Page 10 of False Idols

“So you’d rather take your chances with me? The town pariah?”

Sunny nods and tosses a pillow to the side. “Absolutely, I would.” She doesn’t sound the least bit bothered at being stuck with me. That means I’ll at least have one friendly face this year and the pressure bearing down on me lessens enough that I take a deep breath.

“Thank you, Sunny. I-I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Don’t even stress. We’re friends now. You can get us pizza tonight to repay me. And if you’re good at math, I’m going to need a tutor.”

“I’m good at math and I can get pizza. No problem. We can, ah, we can get some after unpacking, if you want?” I turn to my duffle bag and start to unpack while Sunny lets out a cheer and drags one of her boxes to her side of the room.

“Is it okay that I took this side of the room?”

“Oh yeah, I don’t have a lot anyhow.”

“Right, minimalism. How did you get into that anyways?” she asks and I start to try to cobble together an answer that makes sense. There’s a knock at the door and I’m thankful I don’t have to explain that my mom may or may not have just tossed all my things into the garbage to get rid of me.

Both of our heads whip in the direction of the door and Sunny holds a hand up to me. “I got it. If it’s one of those dick faces, I’ll handle it.” I don’t know where the fight in her is coming from, but I like it. Her spirit is so much bigger than her small frame and I wish I was as brave as her. I’ve never stood up to anyone like Sunny stood up to our entire dorm floor.

“Okay,” I say with a nod and Sunny heads for the door with a bounce in her step, like she didn’t just threaten our entire dorm floor, or like she isn’t ready to do the same to whoever is on the other side of the door. I force myself to go back to unpacking but can’t help and tense up when the door swings open.

“Hi, I’m Sunny. How can I help you?”

“Hello, I’m Pastor Mike. I’m here with Nevaeh’s things.”

I jump in surprise. That’s not who I thought was going to bring my things, but it makes sense. Pastor Mike is the only person that would volunteer to bring my things to my dorm when my own mother couldn’t be bothered.

“Pastor Mike?” I ask and turn to face him. I can’t keep the surprise off my face, but if Pastor Mike sees it, he doesn’t show it. He just gives me a warm smile and waits while Sunny sizes the man up in the doorway.

“Is he okay to let in?” Sunny asks and I smile. I know if I said no, Pastor or not, Sunny would slam the door in Pastor Mike’s face.

“Yeah, he-he’s okay. Thanks Sunny,” I say and she gives me a bob of her head before she flashes a bright smile at Pastor Mike and extends her hand.

“Pleased to meet you, sir.”

Pastor Mike is carrying two boxes but the man makes it work and manages to shake Sunny’s hand before he looks my way. “Nevaeh, how are you? It’s good to see you.”

“I’m good, sir. H-how are you?” I rush forward to get a box out of his hands. “I’m so sorry that she asked you to do this. You shouldn’t have to bring my things here.”

“Now, Nevaeh, what kind of a friend would I be if I didn’t make sure you got here safe and sound with all of your things? I was tasked with leading you and keeping you safe. Whether that’s your soul or your books, I’ll make sure it gets done.”

I fall silent and nod at him. I feel bad about not going to church now. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. I appreciate you taking the time to do this for me.”

“Oh, no worries at all. Happy to do it,” Pastor Mike steps into the room and waves a hand over his shoulder. “Come on in, boys. Let’s get Nevaeh set up for her first year at college. Aren’t you happy to see her?” he asks and I realize he’s brought other people with him.

“B-boys?” I don’t know who he conned into coming with him and my stomach drops at facing the people I used to think of as friends. “You brought other people?” I ask and turn quickly away to buy myself more time. The box in my hands is heavy, I think it’s books, but I don’t know. I didn’t think to label any of the boxes that I packed this weekend because of how much of a rush I was in. Honestly, I was just throwing things in boxes and taping them shut so that my mom didn’t lose her shit at me. If she came by my room when she was home and didn’t see me packing she started threatening to throw everything away so I was gone faster.

“Just bring those boxes in and set them off to the side there, Jared and Tyler.” My cheeks heat because Tyler Roth was the boy that I flirted with but didn’t mean it. “This is your side of the room, Nevaeh?” Pastor Mike asks and I nod quickly at him before I steal a look at Tyler.

“That’s right, sir,” I answer while Tyler pretends I don’t exist. He’s got three boxes and a backpack that I bought the summer I went hiking with Minnie up and down the prairie. We couldn’t go anywhere, not really, with the way our parents were. But we pretended we weren’t in Kansas, but Europe. It’s silly to think about now, with how different Kansas and anything in Europe looks, but we didn’t care. If we were together we had fun and nothing could touch us.

Tyler shrugs the bag off and drops it with a thud at the foot of my bed before he sets down the boxes and goes back into the hallway for more. It’s then I see they brought a dolly and a handcart that’s stacked 3 high with boxes. Far more than the boxes I packed for school. I’m confused for a split second and I forget all about Minnie or the fact that Tyler was sending me flirty good morning texts just over a week ago and go to the hand cart to look. My mother’s neat handwriting is on top of the boxes, telling me what’s inside. But it isn’t stuff like toiletries I see written, it’s Keepsakes and Vital Paperwork.

“Hey, I thought you were a minimalist,” Sunny asks and pokes her head around the door to look at the sad little pile of boxes that contain my life.

I clear my throat. “I-I, well it’s new. I don’t really have the hang of it yet.”

Sunny laughs and turns back to her side of the room. “Yeah, I can see that.” She doesn’t press the issue and I’m grateful that she picks up a box and carries it to the closet on her side of the room. It’s not a big room, not with our beds and the matching desks and side tables, but it’s a decent size. Or at least, it would be if there weren’t so many people in it with us. Tears burn my eyes but I blink them back and grab another box. This one says sweaters. I know where that goes and go to my own closet on autopilot. Around me, Pastor Mike directs Tyler and Jared, both of which don’t say a word and work with a quiet efficiency that tells me they want this over as much as I do.

My mom kicked me out. Well and truly. There’s far more here than any freshman would need for a year at college, even if they were going out of state and I’m just a fifteen minute drive away. She’s washed her hands of me and sent Pastor Mike as the messenger.

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