Up at the Cottage

Part of the [First Time For Everything Daily Dose 2011 collection](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11278174-first-time-for-everything)

Mark is looking forward to a dreamy summer at the cottage on the lake before leaving home to attend college in the city. To his dismay, he discovers his parents’ best friends will be there—with their son, Tom—and Mark’s parents want the two young men to open the cottage themselves, preparing it for their parents’ arrival a week later.

Mark and Tom haven’t seen each other for years, but they have a week to get reacquainted. Mark remembers Tom as the bane of his childhood summers—a rowdy, energetic kid whose idea of fun was directly opposite his own bookish, imaginative interests. For Mark these seven days hold the potential for a number of firsts: his first post-high school friendship, first sexual experiences, and maybe, if he’s lucky, his first love. But for these to happen, he must first challenge the prejudices he’s carried since childhood.