You Must Remember This

Chapter 36: Out Of All The Gin Joints

It took a special occasion for Mrs. Huang to take her family out for Sunday brunch, but the occasion demanded it. She had received an email last night from UCLA triumphantly announcing that Juliet had won a scholarship, and with it, admission; the logical thing to do would be to forward it to her immediately, but Mrs. Huang had a better idea. Mrs. Huang admired the chandelier and the lobster tanks, and was happy to be seated quickly by the old lady manning the front desk. She loved the frenetic energy and savory smells that permeated the room; for one, it made her hungry. She quickly conferred with her family before shouting some requests at the waiter who conveniently ambled by, and a few minutes later, an array of steamers and a bemused Juliet were delivered. Mrs. Huang insisted she sit down, and with little fanfare handed her an envelope and waited for her to open it.

"What is it?" Juliet asked.

"What are you waiting for? Open it." Juliet surgically opened the envelope and scanned the letter, her resting flat smile turning into jubilance. A few other tables noticed and began clapping.

"You're a future Bruin. Great school, great food. What's your major?"

"I know before I wanted to do psychiatry, but I chose political science. I think leadership has been good for me; I want more. Maybe you'll see me run for president in thirty years. Why did you come all the way here, Mrs. Huang, for this? You could have just sent me an email."

"Because then I wouldn't have seen your face!" Mrs. Huang excitedly laughed. "And I was hungry. I've been here before, but you must not have been there. I was very lucky today that you were here."

"This occasion calls for celebration," Juliet declared, and she took an empty seat at Mrs. Huang's table and hastily introduced herself to Mrs. Huang's husband with needless formality and her son, who was too young to understand the magnitude of the moment but happy to meet a new friend.

"I've told them such great things about you and Frank, this is no inconvenience at all. Where is he going?"

"He said he knows, but he won't tell me. Probably Harvard or something. He sure does love his secrets."

"People like you two will succeed anywhere. Don't even stress about it—but I guess your stress is over! You still have six months of high school left, enjoy it while you can. Let him enjoy it too."

"UCLA has been my dream school since I was a kid, but I never thought I'd actually be able to attend. Now I just want to leave here and move to the next stage of my life, you know. It seems pointless to stay and keep running out the clock; time is precious."

"Really, Juliet. I thought you loved high school. I thought you loved all of this. At UCLA you will be a nobody, at least at first; here, you are a superstar."

"Every star must fade. I feel like I've aged thirty years in the last few months. Everything that felt special about the new system, the new way of doing things, simply isn't special anymore; it feels like a job. And don't get me wrong—I really enjoy what I do—but it's like if you took a movie and added an extra hour before the credits. It's needless epilogue."

"Every senior feels that way, that's why they call it senioritis. If you think this is needless epilogue, welcome to the real world. I love my job too, but it requires people like you keeping it interesting, otherwise I only have my books and my church to add some energy into it. You can always find something to be happy about; that's a skill I learned long ago, and it's why I'm still at Heller. I bet you're such a smart kid that you can find more ideas for your student council to implement and make the school even better. That should keep you busy. But anyway, let's not talk so much of business here—eat up!"

With the homecoming dance approaching, Frank was faced with a dilemma: he could either maintain it as a bastion of normalcy in an otherwise-uncertain time, or overhaul the entire thing as proof that high school students didn't really care where they were as long as they were with their friends. The choice was obvious.