Sunday felt like a major let down, as Jake and I walked back into our house after Tyler and Milly left. My mom had left to meet some friends and my dad had gone to work. Jake was meeting up with Sean's little brother, but Sean was going somewhere with his friend Martchie, so I was left at the house alone, with nothing to do. I stared at the calendar, counting the days until Tyler was moving back. Then I bit my lip and looked at the calendar a moment longer, counting the days until my birthday. I would be seventeen. I remembered Dustin had been planning our seventeenth birthday since we were twelve, she was so excited for it. Most people were excited for sixteen, but she always said seventeen was the really good year- you weren't quite an adult yet, so you still got to enjoy being a teenager, but you weren't a sweet little sixteen year old anymore, either, so people took you more seriously. Now, it was only me that was going to turn seventeen, only me that would ever get a driver's license, vote, go to college, someday get a career, have a family. I remembered Dustin had made a specific plan for her future, set out step by step. The only thing she didn't have planned was who she would marry and what genders her children would be. I couldn't remember the details of the plan, but I could remember the gleam in her eyes as she spoke about it. I turned away from the calendar. Dustin would never turn seventeen, never live out that detailed plan she formed. But I knew, now, that she was doing something much better. The only ones who would regret her not reaching these things would be us- the ones still trapped on Earth.
One more week. One more week, and then I could go home, where Angela
was waiting for me. And now I had even more to look forward to. The idea of
being with Angela again had been enthusing enough before, now the seconds
seemed to tick by endlessly, the time stretching itself out, keeping me away
from my destination. Sadie had left school early, going on some trip with her
family. I was bummed that I hadn't gotten to say a real goodbye to her, but I
had a feeling she wouldn't really cooperate if we had tried to, anyway. She
didn't call me after she left, didn't text me or message me on facebook. I wasn't
that surprised, I guess, but I did hope that she would call sometime- I had
messaged her, but I had lost her cell phone number when my phone broke, so I
couldn't call her. Milly had been helping me pack my things, eager to have
everything ready as soon as possible so that we could leave as soon as the school
year ended. My mom, too, had been packing like crazy- the kitchen had two boxes
of cereal in the cabinet and two gallons of milk in the fridge, but mom was giving
us money for lunch everyday and taking us out or ordering pizza for dinner
everyday. She had really warmed up to the idea of moving closer to grandma, and
she said she thought the town was "quite homey". We were all bouncing off the
walls, staring at our cell phone and lap and iPod screens to count the minutes as
they passed, since the clocks were already packed.
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