Page 73 of Space Balls: Houston, We Have Liftoff
Hashtag troubled youth.
But after a while it all seemed so… meh. I saw it for what it was—a cop-out. A life devoid of all meaning. And I do know one thing I want for the future—I want my life tomeansomething.
And when I met Jackie, Jules, and Trish and saw their drive and determination, it simply solidified my decision to be better. Do more.
Yet here I am, the world at my fingertips, not sure what it is that I should do more of.
Gladys comes by, nearly taking out my head with her potted Boston fern. “Sorry!”
I drum up a smile for her. “No problem.”
She places the fern on a nearby windowsill and moves on to water a ficus, humming happily as she goes.
Maybe I should be a plant lady.
I tap my phone screen. Nothing.
I’m probably just missing Vance right now because when he’s around, I don’t so much worry about my next step or fixating on all the things I should be doing or becoming. When he ran me to ground at the Whiskey River saloon, I thought he’d make for a brief distraction. But now, with him going AWOL on me, I realize he’s more than that.
Vance calms something inside me. Makes me feel like it’s okay to just be me. That I can stop and take a breath. That I don’t have to do everything at one hundred miles an hour to prove my worth to everyone—including myself.
And Ilikehanging out with him. Even, dare I say, without the sex. Though the sex is good.
Praise Jesus, the sex is good.
He’s fun and unassuming. Sweet to his nephews and kind to his sister, though it’s obvious she knows how to push a few buttons (said as a fellow button pusher).
“Ugh.” I slide my computer to the side and drop my head onto my folded arms next to my lemonade. Brass Tacks’ butterfly lemonade is topped with antioxidant pea powder that turns the drink blue. It is as delicious as it is ridiculous.
I stifle a yawn. As delicious as it is, though, I probably should’ve sprung for the dirty chai latte. My energy of late isflagging. I didn’t realize how much the end of the semester was taking out of me. And my current emotional roller coaster.
My phone dings, and in my mad scramble to pick it up, I knock over my lemonade. Blue, sticky liquid runs over my keyboard, and the screen goes black.
Well, shit. Good thing I have everything backed up in the cloud.
Throwing a napkin at the dead machine, I light up my phone with a touch, expecting a text notification from ‘Old Man.’
Nope.
Group text from the girls. Which is just as good. Better even.
I ignore the bite of disappointment.
Trish:What time should we be at the ranch this Saturday?
Jules:Laser tag! Laser tag!
Me:10 a.m.
Jules:Laser tag! Laser tag!
Trish: *eyeroll emoji
Me:Y’all told the boys to fuck off, right?
Jackie:Work phone.
Me:You told the boys to bang off, right?
