"I got it! I got accepted!"
I called my best friend Karl immediately after receiving the news that I had been accepted to USC on a full athletic scholarship. It was all I could do to keep from screaming the news into the phone.
"Oh shit dude!" He exclaimed. "Congrats!"
As excited as he was, I could also detect the sadness in Karl's voice. He got his acceptance letter to MIT a few weeks before me and had been hoping that I would end up at a college on the east coast as well. We had only known each other since ninth grade, but I came to regard him as my closest friend.
I didn't have a good family. My parents divorced when I was just five years old and my mom spent most of her days with strange men that she invited over. As a result, I spent most of my days hanging out at Karl's place and playing video games. He lived in a beautiful house just a few miles outside of the city. It was immaculately clean and always smelled of fresh laundry and chocolate chip cookies. He had one of those perfect families that you see in dog food commercials, with their bright happy eyes and polished gleaming smiles.
His father, Mr. Stevens, was a typical suburban dad who loved bringing his family on all sorts of trips. He relished the outdoors and drove them out into the wilderness any chance he got. They invited me along several times over the years, but mother always forbade it. She was already annoyed that I spent so much time at their place.
As summer drew to a close, Karl invited me yet again to join them on a trip to the lake. It was the last opportunity I had before leaving for college, so I begged mother to let me go. After a few days of pleading, she finally agreed.
I arrived at Karl's place bright and early on a Saturday. I kissed mother goodbye and hopped out of the car to see him loading a few boxes into the trunk of his family's SUV.
"Hey man!" He greeted me. "Are you pumped for this trip? It's gonna be epic! Dad planned it all out. The three of us are gonna go swimming, canoeing..."
"The three of us? What about your mom and sister?"
"Change of plans. Once Dad heard that you were coming, he insisted on it just being us guys. To be honest, I think Mom was relieved. I heard her making an appointment at the spa right after."
I laughed.
"Cool, that sounds good."
Mr. Stevens came walking out of the house holding a bunch of fishing gear in both hands.
"Hey Andy! So happy you can finally join us. I'm glad we get to do this before you boys leave for college."
"I promise you, this trip will be unforgettable," Karl beamed.
An hour's drive later, we arrived at a campsite right by the lake. It was absolutely breathtaking. Surrounded by towering pine trees and cool clear water, I instantly felt a sense of calm and tranquility. After we got settled, Mr. Stevens brought us out to the water where we spent the rest of the day out on a boat. The morning was nice and cool, but once the afternoon sun came, it soon became unbearably warm.
"Man it's hot," Mr. Stevens muttered and proceeded to peel off his t-shirt.
I was surprised to see what was underneath. All these years, I was used to only seeing Mr. Stevens in baggy oversized clothes, much like what he wore on the way here. I never knew how fit he was. He had a well-defined six pack, a broad square chest sprinkled with hair, wide shoulders, and arms that looked like they could rip a log in half. For a man in his forties, he was in phenomenal shape.
"I'm gonna go for a quick swim to cool off," said Karl.
"Ok, but no diving. Stay where I can see you," Mr. Stevens ordered.
"Yes dad." Karl took off his shirt and dove headfirst into the water.
"Not going to join him?"
"Nah, I'm good. Maybe later," I said and removed my t-shirt. As one of the top athletes in my school, I had developed a considerable amount of muscle tone, certainly more than most guys my age. I was proud of my hard work and had no shame in showing it off, especially when there were cute girls around. Mr. Stevens and I made some small talk, mostly about college. I told him about how I was excited to join the track team while he told me a couple of stories from his time at UCLA.
"Were you an athlete too?" I asked.
"No, why?"