Page 75 of Long Road Home

“Like I said, more room between Toby’s and mine here.”

Heat filled my cheeks, burned straight to my teeth. “Okay.” What else could I say? When it came to Jordan, I never wanted to tell him no.

Like I knew would happen,disbelief and a complete un-awed tone filled Toby’s voice as we pulled into the parking lot of Carlton Middle School. “This is the cool place you wanted to show me?”

After we got back to Tillie’s and I showered and dressed for the day, I made a few phone calls, and fortunately, Brooke had been one of them.

She was standing at the front of the school, her car parked in front of mine in the school drop-off lane.

“Thanks for meeting us,” I called out as I got out of the car. Toby dejectedly climbed out from his side and met me at the sidewalk.

Thank goodness for maybe friends whose father-in-law was still the middle school principal. Andrew’s dad had also been the principal when we were in middle school. And maybe I was calling in a favor, but a part of me not only wanted to have Toby see the school he would go to if we stayed, but the twelve and thirteen-year-old girl in me who was hated and despised and made fun of also needed the closure. To walk through these walls and see a building, lockers, classrooms, the sweaty smelly locker rooms and remember that it’s a place, not a brothel for evil pre-teens where they hold séances to prepare for their next attack.

Overdramatic? Probably. Hopefully.

“Come on,” I said to Toby. I rested my hand between his shoulder blades and pushed him toward Brooke.

“Hey guys!”

“Is this okay?” She’d said it was on the phone, but she didn’t need to get into trouble for me. “You’re sure.”

“Sure I’m sure. John’s here during the week working anyway. He said it’s not a problem as long as we don’t graffiti the walls or anything.”

“Not really my plan for today.” I assured her with a smile and turned to Toby. “Okay. So this place isn’tcool, but if we stay, it’ll be your school. And I want you to walk through these halls, look at the rooms, and think if this is what you really want to do too, okay?”

He’d brought it up to me last week. I’d talk to him about it on the way here. He was the one leaving his friends and school and everything he already knew. If we stayed, that choice would be in large part, up to him. Although after seeing him with Jordan this morning there was no way he would say no.

A school wouldn’t change that. Still, having more information at his disposal would help him.

“Yippee,” he muttered.

I winked as Brooke laughed. “He’s so excited.”

“No doubt as excited as mine would be if I made them come to school weeks early, too. Let’s go.”

We toured the school. Brooke focused mostly on showing us the sixth-grade wing and all the elective classrooms. She told Toby which teachers were cool and why before she took us to the gym. She had even printed out information about their last year’s middle school basketball program.

By the time the tour was done, and we were walking back to our cars, I could have pulled Brooke into my arms and kissed her.

I didn’t, because I wasn’t weird—although Brooke probably wouldn’t mind, because shewascrazy. I’d never laughed so hard on a school tour thanks to her, and even Toby had chuckled a few times.

“So?” She swung the keys into her palm. “What’d you think, Toby?”

He shrugged. “It’s a school. Smaller than I’d go to back home. Doesn’t look like it’d suck, though.”

“A thrilling recommendation we’ll be sure to put on the new enrollment paperwork.” She winked at him.

“Thanks again,” I told her. “You and Andrew and the boys doing anything today?”

“Nope. Yardwork. Cleaning. All the fun stuff no one tells you sucks so bad before you become an adult.”

“No joke.” Toby opened the door to his side of the car and slid in. I watched him go, frowning.

“He okay?” Brooke asked.

“Yeah. Probably just a lot on his mind.” I grinned at her, held my hand over my eyes to block the hot afternoon sun. “Thanks again for today. I don’t know what we’ll do yet, so if you wouldn’t mind not saying anything…”

It was a lot to ask. She was obviously better friends with Jordan than I was with her.

---