Page 15 of The Comeback Summer

“NTNT,” Hannah says solemnly. She extends her hand, pinky out. “Deal?”

“Deal,” I say.

A smile spreads across Hannah’s face as I wrap my pinky around hers, sealing our fate.

Crush Your Comfort Zone

THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE COMPANION JOURNAL

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

A NOTE FROM OUR FOUNDER

Welcome to the Program.

By now you have received your Challenge. You may be feeling excited, anxious, overwhelmed, terrified—or all these things at once.

Honor these emotions.

Allow them.

Over the next twelve weeks, you will analyze your belief systems, thoughts, actions, and reactions. Every aspect of your past, present, and future will be open for introspection and interrogation. Nothing is off-limits.

Be aware that this process will be uncomfortable, even painful. Over time, my hope is that you will move beyond enduring this discomfort to a place where you welcome it.

But for today, give yourself space to feel whatever you need to feel.

And tomorrow, let’s get to work.

—Lou

Eight

HANNAH

The next Tuesday afternoon, we’re in our shared office. This week is our “prep week”—devoted to getting everything in order before we officially start the challenge. Yesterday, we spent the entire day developing our strategy for securing Lou’s business—we both know we need to knock this proposal out of the park. Right now, Libby is at her desk, allegedly doing research on the demographics of Lou’s ideal target audience. But her earbuds are in, which means she’s listening to a romance novel on audiobook, and based on the glazed look in her eyes, she’s in the middle of a sex scene.

Yay for her, I guess. I’ve spent the past several hours moving funds around to cover our expenses, including the scholarship and Great Scott’s salary. If we’re careful, wemightmake the budget work for the next twelve weeks. Just barely.

I close my eyes, tired of staring at spreadsheets. All that financial data, right there in black and white, is unsettling.

My mind drifts to the reading I did this morning in Lou’s journal. We officially start the challenge next week, but ourjournal contains a few optional writing prompts to get us warmed up. Last night’s was a little odd:

My comfort zone is like _____________ (fill in the blank with an object, location, or other entity).

I stared at the question for ten minutes, unsure how to answer. My comfort zone has to do with avoiding social situations in which I feel uncomfortable. Whatobject,location, orentitywould that be? I couldn’t come up with anything, probably because my brain thinks concretely, not metaphorically.

But now it hits me, as I look at my computer: my comfort zone is like a spreadsheet. I feel best when my world is organized and predictable. My Bullet Journal, my Outlook calendar, and my to-do list are my lifelines. Order and reliability make me feel safe and secure.

All the things I hate—meeting new people, calling them on the phone, making small talk with strangers—are unpredictable. I never know what the other person is going to say, so I can’t plan whatI’mgoing to say. Plus, I’m constantly fighting intrusive thoughts:Am I boring? Am I annoying? Am I laughing too loudly or speaking too quickly or using too many big words or saying “like” too much?

“Hannah, line one!” Great Scott calls from his desk down the hall.

I grimace. Phone calls are the worst—the awkward pauses, the absence of body language. But I’m supposed to be stepping outside my comfort zone.

“Send it through.” I hit the button to answer via speakerphone and say, “Hello, this is Hannah Freedman.”

“BANANA!”

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