Understanding Teenagers

13: The Future of Ava

Ava's POV

There was always something about the Fall Season I enjoyed. Yeah, I know technically it wasn't Fall yet, but when you start to notice when one of the leaves are starting to change color, I'd say the time is here. With a red leaf on my lap on the bus that afternoon, I sat there noticing an elderly man a few seats in front of me. He was lonely. Without anyone noticing, I took out my phone and got a quick picture of him sitting there. After a few minutes, we reached a bus stop and the man stood up to get off. Something inside of me said to follow him. Secretly, I followed him to Starbucks.

"Can I have a coffee?" he asked.

He soon sat at a table drinking a coffee. My eyes just watched him thinking about who this guy was. An hour as he continued to sit there. Things changed when another old man walked in and sat next to him. They talked as they both seemed sad. Tears soon fell out of my eyes. There were so many reasons these guys could be sad. It was another half hour before they were ready to go. That was before they had to go to the bathroom. With their coffee still at the table, I walked over to see a picture on the table. It was of an old lady. On the back, I read the date of her birth and the date of her death. This lady must've been married to one of these guys. Is this what it felt like to be old? Losing someone you loved? Would this be me in my old age?

Possibly an idea of Life in Seventy Years

"We're putting you in a home Ava," announced my grandson. "Daniel is dead and you can't support yourself."

I had no choice. In a matter of a day, I found myself in a retirement home. Giselle came to visit me. Somehow she aged well unlike me.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

"I don't know" my voice spoke as it sat in a rocking chair. "I feel like Daniel died when I was younger."

She hugged me. For a brief moment, I felt younger. My hand wanted to touch her face as if I were blind.

"Well, Sara is very much alive. She sends her regards. Wanted you to know that she's proud of you. You can even live with her if you want."

My heart skipped a beat. "That's kind of her."

"Excuse me young lady" interrupted the old man I followed. "What are you doing?"

My head came back to reality. Crap, I got lost in my own daydream and now my cover was blown. How was I supposed to respond? I couldn't.

"Are you OK?" his friend asked.

I did my best to respond. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Who is this lady?"

The old man I followed took a breath and rearranged his glasses. "You followed me all the way over here, didn't you?" His face quickly smiled. "This was my wife Eliza who passed away last week." With a sad sigh, he spoke again. " I deeply loved this wonderful woman."

"How did you know you loved her?"

"I didn't at first. She went out of her way to get me to like her. Imagine that. She was right in front of me this entire time and I ignored her. We tend to ignore the simple things sometimes."

With that, I thanked them and went on my way back to the bus realizing that I forgot about my meeting with Sara. We were supposed to meet for dinner at Taco Bell. I'm not even sure why she wanted to meet with our presentation being finished. But I hauled butt and got there a couple minutes late. Once I got there, she greeted me with a warm smile and hug. We sat down. It was a little weird.

"So Sara, why did you ask me here?"

Just wanted to see if you wanted to have dinner" she casually said. "You seem cool and I enjoyed doing our project together. Anyways, I'm hungry. You ready to order?"

Was I hungry? After the crazy adventure, I had that afternoon, I really wasn't sure if I was hungry. But it was dinner time so I ordered a few tacos. We both sat there eating our tacos.

"How's your blog going?"

"I was actually trying to work on it today, but there were a few stumbling blocks. I wanted to write about this old man and I followed him to Starbucks. When he was in the bathroom, I checked out the picture on the table of his dead wife. There I was daydreaming and crap about my future when he caught me red-handed."

She burst out laughing with her hand on my arm. "Oh dude, that's rough. I'm so sorry."

"Yeah these things happen I guess." With a sigh I paused. "So what are you doing after high school?"

"You know, I'm thinking about going to community college. It's cheaper and I can save money in the long run. Thinking about being a vet or a nurse. We'll see where the road takes me."

"And you're not embarrassed at going to a community college? I think I would dread doing that."

She took a sip of her drink. "And do you know what exactly you want to do yet?"

"Not a clue."

"Community college is perfect for people who don't know what they want to do. Why waste all that money at a university when you're unsure of yourself?"

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Be sure to vote, comment, and share!

Next Chapter: Ava complains about Sara. Liam and the Authors discuss 'Looking for Alaska'

What are your thoughts on Ava following the old man?

Could Ava and Sara be good friends?

Should Ava go to a community college?