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They knew it wasn’t. Otherwise we wouldn’t be having this sit-down. “If I tell you it’s okay, can I go back to making this vase? I think I can sell it as ‘abstract art.’”
My parents smiled at each other, but it didn’t last long before Dad said, “We’ve always let you do your own thing, be your own person, but we’ve also seen so much growth in you this year. You’ve been stepping outside of your shell, experiencing life instead of watching it. And we want to at least understand what happened, even if we can’t help.”
I looked between my parents. Dad in his big and tall overalls covered in clay and paint. Mom in her sweatshirt and jeans. Both of them wearing matching concern in their eyes. I used to be able to talk to them about my life, but I didn’t understand what was going on myself. How could I explain it to them?
My mom reached across our circle, putting her hand on my knee. “You can tell us whatever it is. We won’t judge you.”
I let out a little sigh, looking at my hands in my lap. There was still red in the creases of my palm and fingers from the clay. “Honestly? I don’t really know what happened. April and I had a great time at homecoming, and then all of a sudden, she was gone. I thought maybe she left with her boyfriend, but then when I saw her at school, she told me she wanted space.” My voice felt rough, and I wiped at my tingling nose. “She hasn’t eaten lunch with me since then, or even texted, and I don’t know what to do.”
“Oh, honey,” Mom said.
Dad grumbled. His typical response to anyone wronging me in any way.
Mom said, “When you and April were in the dressing rooms, her mom, Grace, told me how special it was that April had a friend. They’ve moved around her entire life, and I think April is somewhat of a loner. Maybe things got too real?”
Now my eyes were full-on watering, because things had been real for me too. I loved having April as a friend, having someone to talk to. I’d even considered confiding in her about the guy I had a crush on. “So she just disappeared? How is that right?”
“It’s not right,” Mom said, to Dad’s effusive nodding. “But relationships all have dips. If you think it’s a relationship worth keeping, you have to get to the other side of the down so you can have an up as well.”
I bit my lip. This was all new to me. “How do I do something like that?”
Mom and Dad exchanged a glance, and Dad said, “Sometimes you have to extend an olive branch.”
“Where do I get one of those?”
Both of my parents laughed, making my cheeks heat. I wasn’t the greatest with metaphor.
Dad said, “It’s a figure of speech. You can extend something that shows you’re on her side and you care about her happiness.”
Mom nodded. “And if she’s a friend worth having, she’ll accept the branch and learn that freezing you out, even if she’s struggling, isn’t okay.”
After a few moments, I said, “I need to think about it. So will you let me finish my abstract art?”
Mom came to me, hugging me, and said, “Oh, honey, everything you make is abstract.”
Fifty-Three
Diego
Last night,it came to me.
My mission.
The purpose I’d been waiting for that would make the risk of going all in with my business worth it.
So I packed up my computer Saturday morning and went to Seaton Bakery before my next meeting with Jacinda Junco. After ordering breakfast, I sat in a corner booth and started typing with my good hand.
Diego’s Surf School
Mission Statement
Surfing teaches you so many things you can’t learn in school.
I’ve never sat in a classroom and felt powerful, strong, energized, and refreshed.
But I’ve felt that way on a surfboard, facing the rolling curve of a wave.
In school, you pass or fail.
