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“That’s going to be tough,” I said.
“I know. But I’ve always liked working with my hands. It’ll put me in a situation where I can solve problems that actually matter.”
“What about Paxon?” I asked as I searched for him among his teammates.
“I think he mentioned following his dad’s footsteps,” Seth said. “Psychology courses.”
“He’ll be good at it,” I said.
“Couldn’t agree more,” Seth said.
I picked at my jeans. “I was looking at some writing courses.”
“English major?” Bryan asked.
“Doesn’t sound too impressive, does it?” I asked.
“Not necessarily,” Justin said. “Aunt Laura mentioned once that lawyers can come from English degrees.”
I snorted. “Me, a lawyer?” I couldn’t picture it.
“A position to be an advocate,” Justin said.
That silenced me as the weight of his words hit home. An advocate for those who didn’t have a voice. I liked that. A lot.
New ideas whirled in my head. I wasn’t sold on the lawyer idea, but it at least got me thinking in a different direction. Positions that protected people. Helped them.
“I love her thinking face,” Toby said with a grin. “It’s cute.” He sent me a little wink.
My face grew hot, and I turned to face the front. Thankfully, the game finally began, and I was able to let that distract everyone as I kept thinking about what we talked about. It felt like the right choice was at my fingertips, but at the same time, it was all still so muddled and confusing.
~*~
My voice was raw as we continued to cheer, clap, stomp, and make as much noise as possible.
Paxon’s team won regionals. State championships was a possibility for them.
Toby was practically jumping on my back in his excitement, at least until Seth forced him to stop. I was pretty sure Paxon’s dad was crying as he wrapped his son in a massive hug, surrounded by more of their teammates and the fans who were able to rush the field.
I had wanted to go to him, but with so many, I stayed back and the others stayed with me too. Calvin was practically clinging to me, barely making it through his anxiety as he tried to be as happy as everyone else. But the poor little guy was at his limit with the crowd.
Resting my hand on his back, I gave him a big smile.
“It’ll be a while. We should go wait in the parking lot,” Seth said. He was standing on top of a bleacher a few steps higher than where we were, eyes narrowed as he looked down at the chaos on the field.
“Let’s go,” I said.
We joined the fray of exiting chaos, but the guys were nice enough to surround Calvin and me. Seth led the way, with Justin behind, Toby and Bryan near our sides. And they moved in a way to give us breathing room.
It was absolutely perfect.
As soon as we reached the exit, it was like we could breathe again as it opened up, people scattering.
“Oh, I need to go to the bathroom,” I said, glancing toward the school. Thankfully there were a set of bathrooms near the entrance.
“I’ll go with you,” Seth said.
I gave him a thankful smile, not realizing that I had grown nervous about the idea of going by myself. The last time I went to the bathroom in this kind of situation, I had been assaulted, and that really wasn’t all too long ago.
