"Josh. Josh, we are golden. Listen to what I've
done. You're gonna love this. Are you ready? Get comfortable."
Josh knew this was going to be another difficult
evening. Their study date was going to turn into more of Cindy's plans.
If one of the things she liked about him was his spontaneous
nature, she sure was dealing with it in a funny way.
"Angie said that we could come over tomorrow night.
The people downstairs are having a goodbye party, so we can go
down and scope out their apartment. And if we like it, my dad said
he'd give me a deposit to put down. We could move there in the
middle of July. Imagine. Just the two of us."
Josh smiled. "Sounds great. Sounds like just the ticket."
"Right. But there's more. Look at this! I stopped
by Stratham Tech and picked up some course information. Talk
about great. Look at this program!" She grabbed an orange and
green booklet from her desk. "You can get an Associate Degree in
Automotive Technology! That's awesome."
"Sounds great. Yeah, awesome." Josh slumped back in
the chair and glanced at the closed door. It was just about time for
Mrs. Carlson to bustle in and offer some diversion. And to find out
what was going on.
"Well, look at this. I got you an application. I even filled
out a lot of it for you. You just got to make a few choices." She
folded a grey sheet and handed it to him.
"Cindy. You've done almost everything on here.
That's really, that's. . . . That's great." He looked at the carefully
formed letters and words. He couldn't make his eyes focus on the page.
"Yeah, well, look here. When do you want to begin? I
think this summer would be best. I'm not starting UNH until the fall,
but if I work this summer, and you go to school, I can earn enough
for rent. And you'll still work at the garage. We should be fine.
We should be wonderful."
"Cindy. Cindy, I. . . ."
"Well, if you want to start in the fall, that's cool too.
That's why I didn't fill in that part. You could work full time for Gus,
and probably save a couple of thousand dollars, and we'd be all set.
Oh, I filled out a financial aid form too. I didn't know how much
your grandfather could afford, so I figured to make you look as needy
as possible."
Josh laughed, inside. Or maybe it wasn't a laugh. But
there was a rumbling in there somewhere. He flipped some of the
pages and tried to read Cindy's neatly formed words. He couldn't
focus on them.
"Cindy, this is wonderful. Wonderful. Let me take this
home and go over it with my mom and granddad, see what they say.
And then we'll see." He finally looked into her eyes and smiled.
"We'll see? Now, wait a minute. I thought this is what
you wanted to do. I thought you were ready to move to
Newmarket with me." She sat on the arm of the chair and reached for his hand.
"Yeah." He couldn't meet her eyes.
"Yeah? Now listen. We've been over this. This is your
best option. You get to work at the garage. You get to go to a
super school. In fact, I think they've got everything that fancy school
in Detroit's got. Maybe more. Listen to this." She grabbed a
brochure. "`Automotive technicians are trained to diagnose and repair
the complex electronic and computerized systems in modern
vehicles.' That's what you want. That's what you need. And that's
what you're going to get. And an awesome apartment. And a hot chick."
"And wild sex?"
"I wouldn't bet against it, loverboy. Everyone thinks
we're sleeping together already, so it's bound to happen sometime
soon." She slipped from the arm of the chair into Josh's lap.
"Hey!" He grabbed her waist and began to tickle her.
"Who could resist an offer like that? Who'd be crazy enough to
walk away? Who could live without you?"
Cindy jumped onto the floor. "Okay. It's a deal. But
you've got to keep your fingers off of my baby fat." She laughed and
was about to move in for more tickling when her mother burst
through the door.
"Josh. Your mother called. She needs you at home
right away. I told her I'd send you along." Mrs. Carlson punctuated
her remark with a nervous smile.
"Did she say why? Is everything all right? Is someone sick?"
"She just said you should come right home." She glanced
at Cindy. "Alone. It sounded like something just for family."
It wasn't quite panic that Josh felt. More confusion.
What was going on? It wasn't like his mother to leave out all the details.
"Well, I gotta split. Listen, Cindy. I'll see you in
school tomorrow. I'll take this stuff along with me and get everything
filled out and signed. Um, thanks a lot." Mrs. Carlson seemed a
barrier between them. Certainly, the temperature in the room had
dropped significantly when she came in.
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