Meet Me After Class

Chapter 65: A Gap Year

"Well, with all that oil on, I'll just have to sic a flock of seagulls on you. They'll think you're a delicious french fry!"

As my sister huffed at my joke, I thought about how nice it was to be here with my family, laughing and relaxing without any cares in the world. Which reminded me...I had something I wanted to run by them.

"So...I've been thinking," I began, figuring I might as well get it over with. "You guys know how Jay and Adam had a really great time...life-changing experience in Nepal, right?"

Mom and Dad exchanged looks. Belle kept rubbing lotion on her legs, seemingly ignoring me for the moment.

"Well," I continued. "I've been giving it some thought, and I think I might want to take a gap year before starting college again in the fall. Maybe do some traveling of my own, see some of the world, you know?"

There, I'd said it. I watched Mom's eyebrows raise incrementally as she processed this. Dad had gone still, the bag of chips he'd been opening now froze in his hands.

"A gap year?" Mom finally spoke. "Doing what exactly?"

I drew a steady breath. "Well, traveling. Maybe backpacking through parts of Asia. But eventually, I want to spend an extended period volunteering in Nepal. I've got plenty of savings leftover from working at Brown's the last four years, so financing it shouldn't be an issue."

Belle shot me an incredulous look, opening her mouth to no doubt ask a million rapid-fire questions. But Mom beat her to it.

"What brought this on all of a sudden?" Mom frowned slightly. "Everything okay?"

I could hear the uncertainty in her voice and tried to lighten the mood a bit. "Everything is perfect. I just want to do this." Putting on a grin, I joked, "And don't worry, Mom. I won't get lost in the Himalayas and join a Buddhist monastery or something."

She still looked skeptical, but Dad smiled a little at my quip. I knew he was concerned, but he was trying not to dismiss the idea outright.

"It's just...this seems very sudden," Mom said carefully, giving me one of her signature concerned-mom looks over the tops of her sunglasses. "First you refused to leave your room for days. Then you became one with the couch for two weeks straight. And now this?"

She gestured vaguely at me, laid out on the blanket, squinting against the sun's glare.

Crap. I knew exactly what she was getting at—my strange, shut-in behavior and sullen mood over the past few weeks. But there was no way I could tell them the real reason behind my melodramatic spiral.

Forcing what I hoped was a casual, unbothered smile, I gave a dismissive wave of my hand. "Everything's fine, I promise. I was just..."

"Broken-hearted over Adam and Karen," Belle blurted out.

My head whipped around so fast, I'm surprised I didn't give myself whiplash. Belle's eyes were wide but unapologetic as Mom and Dad exchanged one of their laden Parental Looks—Mom's forehead creased with concern, and Dad visibly surprised.

I reached over and smacked Belle's arm hard enough to sting with one of the beach towels.

Dad pushed his sunglasses up into his salt-and-pepper hair. "Now Wendy, I know Adam's your best friend and you're protective of him. But Karen seems like a lovely young woman. Adam's lucky to have -"

I forced an even brighter, fakier smile, trying to lighten the mood. "Yeah, lucky guy. He finally found the human embodiment of a golden retriever—boundless energy, eager to please, cute as a button."

Belle opened her mouth, clearly gearing up to try explaining the whole thing to our oblivious parents.

"Anyway!" I cut her off, raising my voice to overpower hers. "Nepal just sounds like an incredible place to experience a new culture and get some humanitarian work in. And, like I said, Adam and Jay were just talking it up so much, about how eye-opening and perspective-shifting the whole experience was. I figure, why not seize the opportunity to do something like that for myself while I'm still young and unattached, you know? One year, and then I'll be refreshed and reset, ready to dive into the next phase.."

"Is that really why you're taking a gap year?" Belle asked as she arched one eyebrow. "Joining Jay for some self-discovery trip in Nepal?"

"Of course." I kept my tone as nonchalant as possible.

"Really?" Belle drew the word out obnoxiously.

"Stop it, Belle," Mom cut in, shooting her a warning look over the tops of her sunglasses. She turned back to me, her expression softening. "If traveling is something you truly want to do, Wendy, your father and I support you fully."

She reached over to pat my arm reassuringly. "But just like when you called about working for Urban Playhouse and ended up missing out on so much family time with us over breaks and holidays..."

She trailed off, giving a small shake of her head, a faint crease forming between her eyes. "And now this—you'll be miles and an ocean away from us for who knows how long this time."

"Only for a year, Mom. I promise."

"But didn't Adam just stay there for two years?" Belle piped up again, unable to resist needling me further.

My hand stilled on the sandwich fixings as I felt three sets of eyes laser in on me. I attempted to keep my expression blasé as I shrugged one shoulder.

"Well, he met Karen, so that was probably why he extended his stay," I reasoned, hoping I sounded more convincing than I felt.

Truth was, I had no idea if meeting Karen was actually the reason behind Adam's elongated travels or if it was the volunteer gig itself that made him want to stay longer. Meeting his future wife just felt like a more plausible explanation to feed my family.

"And how sure are you that you won't meet some cute Nepali guy or volunteer from Europe who convinces you to stay longer?" Belle's grin was teasing but laced with mischief. "Or maybe even get married over there?"

I rolled my eyes hard. "That is highly unlikely, and I'm not going to purposefully look for a relationship, Belle."

Before the bickering could escalate further, Mom smoothly intervened. "Let's talk about this more when we're home; get all the details sorted out properly."

I knew the topic of my seemingly out-of-the-blue Nepali gap year plans wasn't going away so easily.

As I bit into the sandwhich, feeling relieved at having navigated that conversational minefield, I couldn't help pondering my potential "gap year" a bit more. Getting away from familiarity for a while, striking out on my own in a brand new setting was exactly what I needed to clear my head and find my balance again.

I smiled to myself, feeling more settled on the idea already.