Hawthorne Heights [Editing]

thirty-epilogue

'Dear Khari Spence,

I am pleased to inform you that you are being invited to train for Peace Corps service in Ethiopia as a community health educator.'

Chewing on my bottom lip, I placed the folded up letter into my back pocket and slid into my desk next to Warren in our English class. It was the last day of school and everyone seemed to be buzzing with excitement now that they could finally be free of the scheduled bells and disgusting lunches.

Warren nodded at me while fingering through the pictures of his newest younger sibling, Michael. Isaiah and his wife ended up moving to Atlanta so that they could stay close to Warren and experience a change in scenery. Avery decided to stay in St. Louis and attend Mizzou while effectively keeping an eye on Laila.

     She somehow managed to continue her education in a single school without being suspended or placed in detention, but her summer was supposedly going to be full of planned protests and immense hours of research about the Tuskegee Trials.

     Milo skipped over to my desk while humming along to the school's anthem. Her short sleeve shirt matched the scarf she had wrapped around her head. She claimed that she wanted to slay everyone on graduation—I wasn't an exception to that. I pulled her onto my desk while trying to erase the sense of overwhelming guilt that her presence evoked.

     I mumbled into her torso, "Milo, I got accepted into the Peace Corps. I'm leaving out next month to Ethiopia."

     She forced a smile onto her glossy lips and rubbed my head. We'd had been together for ten months, dating for six, and we had somehow managed to skirt over the topic of our relationship after high school. Milo would always shift the subject into something unimportant.

      "That's great, Ree." She nodded her head and laughed, "I know how much you've been banking on this; I'm proud of you."

     Her sincerity outweighed her subtle sadness as she continued to run her fingers through my hair—her new coping mechanism. My right hand rubbed up to her back until the teacher, Ms. Manolo strolled into the classroom. A refreshed smile graced her face as she pulled out a dry-erase marker to write on the board. Milo slid off of my desk before flicking my nose and ran to her side of the classroom.

Ms. Manolo announced, "Okay, class! You all know the drill, get onto your opposing sides of the classroom so we can finish out this debate."

      "So, if you believe true love exists, go to the right side of the classroom. If you believe that true love does not exist, go to the left side of the classroom."

     A large smirk rose on Milo's face and she began to squeal loudly while jumping in Warren's face. I rubbed the back of my neck while standing up and feeling as though everyone's eyes rested on me.

     Milo whooped, "Hurry up so I can debate!"

     Ms. Manolo raised her eyebrows and stated, "Well, let's get started, shall we? What are your arguments?"