Thomas was excited about the trip to the lake. No parents, just his cousins and some friends. This would be the second year that his cousin Melanie would be in charge and that made it even better. Before that, the weekend had always been supervised by one of his father's teaching assistants and that was a mixed bag at best. At any rate, Melanie wasn't nearly as concerned with his father's rules as a TA who depended on him for their grades, recommendations, and paychecks!
Thomas's father was an economics professor at a small college and this early summer vacation was something that he had come up with years ago. Sure it was mainly about swimming, camping and just hanging out, but he had added an economic component.
Each kid was given a certain amount of money at the start of the week, which they then had to use for everything from food and supplies to movies and whatever else came up.
They could also use it to, say, acquire the best room in the cabin, purchase someone else's bag of cookies or pay someone to make dinner. You could make money if you could convince others to pay you for services. This was not restricted to the house. You could get paid by a neighboring cabin to cut their grass or weed their garden and then live like a king...till the money dried out.
Bartering was not only allowed but also encouraged so that every meal did not necessarily become a fiscal orgy, but could be as simple as "you cook, I'll clean."
Thomas had yet to win this little competition, but hoped to do better this year. For one thing, he was not bringing a friend. Last summer, Luke had been a disaster. Luke certainly didn't care about winning, the "friends" rarely did. He spent his money carelessly, and encouraged Thomas to do the same. When his money ran out, he would pester Thomas to loan him funds or just buy him stuff. Even worse, Luke flirted with Melanie all the time and Thomas hated that!
Melanie was 18. She was a high school senior, head cheerleader, home coming queen and beautiful. Thomas was infatuated with her. She was perfect and had always taken care of him when his other cousin gave him a hard time. She never won the competition either, because of her kind heart. She had probably given Luke more money than Thomas had last summer. He was thrilled to learn that Melanie was also not bringing a friend this year. In his mind, that meant that they could spend a lot more time together.
Melanie was glad to be getting away. Her idyllic high school years had soured right at the finish line. At prom she found her boyfriend making out with one of her best friends. Turns out they had been carrying on behind her back for months and everyone but Melanie seemed to know about it. Totally humiliating. So then she had started dating this older guy she had met at a yoga class. On their third date they ran into his wife. HIS WIFE!! She had had no idea. Again, total humiliation. Suddenly, men were not her favorite species.
And she was wait-listed at State. That too was embarrassing. "We aren't talking about Harvard here," her uncle had teased. Her guidance counselor had explained, dripping with condescension, that they had probably filled their quota of cheerleaders and Homecoming Queens and were looking for girls who were maybe a little more interesting.
So, a week at the lake to sulk and have a pity party sounded pretty good right about now. She'd let the other kids do what they wanted, just so long as they left her and her gallon of Chocolate Mint alone. She was not thrilled to learn that Thomas was also not bringing a friend. He would probably want to follow her around like a sick puppy and she was not in the mood. Besides, he was of the male species, the enemy.
Teresa was Melanie's twin sister. They had one thing in common, their age. But where Melanie was beautiful, Teresa was pretty, but she hid it well. Where Melanie was kind, Teresa had a cynical edge. Since neither Thomas or Melanie were bringing a friend, she would make up for it by bringing three! She was bringing Laura, because Laura had proved to be very useful last year. And this year, she was also bringing Rachael and Meghan, two more high school pals who would enjoy one last summer fling before heading off to separate colleges.
None of them were too thrilled that Thomas was coming. Without him this could have been a fun "girls trip." Also, without him, no one would have cared about the stupid "Econ Challenge," but Thomas' dad paid for the cabin and Thomas took it very seriously.
He was the golden boy, adored by his parents, and on his way to being adored by the world, well the socially conservative part of it anyway. He would be heading to Dartmouth in the fall. Thomas, like his dad, felt that women were very definitely the weaker, less intelligent sex. He won everything he participated in, except for the "Econ challenge." Teresa had won this little money thing every year and planned to again this year. She won, because she was shrewd and maybe cheated a little when it suited. But come on, what student of economics doesn't know that cheating is part of the game!
It gave her so much satisfaction to see the disappointment on both Thomas' and his father's face every year when she won.
Thomas's cousins lived between his town and the site of their cottage, so his parents would traditionally drive up the night before, have dinner with everyone and then drive back home leaving Thomas behind. Dinner was par for the course, mostly Thomas's dad holding court about all of his achievements since the last time the families had been together. He also lectured his sister on all the things she was doing wrong and quizzed the girls on political events. Thomas joined in here, chiding his cousins and his aunt for not being better informed.
After dinner, Thomas's parents got ready to leave. His dad asked if maybe there was something Thomas needed before they left.
"Oh right, my bag!"
"Yes, your bag. Now son, you're on your own from here on out. You can't be careless and expect to win the econ challenge!"
Teresa let out a derisive snort and was shot a dirty look by her older sister. Her mother, however, covered her mouth to hide a secret smile.
Thomas walked with his parents back to the car, endured another lecture from his father and retrieved his bag.
When he walked back in the house, the only one left about was his aunt.
"Where is everyone" he asked.
"Well they've all gone up to their rooms. You've got a big day tomorrow and I know Melanie wants to get an early start, so you should head up as well."
"Okay, goodnight Aunt Margaret."
"Goodnight Thomas, and don't let those girls take advantage of you up there." "Don't worry, I can handle them."
"Well, that makes one of us," she said.
Thomas knocked on Melanie's door and when she said come in, he did.
"Just wanted to say goodnight." "Okay, goodnight."
Thomas just stood there. "Anything else Thomas?"
"Um no. So we're leaving early tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"Um okay. G'night."
With that Thomas left, closing the door behind him. Melanie just shook her head.
Across the hall, Laura asked Teresa "isn't he going to say goodnight to us?" "No, Teresa said, "we are not goddess material.
"Well I don't think I like that, said Laura. "Nope, I don't like that one bit."
Rachel walked into Teresa's room after brushing her teeth.
"Just passed your cousin in the hall. He's kinda cute. Have you ever seen him naked?"
Teresa groaned and said, "No, I don't think so."
Rachel put her hand on her hip and pointed her toothbrush at Teresa.
"Don't think so! I would think you would remember if you had!"
" Yeah" Teresa laughed, "I guess I would."
"Well let's see what we can do about that this week, it will be our little vacation project", Meghan said as she crawled into bed and turned out the light.
Teresa, laughed to herself, thinking that doubly humiliating Thomas would be fun. She'd have to warn the girls not to let Melanie know what they were doing or she'd put a stop to it.
The next morning was predictably chaotic as everyone took shifts showering, packing and eating breakfast.
Thomas came down for breakfast and was greeted by Teresa, Laura, Meg and Rachel. "Shower is free," he said.
"Who hasn't showered yet?" Margaret asked.
"Me," said Rachel.
"Well you better get a move on. Teresa, go show your guest where everything is."
The two girls headed upstairs.
Teresa showed Rachel where the towels were and then headed back to her room.
A few minutes later Rachel reappeared still dressed with a bundle in her hands.
"What is that?" Teresa asked.
