Lucius looked as if he were going to say something, then just nodded. “Sure
thing.”
Outside, Peter found his blue Camry and unlocked it with the key fob. I'm fine where I am.
But exactly where was that? Trapped in his hometown's only high school, teaching the few students who cared enough to be actually interested in the difference between a mole and a molecule? Stuck in the same small town he'd grown up in? Left in the dust by people he'd gone to college with who've gone
on to prestigious, big-paying jobs at companies like Nitrovex?
He looked at the cover of the journal. Was Lucius right? Was it time to move
on, and up?
He opened the driver's side door and got in, dumping his briefcase and the
stack of folders and papers on the passenger seat. The brochure from Dixon slid
onto the floor, and he picked it up.
The place looked like a college campus, with laughing students walking
among huge trees to stately old buildings. It did sound like a good opportunity.
And he did have the qualifications. In fact, with his masters, he was probably over-qualified to teach at Golden Grove.
Maybe he did deserve a more prestigious job. How many more D's from
disinterested students was he going to have to endure? Nothing against Lucius,
but did Peter want to spend his whole life in Golden Grove? He'd never left, except for college and grad school.
If it hadn't been for his dad…
No, he wasn't going to go down that path again. But it wouldn't hurt to do some thinking. He could probably swing at least one interview, just to kick the
tires, so to speak. He started his car, shifted it into reverse.
Besides, it was Chicago. It might have a lot to offer…
No, Peter, don't go there. It had been, what? Twelve years? Yeah, twelve years since he'd ruined her life.
Whenever he thought of it, he always told himself it was just high school.
That place so far away, the place everyone was supposed to leave behind and move on from to bigger and better things, away from the embarrassing haircuts
and the dropped lunch-room trays and the drama. But he knew that it was much
more for some. For Katie Brady, the Scholarship Fair had been everything, all her hopes in one fragile basket.
And Peter had been the one to kick that basket over, scattering her hopes across the gym floor.
* * *
Twelve Years Ago
Golden Grove High
Peter's project for the Scholarship Fair was a chemical propulsion rocket. He didn't care much about winning the scholarship money. He just didn't want to disappoint his favorite science teacher, Mr. Potter.
He ventured a glance at Katie, who was wiping a smudge from her mobile at
the table near his. B before C, Brady and then Clark. All through grade school,
middle school, high school, even if they'd wanted to avoid each other, the alphabet wouldn't let them. Which was fine with him.
He'd always liked Katie, not just because she was his neighbor and they'd grown up together. Katie was…different. He felt so at ease with her. He felt…
connected in some way. And at the same time, he felt flustered when he had to
talk with her. Chemical reactions in the brain was what an online article said about it.
So, when she'd asked him to check a few things on her project at the beginning of summer, he thought maybe this was a chance for them to find out.
Was there something more?
They'd always been friends—always would be friends, probably. But they'd
grown up. She'd grown up, for sure.
