Dark Night

Home again

"That sounds really interesting, punkin. So you're thinking about grad school?"

"Yeah, I think so. Maybe after a year or two of work experience if I don't have a specialization in mind after graduation. There are a lot of internships that I can take to get some real-world experience. Maybe it's just vanity, but I really like the idea of being an expert, in a position to really make a difference."

"That's pretty cool, Delia," Stan said. "So would you do a Masters or a doctorate?"

"Most universities have it set up so that the Masters is in the track to the doctorate and the Masters turns out to be kind of a consolation prize for those who can't or don't want to do the work for the doctorate. I could still do them both but if I really think I want a PhD, getting a Masters first would be a waste of time."

"I didn't realize that you'd thought about it so much," Grandpa said.

"Well, it's all about my future right now, and my faculty committee and my personal faculty advisor are urging me to take a long view from the start. Part of it is that it will help the credibility of the degree, which is pretty new, but Dr Bryant, my faculty advisor, thinks I have a lot of promise."

"Wow, we could have a doctor in the family," Stan said. "And I know that any doctorate takes a lot of work, but it seems to me that something in science or math or engineering is kind of... I dunno, "extra.'"

"Who knows? You might want to get one too, depending on what you want to do," I said, and he looked really startled. Grandpa smiled.

"I'm proud of you both," he said. "Delia's really grown and I'm glad to see that Stan is looking beyond the rink too."

"Can't skate forever," Stan said. "But I really want an Olympic gold."

"You'll be the old man," I teased him, and Grandpa snorted in amusement, then brought out a cake. Since it was for my homecoming, I got the delicious seven minute icing I loved. But to my surprise, Stan ate it without complaint.

"I'm growing as a person," he said when he caught my lifted eyebrow, and that cracked us all up.

The next evening, my parents were coming to dinner to celebrate my return. Yay. Stan had already started his English class and had done poorly on his first assignment, so I told him to bring it over and I'd look it over. He loaded the dishwasher before he left, another surprise, and gave me a hug.

"Things have changed," Grandpa noted.

"I guess," I said, wide-eyed.

It was fun to talk to Grandpa, curled up on the couch with him, telling him more about my year and what I'd been doing. I went to bed early, and I woke up the next morning face to face with Invisible Steve, who'd grown into a sleek and handsome cat. He was patting my cheek with his paw for attention, so I kissed his head and gave head skritches. Grandpa made breakfast before going off to the library and I went to luxuriate in my own bathroom again. Then I unpacked more and better and texted my friends; some of them were at their summer jobs, but Zayna was free and we met at the skate park. We alternated between skating and intensive comparison of our year after a big hug. We went to lunch and Maya showed up later in the afternoon. Texts over the next couple hours had us finding that we all had Sunday afternoon off and we arranged to meet as a group to catch up. Then I had to get home for the family dinner.

It turned out to be not very painful. I was getting tired of talking about myself, so after a concise summary of the months since Christmas, I asked about their jobs and the anniversary cruise they'd taken. That was a successful diversion, and after a Victoria Sponge (Grandpa had been watching the Great British Bake Off again) they left, looking happy.

Maya kept us entertained with stories from Texas A&M. Traditions are very strong there. "They actually say 'Howdy," she said. "It's the official greeting. You're encouraged to say it to anybody you pass by, and if you're in a group, the speaker will say it and the group will say it back. There's actually an official orientation that exposes you to all the different traditions; they take it very seriously. I guess it serves a purpose, increasing student's attachment to campus and probably improving student body cohesion; it's the second largest campus in the country."

"Wow, I thought UCLA was large," I said.

"It's kind of interesting," she continued. "It started out as a rural agricultural and mechanical college--the A&M part, and it has a really strong military tradition; they still turn out more officers to the armed forces than anybody outside the military academies. And it takes its values of the idealized elements of a small-town life: community, tradition, loyalty, optimism, and pretty much unabashed sentimentality seriously. It's part of 'the Other Education' and if you don't take part you're known as a 2 Percenter, I guess because almost everybody does, kind of a slacker, a spoilsport. It's kind of wild, you know I'm not really a joiner. And the football craze is wild. They have Yell Leaders instead of cheerleaders. The crowds do the cheers, the yell leaders direct and intensify the crowd noise. There are yell practices for the student body." Keshondra and I nodded; USC and UCLA were also big football schools but not as much, I'd heard, as the Texas schools. Listening to Maya, I was reminded that she has Asbergers, which in her presented as a certain difficulty with social interaction. Over time, she'd converted it into a sort of spectator's distance where she watched and figured out how to behave appropriately, she'd told me once. Texas A&M was proving to be one hell of an education in more than one way. She'd declared her major at the end of the year as Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences, and wanted to work in the national parks system.

Aside from Maya's immersion in a different culture, my second quarter roommate drama was the most interesting part of the year for the rest of us. "Did you ever learn what happened to the roommate and those two boys?" Cass asked.

"Yeah, actually, our RA kept us informed. All three were chucked out of university housing, which is a pretty big blow because housing otherwise is really expensive. And Gail is on university probation because her extraordinary ability to carry a grudge could have killed somebody. The boys are on legal probation." I rubbed my face. "I am so grateful Johanna isn't crazy."

"So what's going on with John?" Carol asked. "I saw him briefly in the grocery store and he looks really good, happy."

"He is doing really well," I said. "He's taking a break from therapy this summer although he can still call the therapist if necessary. He'd doing really well in school, rebounding from a tough first quarter to mostly As, a few Bs."

"I thought for sure you guys would be together once he got his head straight," Cass said.

"He's got a girlfriend," I said, and recounted our first skating outing. We'd gone a couple times before school was out and it had still been fun. They weren't sure about the conversation, though. Mostly they thought his request for more time was reasonable, but Zayna worried that he was using me as a backup.

"Make sure you're not second place," was all she said, then we moved onto other topics. Keshondra's boyfriend was really nice and the other girls reported that they'd gone out on dates  but like me weren't seeing anybody exclusively. I was the proud owner of the best social life.

The next day I started work at the rink, and John and I both reported for training along with another new kid, still in high school, who had just turned sixteen and would continue into the school year. Training took the entire day but it wasn't really needed; the duties were easy and the main one was to be nice to anybody who talked to us.

I was on the opening shift the next morning, which was pretty much just me, the custodians, and the Zamboni driver, my brother. I was counting the drawer before we opened when Marc strolled through and came around the counter to give me a big hug. In honor of my first official day, he offered to take me to lunch, so I had something to look forward to.