See you again

Epilogue

Living in such a small town, not much was able to be hidden. Gossip spread quickly around the town, so if anything major happened, the whole town would know about it by the end of the day. My grandmother had lived in the town her entire life, so she knew the back-story of every family in the neighborhood and she didn't hesitate to tell me about every one of them.

She was also quite the gossiper, so I was always filled in with the news of the town. There was only one school in our town. It was separated into three different sectors: elementary, middle, and high school. So basically, everyone grew up with each other through their entire school career. That is, until they graduate. Considering that there was no university in or relatively near our town, those seeking university had to move elsewhere. It was something many strived for. No one wanted to stay in such a small, close knit town forever.

People wanted to branch out and experience a more urban life. Those who feared the metropolitan lifestyle usually dropped out of school and became farmers or local store owners.

***

It was a safe route that many would take when the stress of school and exit exams were too much for them. It was so much easier to stay in the comfort that the small town offered than move away into unknown cities. Today was the very first day of senior year the beginning of the end. I was sure that by now most of us were focused on making it out of the town and into the city. Anyone that wasn't ready to move on was already filtered out by the time we graduated middle school.

Everyone else had all of their goals planned out and all they really needed to do was graduate high school and pass their exit exams. But there was one person. One person in our entire senior class that didn't seem to know where he was going with his life. His name was Aaron Silva everyone that goes to this school was a local, but for some reason, Aaron took a bus from the city to come here and has been since the first year of middle school. For this reason, he was quite popular with everyone in the school. People would always ask him about the city and his answers were inconsistent. Sometimes he would say that he loved it and sometimes he would say that he hated it.

But every time someone would ask him why he came to such a small school in such a small town, he seems to be able to avoid answering it every time. Our school wasn't horrible, but it was probably mediocre at best especially compared to the fancy schools in the city. So what did this school offer him that kept him coming back every year?