Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
“And how’s Max?”
My mom and I didn’t talk about Max anymore, but his parents would have found it odd for her not to ask. The mention of his name picked at the scab over what I let happen between us.
“Graduated in June,” his mom said with a forced smile. She slid her grocery cart to the side of the aisle.
“He was doing an internship with some museum over there,” his dad added. “He’s full-time, so we’ll see.”
I smiled, proud of what he’d accomplished. His dad downplayed it, but Max was doing something with a museum start-up. Not his own work, but curating, which he would be amazing at. I didn’t quite understand the job, but it seemed to keep him busy.
Sometimes I wondered if I made the right decision, but whenever I heard about his achievements, I had zero doubt. It had been a while since I’d gone on an internet excavation—aka social media stalking session—to find out what Max was up to. I checked in on him occasionally. Curiosity and all.
“And how’re your classes going?” Max’s dad asked me.
“I have a couple semesters left,” I said sheepishly.
Mom had assured me that retaking classes was sometimes part of the college experience.
And by the time I figured out which degree I wanted and which courses I needed, I’d earned super-senior status.
But in a year or so, I’d have an Environmental Science bachelor’s, and hopefully I could figure out what to do from there.
Maybe a ranger position would open up by then.
My destiny hadn’t been as clear as Max’s, but with a degree, I’d have options.
Mom and I said goodbye to the Webers and went through the checkout line. We packed the bags into the trunk, and I pulled out some chips to comfort me on the way home.
“You could always call him up.” Mom eyed me as she closed the trunk. “You know he’d answer.”
I wasn’t so sure, and I didn’t want to risk rejection. Max had achieved so much barely out of college, and what had I done? I got secondhand embarrassment just thinking about calling him and giving him a brief and boring life update.
He’d moved on, and that was for the best. It was what I said I wanted.