*brrring*...*brrrring* "Hello?" "Hi J, how's it going?" "HI SISTER!!!" I chuckled to myself as the voice of my childhood best friend blared aggressively through the phone. "Hey Jordy." "Hey, and I'm doing alright, ya know? As good as I can in this economy am I right? So anyways, what's the sitch?" That voice belonged to none other than Jordan Nielsen, my closest friend since Kindergarten. We had been through everything together; that is until my parents decided to pack up and move us to Colorado for better job opportunities. Of course, Jordan and I made an effort to keep in touch as often as we could, after some time it just wasn't the same anymore. The distance had changed us, time made us grow older, new memories were made with new 'best friends' and she was always 'busy'. How true that was, was unclear to me, but I had no doubt that the news I was about to deliver would revive our deep connection.
I gasped in feigned surprise. "Why does there need to be a situation in order for me to call my favorite person?" I heard a scoff followed by a low chortle. "We don't talk for almost two entire months and all of a sudden-" "I know, I know," I spoke quickly, cutting her off. "But it's because I have news." She smacked her teeth and I could almost vividly picture her rolling her eyes. "Ok then what's the tea?" A smile crept onto my face slowly. "I'm...movingbacktoOdyssey!!!" I screamed briskly, my words melding together making them almost indecipherable. There was silence on the other end and then an ungodly screech. "BRO NO WAY!!!! Are you serious?!? Because if you're not I'm actually going to beat your ass." I laughed loudly and nodded. "No I can assure you I'm being serious. My mom told me this morning. We'll be there in about three weeks." There was more silence before I heard a loud gasp. "Stephanie. I just realized something."
I tilted my head. "What is it?" "You could come to my school!!!" She screamed excitedly into the receiver. My face brightened and I grinned. "Oh my God I hadn't even thought of that!! It could be like the old days!!" "AHHHHHHH!!! Ok yo Steph listen up." I found myself leaning forward attentively, preparing myself to absorb every word. "You need to look up a school called New Tech Odyssey-," As she began to speak I panicked. "Hold on wait." "Um, ok." I flew from my bed and scrambled over to my desk in search of a pen and paper to make a note in case I forget. I repeated the name over and over, muttering slightly and after acquiring my materials, I sat back down on the side of my bed and prepared to write. "Alright, go ahead." Ok, well it's kind of a prep slash public school, all you need to do is fill out an application and turn it in and they'll look over it and accept you. I can even stick around after school to show you the campus!"
I felt a knot grow in my throat and tears of joy threaten to spill from my eyes. I could tell just by the sound of pure excitement in her voice that she was smiling just as widely as I was."That sounds...amazing. I can't believe that we'll be close again...I've missed you so much J." There was quiet then a few sniffles. "I've missed you too, sis...I guess I'll be seeing you soon. Call me when you get into town, ok?" I nodded slowly, a tear slid down my cheek and I wiped it away before smiling brightly. "Will do. Talk to you soon." "Later. Don't be a stranger." *beep, beep, beep*
I looked down at my phone, catching a glimpse of her contact picture; the last photo we took before I moved away. I stood up and stretched before plopping down at the swivel chair at my desk with a sigh. I spun from side to side gently, thinking deeply. I raised my head slightly, glancing at my camera on its tiny tripod. I pursed my lips, suddenly getting the motivation to make a video documenting my thoughts. I reached up and picked up the device and powered it on and pressed record before placing it back on the desk. I looked into the lens and started to speak. "Hi everyone! This is video log #1, or...vlog, yeah heh. I guess this is supposed to be 'therapeutic'?? Oh well, I'm giving it a shot!" I took a deep breath and smiled. "Anyway, I'm moving back to my hometown of Odyssey and I've been in touch with my best friend from there, Jordan. As a matter of fact I just finished telling her about it and we're so excited!" I looked down, feeling my face heat up, I sighed and continued. "She invited me to a school called..." Freezing up slightly, I racked my brain for the newly acquired information before noticing the slip of paper I had jotted it down on. "New Tech, there it is. From what she explained, it's kind of a prep school but I guess I'll find out! Jordan said she'll show me around once I get there and I can't wait! Wish me luck!"
I waved at the camera and reached over to press the record button once more before leaning back in my chair. I sighed again and looked toward the ceiling, watching the slow turning ceiling fan. I thought fondly of some of the memories the two of us had made together; like the time a couple friends of ours and I lost her in the mall for 45 minutes, or the time someone put grass in her hair and she proceeded to beat them with her lunchbox. I giggled to myself, hardly containing my excitement. I closed my eyes and smiled. The moving date couldn't come soon enough.
*Time skip*
Three weeks worth of sleepless nights later and we were finally on the road back to Odyssey. The trunk was completely loaded and the Uhaul trailed right behind us, hitting what seemed to be every rock possible paved into the asphalt. After stopping for a restroom break and lunch at some random McDonald's in a small town, I decided to call Jordan again.
"We're sorry, but the person you were trying to reach is unavailable. Please leave a message after the tone. *be-*" I hung up. That was the fourth time I had tried to call J to let her know we were on the way only for her phone to go to voicemail. I furrowed my brow as concern became evident on my face. Placing my phone off to the side I then reached up and tapped my mom on the shoulder. She looked up at the nifty little mirror that allowed the people in the front seat to have a full view of the backseat. "What's up?" I glanced up at the mirror making eye contact with her. "About where are we?" "Just outside of Lafayette. Now might be a good time to reach out to Jordy don't ya think?" She suggested. I let out a heavy sigh. "Mom, I've tried that several times; she hasn't answered." I looked up at the mirror again and noticed that my father had also seemed to be interested in the conversation as he kept sending curious expressions my way.
"Well it's quite possible that she could be busy. I'm 100% certain she's not standing you up though," I shrugged and nodded in agreement. "In any case you'll see her tomorrow when you go get your application." He reminded me. I couldn't help but smile at the proposition, even though I was still unnerved by her lack of response I was ecstatic nonetheless.
I finally allowed myself to relax and sat back. I held my chin in the palm of my hand and leaned my elbow on the armrest, gazing at the window. It was now that I finally took a good look at the sky and scenery flying past the window. Despite it being bright and sunny something about it felt...off. It was as if this...black cloud threatened to cover the sky at any given moment. Maybe it was because I was still pondering over the reasons why Jordan wasn't answering and I could easily have been overthinking it. As we drove across the highway, passing fields speckled with cattle, I couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was wrong.