AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 23
Spencer
I wasn’t a hundred percent sure how to go about making a plan for something as big as a non-profit youth center, but I knew someone who would be. On the surface, Nolan and I might seem like unlikely friends, but we’d bonded last summer over our love of all things geeky, drones in particular. I’d been spending most of my free time here lately with Nash, so I hadn’t seen as much of Nolan, but I knew he was an expert planner and that he would want to help.
I sent him a text telling him what I was doing, and he responded exactly the way I expected. He told me to be at his place Saturday morning, and we would hash it all out. Which was how I found myself in his computer lab staring at a whiteboard covered in stats about youth centers, LGBT youth, and town size.
“Wow, that’s a lot of information.” I pointed at the board.
He shrugged. “You had to work tomorrow, so I figured I’d get a head start.”
“Did you come up with anything?”
“Some. I agree with you that River Gorge can’t support a full-blown LGBTQIA+ center. I gave some consideration to making it more of a rec center with queer people of all ages, but I think the odds of kids feeling comfortable and actually taking advantage of it aren’t great.”
“Right, not to mention the safety issues.”
He nodded his head and grimaced. “Yeah, that, too.”
“So that leaves us with Frankie’s suggestion that it be for all teens with a focus on inclusivity.”
“Right, something like a gay student alliance.” He picked up his red marker and circled where he’d written GSA on the board.
“But not associated with the school.” My guess was the last thing most teens wanted to be a part of was something they lumped together with school.
“It would have to be supervised, though, to make sure it’s a safe space.” He made more notes on the whiteboard.
“I know at the center I went to in Austin, there had to be two non-related adults at all times.”
“I like that.” He added that under supervision. “I think I should put together a full proposal and take it to the foundation. We’ll need a place with adults to supervise, and we’ll have to decide if there will be programs offered or if it’s just a meeting place for the teens. I don’t see the county paying for all this. Besides, do we really want the government involved, or do we want this to be private?”
“I would think private would be better, but this is going to be expensive, Nolan.”
“I’m pretty sure between me and Gabe, the foundation can afford it. Now let’s see, what else do we need to decide?” He kept scribbling on his board as he thought out loud. “Should we restrict it to River Gorge, or should it be for the whole Upper River Valley area? Of course, then, transportation could be an issue. But if we did that, we could tie it into the summer program in some way.”
I’d watched him do this before when he was working on his latest video game, so I knew there was no point in trying to rein him in. Instead, it was best to simply let yourself get swept along in the wave of ideas. It was like he had to put all possibilities down and then weed the more outlandish ones out later.
We were knee-deep in possibilities when Cruz stuck his head in the door. “Lunch is ready, and you may be used to neglecting your basic needs when you’re working on a project, but I’m guessing Spencer’s used to eating on the regular.”
“Actually,” a familiar voice said from behind him as Nash stepped into the room. “He’s just as bad.”
I let out an exaggerated sigh. “I eat.” He raised one eyebrow and gave me that look. “Now.”
He chuckled and walked over to me, giving me a kiss on the top of my head. “Come on, cutie, let’s go eat.”
Nolan and I followed Cruz and Nash to the main house where they’d laid out quite a spread. I hadn’t even realized how hungry I was until I was sitting in front of a full plate.
“How’s it going in there?” Cruz asked.
“Good. We have a lot of ideas. How about you guys? What’ve you been up to?” Nolan asked.
“We took a couple of the horses we got from the Walking W out for a ride to evaluate them.”
“How are they?” I asked.
“We’ll need to get Gibson back out to look at one of them. She seems fine in the paddock, but when she’s carrying weight, she has a limp. But I don’t think it’s anything serious.”
Nolan shook his head. “I still can’t believe that man showed up here. What did he think was going to happen? That you were just going to let him take those poor horses back?”
