State of Grace - Jack Hughes

001

Allie

March 2023

"Lou, thank you so much for coming with me today. I do not know what I would do without you. I would have an anxiety attack and call you either way. So, you saved both of us some time."

She chuckled.

"Al, I'll always be there, and you know that."

Lexie and I have been friends for our entire lives. We grew up next door; I could see her bedroom window from mine. For 22 years, our families had been neighbors, but now, we will get to be roommates.

Currently, we are driving out of New York City into New Jersey to tour some apartments. I have just accepted my dream job with the New York Rangers. Lets get this straight, dream job, not dream team. I was lucky enough to get a job offer before graduation, but I worked my ass off to get to this point. I have been pursuing a career in sports, specifically working for a team. Finally, after doing countless interviews, taking unpaid internships, harassing alumni from my school on LinkedIn about "their experience in the industry" and enrolling in a master's program in Sport Management, I secured my dream job. It was the most complex year of my life, but having my dream job at 21 is so rewarding. However, that dream job can't pay New York City rent, so Jersey it is.

Lex is studying to be a teacher and she will be working on a master's degree to get her teaching license. She can teach almost anywhere in the country with a license from New York. She always joked about following me where I ended up, but now she is.

Unlike others, I think New Jersey is great, and I am excited to live here. My family was raised here, and I was born here, so Jersey runs through my blood. Plus, Taylor Ham has a chokehold on me. This carries over to sports as well. Lex and I are raging Devils fans and go to every game humanly possible.

"Al, you know what this means? You can finally buy those season tickets!"

I gasped! I had always said that once I got my first big girl job, I would buy season tickets to the Devils.

"I do not know how my new employers would feel about that. Ya knows, Hudson Rivalry and all."

"Yeah, but what they don't know won't hurt them. How are you going to support the Rangers and the Devils? You can't have your cake and eat it too."

"Um. Well. I don't have an answer for you. Swallow my pride." I say sarcastically. 

We laugh. We turn up the Lover album by Taylor Swift as we officially cross over to New Jersey.

"So, I picked out some places in Montclair for us to tour. It's only 30 minutes from MSG, and I can drive over since I get parking there. They all have 2 bedrooms and two parking spots, so we chillen."

"I trust you; you wouldn't let us live anywhere that wasn't aesthetically pleasing," Lex chuckled.

Driving through Jersey is like an Olympic sport.

"I will never get used to driving here. These people are animals. They drive like it's NASCAR, and it's the last lap."

"Allie, your parents learned to drive here."

"I know. That just proves my point."

We sit at an intersection, waiting for the light to turn green. There are a lot of unspoken drivign rules here, most importantly the "Jersey Yellow". If the light turns yellow when you get to the intersection, you do not slow down,  just absolutely floor it and get through the light. Because of this fun habit, I pause before continuing when the light turns green.

"ALLIE! CAR!"

I did not wait long enough. Suddenly, this huge black, tinted GMC slams the passenger back door. My little BMW, which I have named Ronnie, is ruined. A moment of silence passes as the airbags deflate.