Dark Night

And the final push

The day after I got home, the family came over for dinner and we distributed our Olympic stash. I was going to be leaving most of it at home, not needing cooking knives or a yukata at the house, really. Mom and Dad had some souvenirs for us too, quirky little things that they'd picked up. "Are you sure you don't want to keep skating?" I asked my brother wistfully as we talked about our trips. "The next Olympics are in Sweden."

He burst out laughing, so I guess that was a no. But I'd have loved to go to Europe with Grandpa. He'd joked in Japan that I was getting trips instead of an inheritance, but while money is nice, I'd always have the memories from our Olympics adventures and the time with him was precious.

Cass and Carol also had spring break at the same time I did, and we did a lot of stuff together. They were also hearing back from grad programs and making their decisions. "I'm sad that Keshondra is going to the University of Chicago for her Masters in economics," I said.

"Yeah," Cass said regretfully. "She's going to hate the snow. But it's a better program than UCLA's, and she didn't get into Stanford or Berkley. Well, I'm also going to UCLA for dentistry school," she announced, and I shrieked and clapped my hands.  Maya was going to USC for public policy.

Carol drew in a big breath and we looked at her attentively. "I got into Johns Hopkins for epidemiology and public health," she said. We cheered and hugged her. "I'm nervous, though, guys. I've never lived that far away from my family and I'll be starting completely over with friends. And the East Coast is so different from California, but it's the best program in the nation. And I like it the best out of the programs that I got into."

"That's awesome, though," Cass said. "So close to Washington DC and you can do some sightseeing on breaks."

"There's got to be somebody that we know out there," I said encouragingly. "Do you know anybody from college? And anyway, we're just a Skype away."

Cass was flipping through her Facebook contacts; she only followed personal friends and acquaintances there. "Kyle Evans from high school is at American University," she said. "Oh, hey, Marcus Rinehart is at U Maryland. Marcus is a sweetheart." She started typing furiously at the tiny keyboard before Carol could say anything. "There. I sent him a message about you. I'm sure he'll follow up. The two schools aren't that far apart, and he's taking an extra year to finish, he failed a few classes early on and he just wants to learn more, boost that GPA a bit."

"John's deciding between UCLA and Yale,"  I mentioned. "Yale isn't that far off either, if he decides to go there."

"When did you talk to him?" Cass asked curiously, so I told them about the highway incident.

"Jesus, John," Carol said, shaking her head after I related his continuing struggles. "He's smart but not very self-aware. He doesn't seem to realize that what he's experiencing is real life for the rest of us."

"To be fair, he's had a pretty charmed life up until he quit skating," I felt that I had to point out. "He's really not had to struggle much, he just had to work hard to succeed."

"I can understand why he'd feel that hard work was an indicator of something worth having," Cass said. Grudgingly. "But geeze. I can't understand why he didn't drop that woman immediately after she accused Paul of being racist. I mean, the hell? Is he that easy to pussywhip?" We nodded about that. "Do you know where you'll be living next year, Leia? I haven't been notified yet."

"I got the nod just before I left. I've got an on-campus apartment," I said, gloating to myself. "No roommates. They're small, but I'm not going to throw huge parties anyway."