Something To Gain

Chapter 1 Memories

       The final bell rang, indicating the school day was over I was officially done with high school. All that was left was graduation and then the part I dreaded the most- saying goodbye. Goodbye to all my friends who swore to stay in touch but in reality, we all knew we wouldn't. Life would get in the way time would pass and words would be left unspoken. Goodbye to my family and to this town that I had lived in for the past ten years of my life. This small town that was always bustling and busy. Part of me could not wait to leave this place, there wasn't much left here for me since I had completed school. Another part of me dreaded leaving the place I called home, the place I knew and had grown to love.

As I walked through the halls one last time a feeling of sadness overwhelmed me. As much as I hated this place, I'd miss it. I had been bullied some but I kind of fit in with multiple groups- the nerds, the jocks, the over religious Christians, the ROTCers and a few other random cliques. Every corner I turned revealed more memories some good, some bad, some just there in the back of my head. I said my good byes to the last few people who I would never see again we all wished each other well. I slowly wandered out to my car. Across the parking lot I could see the sports area- The soccer field where I had poured so much time and sweat into. My last game feeling like it was just yesterday being months ago when the season had ended. The tennis courts next to the baseball diamond again loaded full of memories of my favorite sports. My brain dragging me back in time to all my best moments on those courts and that soccer field as if I were watching a movie. I fought the tears back realizing those would be the best and the last memories of me playing sports. I didn't get a college scholarship to play anywhere, I wasn't going to college. I decided to enlist in the Army I now belonged to Uncle Sam and I had for months as I enlisted with parental consent at the age of 17 earlier in the year, I would turn 18 while I was at basic training.

As I rounded the back end of my car to the driver's side of my car, I almost tripped over my high school sweetheart and best friend, Amber Johnson. Her long black hair falling partly over her face covering her warm brown eyes that I could easily get lost in. She sat on the pavement leaning against my gray sedan. She looked up at me with tears streaming down her face. I dropped my backpack to the ground and slide down the side of my old car to sit next to her.

"I am going to miss you so much." She said through her tears, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close to me, only making her cry harder.

"You'll be ok. You have one year of school left and we will go from there. I'll write to you every day and call you when I can, I know it's not the same, but I'll never stop thinking about you and missing you." I whispered gently, she nodded. We sat there for a few more minutes in silence. The situation seemed impossible, we'd be hundreds of miles apart, She had a lot of drama going on in her life and I had been her biggest supporter through it all. I kissed her cheek then stood up.

"I'll see if I can't sneak away to see you tonight, but I have to get going as much as I don't want to... Come over tomorrow. People are gonna be coming over early, otherwise I leave at 8AM Thursday, if you want to say one last goodbye before I...." My voice trailed off. She hated the fact that I was leaving in general, but mostly to the military.

"What if you don't come home?" She said as her voice cracked.

"Don't say that. I might get lucky and not even get deployed. Who knows, but don't think about that. Promise me you won't think about that?" I quickly said trying to get her thoughts away from our worst fear she climbed to her feet and practically jumped into my arms. I hugged her tight as she began crying once more, she slowly calmed down in my arms.

"I love you." She said then quickly walked towards her white two door sport car and left.

Graduation was the next day so I was in no rush to go anywhere I climbed into my car and sat quietly taking everything in one last time, watching all my fellow classmates hooting and hollering in excitement for the end of another school year. But the seniors all seemed distant and out of touch with reality I wondered if they were realizing the same thing as me, that our lives were about to drastically change. Some of us were going to college, others had gotten scholarships to leave the state, some were going to go straight into the working life and start their careers, and a small handful were with me- joining the military.