A Breath of Fresh Air

Monday

I wake up to my alarm clock blaring right in my ear. You've gotta be kidding me, it's already 6 am? I feel like I just fell asleep. Probably because I did; I was on FaceTime with Tyler forever and then ended up laying in bed all night unable to sleep. I so don't want to be awake, but the fact that I'm not going to school today and instead going home to Ohio encourages me to get up and power through it. I take a cold shower to get the blood pumping which definitely helps, then throw on some clothes. To my absolute shock, Isaac is already up and ready to go. Guess he's excited, too. We haul a ton of stuff out to Mom's car and mine too, and put Baxter in the back seat of my car. He seems happy to be going for a car ride. We're ready to go, but Isaac runs back into the house for something. He comes out with a box of cinnamon rolls.

"Cinnamon rolls? Really?"

ISAAC: A little road trip snack!

"Just don't eat the whole box and vomit in my car, okay?"

ISAAC: No promises.

MOM: You sure you're okay with driving such a long distance, Evan? Sandusky's pretty far...

"I'm good, Mom. You know I love driving. And my car might be a piece of junk, but she's still kicking and I want her to come to Ohio. I've made some good memories with her."

I look at Isaac, who smiles.

MOM: But the interstate can be intense, I'm just a little worried-

"Wait, you're actually worried about me? That's new."

MOM: Be quiet. Of course I'm worried about you, you're my son.

"I'll be fine, Mom. As long as Isaac isn't behind the wheel, we'll make it there safe and sound."

ISAAC: Rude.

Mom laughs.

MOM: Just remember we have to stop by your school first to get you guys checked out.

ISAAC: And then we'll never have to see that stupid place ever again.

"As awful as that school is, I think I might miss it a little."

ISAAC: Not me.

We get in our cars, and I pull out first. I drive through downtown Chapel Heights one last time, see Mr. Ron's truck at Piggly Wiggly, and suddenly I realize that I never even told them I'd be leaving. I quickly pull into the parking lot and Mom parks next to me. She rolls down her window.

MOM: What are you doing?

"Telling them I won't be working here anymore?"

MOM: Oh. Right. Sorry, I forgot about your job.

I shake my head as I walk up to the locked door and knock. I put my eyes up to the glass and look inside to see Tammy setting a mop aside and making her way over. She unlocks the door and opens it up.

TAMMY: Mornin', Evan. Aren't you supposed to be at school?

"Hey Tammy, um, so I feel really bad about this, but my mom kinda spur of the moment decided yesterday that we're moving back to Ohio, so we're literally on our way right now. Sorry I couldn't give you a full 2 week notice."

TAMMY: Oh my, that's wonderful! I know you've been wanting to get out of this town for quite some time. Don't worry about a thing, honey. Between you and me, Ron was actually getting ready to let you go anyway.

"Wait, what? Why??"

TAMMY: I'm not supposed to tell anyone this, but we're closing our doors for good. We just can't compete with that new Dollar General, you know?