones when he sees me.

"Davis!" Since moving in with Nathan and letting go of stupid high school rivalries, he and Nathan have become really good friends. So naturally the two of us have become friends. Damien has really taken care of me on the nights that I have crashed here or when he and Nate had to drive to NYU to take care of me on my bad nights.

"Is your roommate in? His ass is supposed to be in my car" Damien laughs as he puts his arm around my shoulder and guides me to their room.

"The boy better not have a girl in there or so help me god." I mutter under my breathe, Henry and Damien share a smile as we get to Damien and Nate's room. I turn and look at the boys before I open the door "Oh my god! He does! He totally has a girl in the room doesn't he?!" Damien bites his lip, that was always his tell. "He's dead!"

I've known Nate long enough to know how to embarrass him and how to really get under his skin. He knows how badly I need to be at the lake and by being in bed with a girl right now is not the way to be.

Instead of knocking I barged right in and there was my best friend in bed with some girl. She was absolutely shocked. I sat right at the end of the bed as my best friend and the girl tried to scramble and cover up. I looked at the girl.

"Hi! I'm Brooke, I'm Nate's best friend, always have been and always will be. See we have this tradition with our family where we go to a cabin with our family and we are super late to picking up his brother Luke! But I totally see why we're late I mean this is totally much more… " at this point Nate interrupted me.

"BROOKE!"

"Oh! You're right Nate! I am being so rude!" Henry and Damien are dying of laughter in the hall and quickly pulling other team members to watch the show. "I totally forgot to ask your name! What is it?"

She paused and looked between Nate and I, and then answered. "Theresa."

"See Nate, Theresa and I were just having a conversation because you were late to me picking you up to go and get Luke to go to Harlow. But you know Harlow has only been happening for I don't know twenty five years and this has only been happening for I'd say twenty five minutes, and that's being extremely generous, I was just filling her in. So I am going to be extremely nice to you, way nicer than I need to be. I'll go call Lucas and see what he's doing and if he's busy I will entertain myself with one of those nice boys out there, and let you finish your fun in here, and when you're done in here, in let's say 10-15 minutes, we'll get lunch and go from there." I kissed him on the cheek and headed toward the door.

"Screw you Brookelyn"

"You would if you could Natey boy"

The cabin had been my escape for as long as I could remember. My dad would shut off his phone while we were here. During the work week he would drive back to Charlotte, Monday morning and return Friday afternoon. But when we were at the Lake, it was family time only. It was a piece of paradise that we all needed.

This would be our first summer without him. Everyone was acting like it was either the typical summer for our families or they would treat me like fragile glass. I sit at my car watching Nathan as he says goodbye to his latest hook-up. No doubt lying to her by promising she could come out to the lakehouse and they would try dating. But that wasn't Nathans style. He was a one night and good bye kind of guy. For every girl that met him fell hard. Except for me it seems. But that's why I love him. Nathan had been my rock more than anyone this year. At the beginning of the year , he practically drove to New York almost every weekend. If it wasn't for him, I would have flunked this year and would have been put in the hospital many more times than I was. Nathan single handily forced me to change my act, not once leaving my side. I guess you can't have a relationship when you are practically married to you best friend who is slowly spiraling out of control. But one day, I hope Nathan falls for a girl who can handle our friendship and see how amazing he truly is.

"Is this the summer that you profess your undying love for my brother?" A voice asks from behind. I looked to my left and there stood Lucas Scott.

"I think you're confusing me with another Lake girl." I tell Lucas moments before I launch myself into his arms. "I've miss you so much L. Scott" I whisper into his ear as he laughs, holding onto me tightly.

At this point Nathan headed over to my car.

"Look Nathan, this Scott is capable of showing up on time. Early even." I hit Nathan playfully on the chest as he smirks at me. "Learn from big brother Scott."

Lucas smiles and hugs his little brother.

"Well no matter what, I hope we all understand I get Shot Gun." Nathan says as he gets into my passenger seat. "Hurry up Penelope. We're behind schedule."

I look at Lucas for some help at potentially murdering my best friend. But Lucas laughs and climbs into the back seat, I do as I always have and follow the Scott brothers. I start my car and Nathan moves his hand to the radio, I quickly slap his hand.

"Now Royal" I start using his hated middle name. "you know the rule- My car, My radio, no touching." I slap his hand again. Lucas is laughing in the back seat.

"Well your music is shit. And what are you laughing about back there Eugene?" Nathan quips as I start laughing at Luke's middle name. Luke kicks his brothers seat in retort.

"Atleast you can understand my music." I say as I stick my tongue out at Nate.

"Some things never change. Welcome back summer." Luke states

"But some do." I say backing out of the parking lot. Nathan puts his hand on my shoulder and kisses my cheek. A move he's done to cheer me up since we were three.

"Don't worry B, we'll make this the most legendary summer. Kick off Bonfire is tomorrow." Nate says and I smile. The first bonfire of the summer was a tradition our fathers started way back at the beginning. Parents come out during 6-8 and then let their kids party on the beach the rest of the night. We were first introduced to this "after parents hour" when we were 14. This event single handily kicked off summer around the lake.

"Here's to another summer Lakeside." I say as Nate reaches to change the radio. "Nathanial Royal! I will kick your ass out of my car and so help me god call your mother to pick you up."

With that said we headed out to dinner. Arguing with Nathan put me at ease and showed me that even without my dad, this summer wouldn't be to different. Or so I thought.