his place and heads to the wall opposite me.
“I said yes.” I did. I agreed on the spot without asking for more details. I didn’t need any more information, didn’t want it. I wanted an out from this job. Football was once my dream. Coaching it, while not playing it, is as close as I’m going to get.
“Why are you still here?” Nigel asks, like the moment I accepted the offer I should’ve been out the door. He knows I hate it here.
I shrug. “I can’t just walk out on the job.”
“Why not?” he asks, baffled.
“I need to talk to Hollister about it. I’d like to give him a two-week’s notice, but they need me to go in tomorrow morning.”
“He’s not going to be happy about that. If I were you, I’d leave now and never talk to him again.”
“I’ve got to do this the right way.” I’ve had my life planned out before, only to have the plan go to hell. I don’t want to have to go through that again. I want to make sure that it’s actually going to work out this time.
“You excited to start over?”
I nod. I’m happy to get to do something I love again. The last six years of my life haven’t
been the best. While they started off shaky, I still wouldn’t trade them for anything.
Not even for her.
2
AMARI SANTANA
I can’t believe I’m going back to the place where I grew up. Forest Pines wasn’t great for me the first time around. I’m not really sure why I think it’ll treat me any better the second time.
But even with all my doubts, I still pack my things into my bags and get in the car.
I settle in for the drive to the place I came from.
The place I have avoided for a very long time. Six years, to be exact.
My phone rings as I pull onto the highway for what’ll be the longest drive of my life. A drive down memory lane.
“Hey,” I answer by pressing the button on my steering wheel.
My best friend’s voice fills the vehicle. “’Sup girl!” she says, immediately making me smile. Thank goodness at least that relationship survived the end of high school. I don’t know what I would’ve done if she had left me too.
“What’s up, Emely?” I say, trying to mask the sadness in my voice.
“You know, living my best life, sipping on piña coladas beach side,” she says excitedly. She’s truly been living the life… I wish I had too.
“Why did you let me get a teaching degree again?” I ask, knowing I could never afford to live the life Emely lives with my expected salary. Then again, you couldn’t pay me enough to do what she does.
“Because you thought business administration wasn’t for you,” she says, reminding me.
I nod. I did think that. I still do. Teaching is my passion. “Still wish I were beach side right now with enough drinks to quiet my thoughts,” I tell her.
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” I don’t know about that. Emely is always up to something, always on a new adventure.
“Where are you again?” I ask. It’s fall here in the Northeast, so she’s definitely not in this part of the world.
“Mexico! I love it here,” she exclaims.
“See, you definitely can’t complain about your job.”
“Still can. I have a client meeting tonight, so I’m just resting until then,” she says.
“Tonight? It’s Sunday. Where’s the client meeting?” I question, wondering what kind of client wants to meet on a weekend.
“A nearby club… and before you say anything, it’s not my fault the client owns several and wants to show me around so that I can see his business before we talk about how to grow it.”
“Grow his business, you say,” I joke, merging onto the highway that’ll lead me straight to Forest Pines.
“Very funny, Amari. Anyway, I called you and here you are trying to distract me from what I wanted to ask you.” She got me there. I knew she was calling because of this, because of the move. My best friend wouldn’t forget. Not after all the tears she saw me cry.
I pretend not to know what she’s talking about. “I just want to know about your latest adventure,” I tell her, trying to lead us away from the real motive behind her call.
“While deflecting questions about your own,” she adds.
“I’m not really going on an adventure,” I tell her.
“You’re going back home.”
I don’t know that I can call it that anymore. “Yes