“And when he gets there?” Hailey asked softly. “Because he will get there, Grant.”
“I don’t know,” Grant said sincerely. “That part has been left unwritten. The pages are blank; the possibilities are endless. I know one thing though. In the play I’m writing, he’ll never turn his back on her because there is nothing about her that he seeks to distance himself from. In fact, she is precisely everything he wants to be.”
“So what happens when she can’t get into Harvard?” Hailey sighed. “What happens then? Does she get left behind anyway? And, more importantly, what makes her think she has any right to stand in the way of everything that he needs to be a part of.” Hailey took a long deep breath. “Let’s just stop this charade, Grant…speaking in the third person seems a little silly when everyone knows exactly who we’re talking about. Grant, you have a gift, and I can’t ask you to sell yourself short for me. You need and deserve to be around people who challenge you, and I never want to stand in the way of that.”
“And who’s to say what my challenge will be?” Grant shrugged.
Hailey’s eyes filled with tears again. “Going to Harvard…studying with the best and the brightest…taking the LSAT…passing the bar exam…those are all things you need to do right now.”
“What if none of that ever challenges me?” Grant was staring at the ground in front of him.
Surprised, Hailey reached for his hand. “You don’t think it will?”
“I don’t know,” Grant responded honestly. “I think those are all things I will enjoy…things I’ll accomplish relatively easily…but when you talk about a challenge…well, Hails, nothing has ever challenged me like you challenge me. You amaze me with your faith and your values and your strength. For some people math is a challenge; for some people public speaking is a challenge; for other people just figuring out how to be happy is the biggest challenge of all. I have such incredible respect for you and everything you believe in. You have enough faith for the both of us, so is it too much to ask for you to have a little faith in me?”
Hailey’s cheeks quivered as the tears she had been holding back trailed down her face. “I have so much faith in you,” she looked deep into Grant’s eyes, “so prove me right… leave this place, and go out there and change the world, Grant Cohen.”
Grant’s reply came softly, lacking the confrontational tone that had been present earlier. “A world without you isn’t a world I want to be a part of.”
“That is the most romantic thing I have ever heard,” Misty sighed, swiping a tear from her own cheek.
“Dang, y’all! This was a play about war!” Paul laughed. “Frankly, I’m scared of what you two might do when we read Romeo and Juliet!”
“Well,” Mrs. Jordan nodded, still frozen behind her podium next to the blackboard, “I can say without a doubt that I have never generated such a passionate debate inside my classroom.”
“May I be excused?” Hailey asked.
Mrs. Jordan nodded hesitantly.
Grant closed his eyes. “May I…”
“Go,” Mrs. Jordan nodded.
“Can I go too?” Billy Wayne called.
“Sit, Billy Wayne!” Mrs. Jordan pointed.
Grant followed Hailey outside the building and into the parking lot.
“Hailey,” Grant demanded, reaching for her arm.
“I just need a minute, Grant,” Hailey cried. “I’m fine.”
“Hailey, you just had a meltdown in front of the entire senior class,” Grant quipped. “You’re not fine.”
“You’re right,” Hailey spun around. “I’m not fine; I’m worried. You and I are different and …”
“Well yeah,” Grant shrugged easily, “if I was interested in a six foot, blond dude, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation…”
“See,” Hailey pointed, grinning. “You’re joking, and I’m serious.”
“You’re smiling,” Grant added.
“I’m just having a bad day,” Hailey insisted. “Suddenly, I just see my whole life playing out in front of me, and I’m trying to protect myself this time. You’re gonna go to Harvard, and you’re going to meet some young, ambitious, future lawyer who enjoys the same books as you do and is passionate about politics the way you are. She’ll be the type of woman you envision taking to correspondence dinners and press events. She’ll be the type of Ivy League educated woman who could work the campaign trail with confidence, talking proactively about issues that people care about. Your common interests will bring you together; she’ll fall in love with your charm, or maybe she’ll just see you as her ticket into Washington’s inner circle, but she’ll be everything you are looking for in a wife, and you’ll forget all about me.”
“Maybe,” Grant agreed.
“What?” Hailey exclaimed.
“See there,” Grant pointed. “You don’t believe it either.”
Hailey frowned. “I’m an average girl from a middle-of-nowhere sort of town. I get a little nervous just speaking at a school pep rally in front of a few people. I don’t have a clue which fork to use at some fancy dinner, and, frankly, I think it’s pretentious and wasteful to use more than one, anyway! Why can’t rich folks just lick the salad dressing off before the main course and then suck off the excess mashed potatoes before moving on to dessert like the rest of us?”
Grant laughed loudly. “Look there, Babe, you’ve already got causes in mind to champion. I can imagine the impact of our whole forking platform now. It will be a fresh new take that middle America can jump right on board with. The campaign ads will be classic!”
“Are you making fun of me?” Hailey sighed.
“Not at all,” Grant insisted. “I just don’t happen to believe that your lack of political aspirations is a problem.”
“I know that my insecurities are probably not all that attractive to you,” Hailey frowned. “But, I’m scared. I’m scared of having my heart broken. I thought that when you left and never looked back after this summer that I had felt the greatest pain I would ever feel…now I know it could be a lot worse…”
Grant shook his head, and his eyes seemed understanding. “I’m going on a short trip; I’m not leaving you.”
“How do I know that?” Hailey gulped.
“You could trust me,” Grant shrugged.
“I want to,” Hailey nodded.
