State of Grace - Jack Hughes

014

Jack

My phone alarm rudely goes off at full volume. I roll over slapping around endlessly trying to find it. 6am. Gross. The season has just ended, and I would really like to sleep in, but Allie is already up and on the move. This girl has so much crap, although I'm sure it's important to her. She has moved two carloads of stuff and still needs a U-Haul. The U-Haul place opens at 7am and she says we need to be punctual.

I groan and roll out of bed and shuffle over to the coffee pot. This is the only item not packed or coming with Allie to the new place. I pull one of the papers to go cups off the stack and fill it nearly to the brim and prop myself against the counter, waiting patiently to Allie to emerge.

On cue, she slips out of the bathroom looking ready to tackle the day.

"Good morning sleepy head," she slips her arms around my waist propping her chin on my chest to smile up at me. Her smile is contagious.

"Allie its 6am, I am allowed to be tired." I say into the crown of her head. Her hair is pulled into some fancy braids that look like they should have taken hours, even though I know she did it in minutes. Her black leggings leave nothing to the imagination, but her top half is swallowed by a university crew neck that is clearly a few sizes too big.

"Thank you for helping me today."

"Happy to keep you company."

"Are you going to be ready to go soon? You may need a shirt for the U-Haul office." She teases.

"You sure? I thought I could get you a great deal if I showed up like this," emphasizing my joke with a cheesy smile.

Like a reflex, the back of her hand smacks my chest, "Go get dressed you werido. I need to pack a few more things before we go anyways."

Before we know it, it's 6:59 and Allie is running around like her head has been misplaced. "Allie, Allie slow down. Its okay." I grab her shoulders stopping her in her tracks trying to center her.

"I hate moving. It is a garbage activity that no one should have to do. I feel like I am forgetting something."

"Call the Uber and let's go get the van. Take a breather in the car." Allies' family took the car back that she had been borrowing so she didn't have to worry about not having a way to get it home. "It'll all work out."

"Okay," she pouts, starting to put her shoes on.

"I'm sorry," I say through a fit of laughter. "What are those?" I point her shoes that I can't quite tell what color they're supposed to be.

"I don't want to hear it. Are they dirty? Yes. Do they have holes in the soles? A few. But they're broken in and I love them."

"Al, new Forces are not that expensive."

"I know, I know. It's the principal. They're perfectly fine shoes."

-----

We had a mindless conversation until we reached the rental place. Allie tells me the story of the last time she rented a U-Haul and go figure that Lexie was involved. Apparently, you can rent U-Hauls at 18, and one summer her and Lexie rented one to drive around Hawaii because they were not old enough for a rental car. Her mom said the only thing she couldn't do on the trip was rent a car, and technically she didn't.

40 minutes go by, and we are back in the apartment lot. "Ready?" I ask killing the engine of the van. This thing is a beast to drive, I can't picture her maneuvering this thing across 6 lanes of traffic. Allie is silent staring out the window up at her building. "Are you okay?"