Almost Perfect - Brian Katcher [7]
“So you haven’t filled out your application for college yet,” she said, pointing to the form still magneted to the fridge. “It’s due by January.”
I didn’t meet her eyes. “I have plenty of time.”
“I don’t see why you’re putting it off; it’ll only take half an hour. I could help you, or you could ask your counselor.”
“I’ll get to it,” I snapped. I was sick of talking about this. For years, college and Brenda had gone together. Now that she was gone, I wasn’t sure that was the route I wanted to take. What would I do there? Get drunk and party? I could do that in Boyer. And what would I study? I could get a business degree and end up managing a tire place or a motel somewhere. Or get my teaching certificate and wind up coaching and teaching social studies. Neither prospect thrilled me.
“I stopped by the library and picked up some information about student loans,” continued Mom. “I have Wednesday off. Maybe we could sit down and …”
I threw down my fork. “Mom! Drop it, okay? What’s the big deal if I don’t go to college? I mean, maybe I could just work for a year, save up some money, and then go.”
For a second, I thought Mom was going to cry. The apologies clogged my throat in an effort to get out.
“Aw, Mom, I didn’t mean that. It’s just …”
Mom quickly regained her composure. “Logan, listen to me. I can’t afford to send you to school. There’s been a lot I haven’t been able to give you and Laura …”
“Mom!” She’d worked her whole life just to support us. The last thing I wanted was to make her feel like that wasn’t enough.
“Let me finish. Logan, it’d be so easy for you just to stay here. You could keep mowing grass. You could probably have your own landscaping business in ten years. And I wouldn’t have to miss you like I do Laura. But, honey, that’s the same thing I thought twenty years ago. I figured it was okay just to get married right out of high school. I thought I’d still be able to do all those things I wanted to. And now … my kids are leaving home, and I realize I’m exactly where I was at eighteen. And I don’t want that to happen to you. I don’t want you to look back and see a lot of missed opportunities.”
I touched Mom’s hand. “I know you’re right. I promise I’ll fill out those forms this week.”
She smiled at me. “Thanks, Logan.”
I grabbed my bag and stood to leave. There was something else I had to say.
“And Mom? I, um … I …”
“I love you too, honey.”
That morning, I didn’t sit around waiting for Brenda. Maybe I was trying to get over her, or maybe I just didn’t want Tim to catch me stalking again. As I walked toward bio, I found myself thinking about Sage.
I couldn’t remember ever meeting a chick that strange. Even after an hour of class, I knew that weird girl wasn’t like anyone in Boyer. Too colorful, too outspoken, too wild.
Brenda never would have dressed in crazy clothes like that. She always dressed in long skirts and plain sweaters. And she wouldn’t have joked around with people she’d just met, either. Brenda was so reserved that she still had a hard time talking to my friends.
Sage, on the other hand, seemed to warm up to anyone nearby. By the time I got to class, she was already sitting at the lab table laughing with Tim. Annoyed, I plopped down next to her.
“And that’s when they told Jack he was no longer welcome at Chuck E. Cheese’s,” finished Tim.
Sage’s laughter boomed across the lab. Then she turned to me.
“You’ve got something on your shirt, Logan.”
I looked down and she bopped me on the nose. Kind of hard.
As I pretended to blow my nose to make sure it wasn’t bleeding, I looked at Sage. She had forced her spirals of hair into two pigtails. She wore ragged jeans and a short-sleeved sweater. Her arms were almost solidly freckled.
Brenda wouldn’t be caught dead in an outfit like that. And she wouldn’t have bopped a strange guy in the nose. And she always seemed annoyed around Tim and Jack. I used to think her stuffiness was kind of sweet. Now it just seemed irritating.
The bell rang before I could be charming.