The Beautiful Truth

// 89

"What do you think happened to them?" Jenny asked wistfully, staring off into space.

Actually, we were all staring off into space—Jenny, Scarlett, and Trey were all in a food coma brought on by Sal's stuffed shells and garlic bread. I was simply catatonic after last night's non-concert. The five of us were sprawled out over Trey and Sal's living room, now that we'd eaten and stuffed ourselves, and reviewed every single last possibility of an essay question in minute detail.

Until Jenny raised the question, I'd never thought to consider that people ever thought about that—I took it for granted because I knew. There was no mystery for me.

"What do you mean, what happened to them?" Sal asked, not looking away from the ceiling.

"Madison and Grant," Jenny explained. "You know, where did they end up? Like...where are they now?"

"Well, what do you think happened to them?" Trey asked her.

Jenny sighed. "I like to imagine they're somewhere up in wine country...married, living on some vineyard with all their kids. Just a nice, simple life, you know? But with a whole lot of love."

They all considered this for a moment. I tried to imagine my dad on a vineyard, carrying dinner plates out to a long picnic table on some gold-soaked Saturday afternoon. My heart ached a little; I hadn't expected him to look so happy in my daydream.

"I think they're somewhere like Monterey, or Big Sur," Trey proposed. "She's running an art gallery...he's teaching high school English and changing lives...Just living this laid back life of perfect contentment."

I did always think my dad would have made a good teacher, although he'd probably fare better at the university level. At least in Oklahoma. I never could have imagined him teaching creative writing at Pontiac County High School.

"Listen to you guys," Sal scoffed, still staring overhead. No one had moved. "You think they're still together?"

"You don't?" Jenny asked.

Sal thought for a moment. "I'm not sure. It's a great story and all, I'm just not sure I believe in the whole 'made-for-each-other' mess. I think they might have stayed together a few more years, but you know, when you're that young? The real world usually has a way of making people grow apart."

"What do you know about the real world?" Scarlett laughed, sitting up to toss a pillow at Sal's distended stomach.

"Ugh," he grunted on impact. We all laughed quietly.

"I think," Scarlett raised her voice to quiet the ruckus she's started, "that they moved back to middle America...got married...had a couple kids they're gonna send to Berkeley in a few years...probably got some really normal middle-America jobs...high school teachers, Realtors, car dealership owners...something."

"Jesus, if I come out of one of the most progressive, prestigious secondary institutions in the world wanting to buy a car dealership in Nebraska, I'm asking for a refund," Trey commented.

We all laughed again.

"What about you, Evan?" Scarlett asked.

"Hm?" I was still daydreaming.

"Yeah, this should be good," Sal laughed to himself. "Evan hates this book more than I do."

Truth be told, I didn't hate it anymore. Over the course of the year, my feelings toward it had transitioned to something that felt a lot like...respect. Respect for something I didn't necessarily agree with, but that was only because I knew what happened afterwards. It wasn't all love and happiness and good fortune and logic—it was confusing, and messy, and the culmination of a lot of bad decisions...and it was the story of my life, or at least the beginning of it.

But they didn't know any of that.

"I...I'm not sure," I hedged. "But whatever happened to them, if life got in the way, and they didn't end up together, I hope it brings them back around to each other. Sometimes, you just don't get it right the first time."

They all considered this for a while. I felt strangely satisfied with my answer. For the first time since Spring Break, though, I felt...awake.

Jenny was the one who asked the question, but I knew the other three were thinking it:

"Are we still talking about Madison and Grant, here?"