Sierra’s training kicks in and they offer for everyone to go first. It’s a ploy of course, pretending like they’re being polite when really, they just want us to go first so they can pig out once we’re settled. I fill my plate and sit down at LeeLee’s dining room table, Mom and LeeLee take the chairs at the ends, and the boys and Tom fill out the extra seats. Dexter sits on one side of me and George on the other. I can feel the energy rolling off George in waves, his knee bouncing with excitement.
I rest a hand on his thigh and squeeze.
“Well now that George knows what he’s doing next fall, how about everyone else? What’s the plan?” my mom asks, spreading her napkin over her lap.
The boys are mid-food shoveling but Dexter swallows and says, “I’m going to stay at the Wayward Sun. You know, unless Sierra has other plans for the shop. I’d like to keep up the bakery aspect, maybe expand to another location eventually.”
“An entrepreneur,” Mom says, nodding. “A business degree would complement that.”
Dexter crams a whole slice of bread in his mouth and nods noncommittally.
“Jake’s waiting to hear from a few colleges about football,” I say, taking the heat off of Dex. His knee taps mine under the table in appreciation. “You should hear soon, right?”
“Next couple of weeks. Signing day is March fifteenth.”
“And what colleges have expressed interest?”
Jake starts listing the top five colleges. Three are here in California, the closest being Stanford. The other two in Nevada and Oregon. “Really, I’m okay with any of them. The programs are good. I just want to make sure it’s the right academic fit as well as athletic.”
Meaning his grades are rough—the dyslexia makes it hard for him to keep up, but he doesn’t want to just get passed along for his athletic abilities. That’s how he got so far behind in the first place.
“That’s really smart,” Mom says, giving him a supportive smile. She turns to the seat next to hers. “What about you, Charlie?”
“Berkeley has a good eSports program and with George going there, it seems like a good fit. I talked to a recruiter at the tournament last month and he encouraged me to turn in my application.”
LeeLee shakes her head. “eSports sounds like something made up.”
Everyone laughs, including Charlie. “I guess it is, but I’m good at it and if they want to give me their money so I can get an education, I’ll take it.”
“I hear that,” Jake says, fist bumping Charlie.
Mom’s eyes shift to me and I feel the prickle of heat on my neck. “And Starlee? How’s your applications?”
“Fine.”
Lie number one.
“Did you fill out the one for Emory?”
I blink, trying to keep my face straight. Emory? I hadn’t even thought of it in months, but it makes sense that my mother would still think this was the priority. Emory University had been my goal before I moved out here. They have a school of public health, which was aligned with my former plans of working at the CDC. Somewhere between here and North Carolina, those dreams took a back seat. Wayyyyy back.
“Great,” I say, lie number two slipping off my tongue easily. “Almost finished.”
George detaches my hand from this thigh and link his fingers through mine. That’s when I realize how tight I’d been squeezing his leg. My mom has never been stupid and always has an alert awareness when it comes to me. An alertness that she’s tried to tame since she’s been back, but this college thing? Even if I’d changed paths, I realize that she certainly hasn’t. And when our eyes meet across the table, I know that’s exactly what she’s thinking and why this line of questioning even came up. She’d been waiting for the right moment to pounce.
She takes a sip of her wine and turns her attention back to the boy next to me. “So, George, tell us about this art show? It sounds really interesting.”
“Yes!” LeeLee says, “I want to hear more about that.”
“Well, I don’t know much about it yet…” he starts and I reach for my bread, letting my mind wander as he speaks. Two things came to light during this dinner. First, everyone here has a plan for the next year and in a matter of months we’ll be spread all over the state, if not further. Second, for the first time in my life I have no plan at all and shockingly, I’m okay with that.
I just don’t think my mother will agree.
4
Starlee
“I should have known there was an ulterior motive,” I say the following day as Claire and I walk into the Helping Hands committee meeting.