June 1, 2018

The day after I met Véro for the second time, my grandparents came over for dinner. After school, I did my homework as quickly as I could and waited for them to show up, knowing that they would come at least fifteen minutes earlier than they said that they would. Grandma and Grandpa ended up coming at 4:07 when they said that they would be there at 4:30, and nobody was surprised. My occasionally scatterbrained mother wasn't quite done cleaning the living room, but Grandma and Grandpa didn't mind. "Just don't mind us, Audrey," Grandma said with a smile. "Sylvie, Everett, how are you two doing?"

"My class won the tug of war at Field Day today," Everett said while I glared at him. It wasn't fair that we didn't have Field Day in high school, but at the same time, I didn't want to be in middle school again.

"Sylvie?" Grandma said. "What did you do today?"

"Nothing interesting," I said.

"I find that hard to believe," Grandma said.

"I had a test in Chemistry," I said.

"How did you do?" Grandma asked.

"I don't know yet," I said. "I haven't gotten my scores back."

"How do you think you did?" Grandma asked.

I groaned, not wanting to talk about my test any more. "I have no idea," I said. "What are we having for dinner?"

"I was thinking of making a Three Sisters Soup," Grandma said. "Would you like to help me?"

"I'd love to help, Grandma," I said.

"Can I go play some video games?" Everett asked.

"Why don't you help Grandma and Sylvie instead?" Dad suggested.

"No, it's okay," Mom said. "We could all use a break."

"What game are you going to play, Everett?" Grandpa asked.

"Minecraft," Everett answered.

"That sounds fun," Grandpa said with a smile. "Can I play with you?"

"Sure," Everett said.

"At least bring the Xbox upstairs if you're going to do that," Dad said. Everett groaned, but he did go downstairs to disconnect the Xbox and carry it back into the living room so that Grandpa wouldn't have to go up and down the stairs.

Once Everett and Grandpa started playing, Mom asked if she could join in. "Can you even play Minecraft with three people?" I asked.

"Go away, Sylvie!" Everett exclaimed. I retreated back to the kitchen, where I helped Grandma cut up the squash and beans for the soup. If it was later in the season, the vegetables would have been fresh from Grandma's garden, but her plants were still too small to produce fruit. Once I was done slicing up vegetables, Grandma tossed the beans, squash, and corn into a pot and brought it to a boil. She then let it simmer for a while, stirring occasionally. Before long, the soup was done, and Grandma told me to tell the rest of the family that dinner was ready. I went into the living room and shouted, "The soup's ready!" but Everett hardly noticed me. "Seriously, dinner's going to get cold," I said.

"I don't care," Everett responded. "Grandpa and I are making a castle on Minecraft."

"It was his idea, not mine," Grandpa said. "Our castle is looking pretty cool though."

"Maybe we should have some dinner," Dad said, acting as the sole voice of reason. "My mom's cooking is delicious."

Eventually, Mom, Grandpa, and Everett conceded, and we all gathered around the table. We passed the Three Sisters Soup around, and when it was my turn, I spooned a generous helping into a bowl and took a slice of bread to go with it. "Phil, how do you like being commodore?" Grandpa asked once everyone had their soup.

"It's a bit of a hassle," Dad said. "Normally, I like Greg Stafford, but he seems to be sabotaging Keep Clearwater Clear."

"He just doesn't want the whole yacht club to find out that Pigglyville Toys is the main contributor to pollution here," Grandpa said. "Greg's only protecting his business interests. It's smart of him, frankly. I can respect a man like that, even if I don't agree with him."

Dad shrugged and then said, "Otherwise, I don't mind being commodore. It's kind of fun being in charge of the yacht club."

"Maybe Sylvie or Everett will be commodore one day," Grandma said.

"I don't want to be commodore," Everett said. "I don't even like sailing."

"Everett, don't be negative," Dad said.

"It's true!" Everett whined. "How can I become commodore if I don't even sail?"

I kept quiet and devoured my grandmother's soup. As always, it was delicious. I loved the mingling of the flavors of the corn, squash, and beans, and the soup always reminded me of home.

"Are you and Audrey planning to sail in the regatta this year?" Grandma asked Dad in an attempt to change the subject.

"I think so," Dad said.

"Of course we are," Audrey said. "We're not officially entered yet, but we're definitely going to sail. Sylvie, are you going to sail in the junior regatta?"

Mom just had to remind me that I still didn't have a crew. "I want to sail, but Eden decided to crew for Brooke," I said.

"Can't you find another crew?" Grandma asked.

"It's harder than you'd think," I said. "Everyone in Clearwater Lake is either too old to qualify for the junior regatta, already entered, or doing something else this summer."

"Then just don't enter," Everett suggested.

"You don't get it, Everett," I argued. "This is my last year to sail in the junior regatta."

"No, you don't get it," Everett said. "The regatta is way less important than you think it is, Sylvie."

"I think that you should sail," Grandpa said. "You know, your father won the very first Clearwater Lake Junior Regatta. It would be fitting if you won too."

"It's true," Dad said. "Your Aunt Holly and I sailed together that year."

"Speaking of Holly, apparently she wants to visit in July," Grandma said.

"Holly always wants to pick a fight," Grandpa complained.

"That doesn't mean that she shouldn't visit," Grandma argued. "Phil deserves to see his sister, and the kids deserve to see their cousins."

"Yeah!" Everett exclaimed. "Scott started teaching me how to play the guitar last time he was here."

I had to admit that I did enjoy having my cousins around. Everett and I rarely saw them, since they lived all the way in Portland, but their annual visits were often one of the highlights of our year. When they weren't here, I kept track of them online. Julianna, a minor Internet celebrity, posted everything that I needed to know about the Bryants' lives on Instagram, and in some ways, I envied the freedom that they seemed to have. Scott could do whatever he wanted at his liberal arts college in Washington State, and nobody in Portland seemed to care that Julianna was transgender. Even eleven year old Chase seemed more free than anyone in the whole state of Wisconsin.

Then again, they didn't have Clearwater Lake.

In all of Julianna's Instagram posts, I never saw a single one about sailing. I occasionally saw a gorgeous photo of the Pacific Ocean at night, but Julianna herself never seemed to step into the water. As much as I sometimes wished that I could spend more time with my cousins, I would never be able to enjoy the hustle and bustle of a big city. Clearwater Lake was the right place for me, if only because of my love for sailing.

"Where is Holly staying?" Mom asked.

"Not in my house," Grandpa answered.

"Oh come on, Edward," Grandma said. "She's your daughter. You have to be nicer to her."

"Ever since she went to that college and married Chad, she hasn't been nice to me," Grandpa said.

"She can stay with us," Mom suggested. "There's definitely room in the basement for Chase, Julianna, and Scott, and we might be able to make space for Holly and Chad."

"I'd definitely be willing to let Holly and Chad stay with us," Dad said. "You two won't have to worry about them."

"Fine," Grandpa said. "At least they won't be here until July."

"That's true," Grandma said. "We have a little while to work out the logistics of this situation."

As Grandma, Grandpa, and my parents continued to talk about the Bryants' upcoming visit, I daydreamed about the girl next door. Véro was cute and fun to talk to, but she was far too close to knowing my secret. Then again, she was bisexual. She wouldn't care even if she did know, but I still didn't want anyone else in Clearwater Lake to know that I was gay. What if someone else overheard me telling her? What if she told someone else? I barely knew Véro, and there was too much that could go wrong if I came out to her.

At the same time, I was beginning to like her. I had seen her eyes light up when I gave her the Eiffel Tower statue, even if she did claim that they were everywhere in Paris. Perhaps the Parisian girl would make a valuable friend.

The fact that Véro refused to join the yacht club still bothered me. The Clearwater Lake Yacht Club was the center of social life for people who lived along the lake, and it was hard to imagine moving to Clearwater Lake and not joining the yacht club immediately. I had to convince Véro to join the yacht club, and then she would see why Clearwater Lake was a town that was worth living in. She was missing out of the best part of Clearwater Lake.

"Sylvie, do you want any more soup?" Grandma asked, snapping me back into reality.

"Yes, actually," I said. Grandma passed me the soup, and I emptied the rest of the soup into my bowl. Grandma's cooking was always the best antidote to all of my troubles, and as I finished up the soup, my worries drifted away. I could panic over the junior regatta and Véro later. For now, I would just enjoy a bowl of Three Sisters Soup and spending some quality time with my grandparents.

"Lorraine, your soup is delicious as always," Grandpa told Grandma.

"Sylvie helped me make it," Grandma said.

"You two both did a great job then," Grandpa said.

"Can we go back to Minecraft?" Everett asked. "I'm done eating."

"Wait until Grandpa's done," Dad said.

"It's okay," Grandpa said. "You can play without me."

Everett got up from the table and ran into the living room to play his video game. I finished a few minutes later, and I decided to join him. "Everett, can I play with you?" I asked.

"No," Everett answered. "You're too bad at this."

"I'm not that bad," I argued.

"You died after three minutes last time you played Minecraft on Survival Mode," Everett said.

"Fine," I said. "I'll just see if Grandma and Grandpa want to play a card game with me." Just as Grandpa was finishing his dinner, I went up to him and Grandma and asked them if they wanted to play a game.

"Of course, Sylvie," Grandpa said. I wasn't surprised - both of my grandparents were usually eager to spend time with Everett and I. "What game should we play?"

After some debate, the three of us decided to play Uno. Grandma found the cards, and after I won three rounds in a row, Grandpa began to suspect that I was cheating. "I'm not cheating," I insisted. "I just have good luck."

My winning streak ended quickly when Grandma won two rounds after that. However, it was starting to get late, and all of us wanted to get to bed, with the possible exception of my brother. Everett didn't seem tired, but he couldn't play on the Xbox all night, at least as long as my parents had a say in the matter. Grandma and Grandpa left around eight o'clock, and I gave each of them a hug before they left. "See you soon," I said, knowing that I would see them again at the yacht club party that weekend.

After they were gone, I realized that my biggest problem was that I didn't have a crew. The registration deadline was approaching, and I couldn't register if I didn't know who I was sailing with. Besides, I needed time to train with my new crew. I could figure out the problem with Véro later if I could only find someone to crew for me.

That was when I found a way to kill two birds with one stone: ask Véro to be my crew.