After Camp Cedarcrest orientation ends and before your summer job officially starts, you have one last weekend at home. Time to pack, to prepare, to say goodbye.
In some ways, Kingsport looks the way it always has. On the west side, rows upon rows of small, boxy, weathered-gray houses with blue hydrangeas out front; on the east side, sprawling McMansions, condo towers, and resorts, each with its own exclusive slice of oceanfront property. In the center of town, B&Bs, little shops selling souvenirs and saltwater taffy, and crowds of summer tourists.
But everything looks different, too.
Kingsport High is draped with blue-and-gold banners and still has the "Congratulations Graduates" sign out front. The big-box stores on the edge of town already have huge displays of back-to-school merchandise aimed at kids going off to college.
Those things were there in past years, too, but now they're all about you. You're one of those graduates; you're one of those kids going off to college.
You're leaving Kingsport soon. Maybe for good.