Lone Star Family Values

Chapter 37

The Offer

            Bailey sat at her booth in the school gym, just like all of the seniors in her class, she had several of her projects laid out and on display. She never did understand the purpose of this fair, it felt so backwards to have people coming to speak to her about colleges instead of her seeking them out. She was fairly certain that this was the school's attempt at getting those who hadn't committed to a school to do so. Why they had chosen a Saturday morning to do it, she didn't know, but she was there, nonetheless. The school had arranged for her piece to be delivered from the museum so that it could be included in her display and bright and early at 6:00 that morning she'd received a phone call from the principal saying that it had arrived in one piece and had been secured in a plexi-glass display case. The other piece that she'd selected for the display had been the one that had been hanging in the firehouse. Judd had delivered that piece that morning and it was propped securely on an easel next to her museum piece. Her smaller prints were scattered around the table as well as her several school projects both artistic and strictly academic alike.

People had visited her booth, several people in fact but after six hours of sitting and entertaining the public Bailey was feeling the effects of her 6:00 AM wake-up call. She was sitting in her chair her eyes barely staying open when another group approached and she blinked rapidly to try and put up her polished front.

"Woah, you look dead on your feet." Came a voice.

Bailey snapped up and saw that it wasn't a college recruiter but the 126 who had come to her booth.

"Hey guys." Bailey said, relaxing back into her chair.

"I think you need this more than we thought." Her dad said holding up an In N' Out Burger bag and a cup.

"Is that what I think it is?" Bailey asked hoping for her usual order.

"Double-double no onions extra cheese and a large Neapolitan shake." TK recited, holding the bag out to her.

Bailey smiled brightly, accepting the bag and cup.

"Thank you." She said taking a drink of the milkshake.

"So, how many people have come by?" Carlos asked, slipping back behind the table and taking a seat on the little cooler that held Bailey's waters.

"A lot, I'm peopled out and I've still got like four hours." Bailey admitted taking a bite of her burger.

One by one the members of the 126 took up places spread out behind Bailey's booth laughing and talking to one another. Bailey smiled as she was drawn from one conversation to the next, never really starting or finishing any one conversation but floating around and everybody floating with her.

"Excuse me, this is Bailey Reyes-Strand's booth yes?" Somebody asked.

Bailey looked up from her lunch and saw a man in a suit standing in front of her table. She quickly swallowed her food and wiped her mouth and hands before standing and nodding.

"Yes it is, I'm sorry, I was just eating some lunch." She said.

The man smiled.

"It's not problem at all, I get it, I remember doing these fairs when I was your age, I thought they'd never end. It's good to see that you've got company though." He said gesturing to the 126 who'd taken up several places around the table.

Bailey smiled.

"Family is my biggest support system." She said.

"As it should be," The man said. "I must say though, Bobby's description of your work did not do it justice in the slightest."