The Last Lap

Chapter Fourteen

The day that Alex took me to his old school I dressed up nicely enough to make sure I gave a good impression. If Mr. Richardson didn't want to bring them to us, I'd go to them. I wanted to know what their environment was like and why we were so isolated.

As soon as he pulled up to the driveway, I bursted out. I already sent an email about my absence to avoid a phone call home. I didn't think my parents would approve of my actions even if it were for the better good. For the most part, it was good. A chaotic good but still good.

"Hey, Em," He greeted with a warm smile. The inside of his car smelled good, almost like he got a car wash and vacuumed the whole thing. I blinked at him before smiling back and greeting him in return. "Don't forget your seatbelt."

He turned out of the driveway cautiously. It was funny to see a person that ran so fast drive so slow. I heard Michael Jackson start to play on the radio through the aux cord connected to his android. Both of his hands were in the correct position.

He turned onto the acceleration ramp and merged onto the highway, "So what's your favorite type of music? We always listen to Ricky's mixtape for a laugh in the weight room but I know that you don't really like it."

I smiled, "What? That's pure platinum record quality. The best part is the fact that he mimics all the other moaning mumble rappers unironically," I chuckled and leaned my head on the windowsill of the car.

He handed me his phone and asked me to pick something. I played Earth, Wind, and Fire's "Let's Groove". It was something I thought that he would like and I'd never heard it before.

"Oh, yes. You're perfect. I love this song," He responded with enthusiasm. He started to sing along but in a way that made me laugh. He went too high on the notes and danced in his chair. I pulled out my phone and recorded him. When we came to a red traffic light He started to clap his hands and look into the camera. "'Let's groove tonight. Share the spice of life. Baby,'" He pointed at the camera, "'slice it right.'"

"You're so silly," I laughed and saved the video before sending it to him on Snapchat. He pulled into a driveway of his old school. Right in front of it was a sign that read, "Welcome to Timothy, home of the Eagles." It was old, unlike ours which was electronic and could show multi-colored banners. It was one of those boards that you had to use plastic letters. The building was still stable, and a little pretty. It had that archaic beauty attached to it. It was something you would expect out of a movie.

Alex parked the car, took his phone, locked the doors, and lead me to the main office entrance. My palms started to get sweaty and my neck started to feel a little tingly. I followed close behind my track captain and let him lead the way into unfamiliar territory. I wonder if he missed this school.

I started to think about all the memories that I'd formed at Westbrook and all the small things that made it special to me. If I transferred to Timothy for my senior year I'd be lonely. I'd want to go back, no matter how much I claimed to hate it.

Alex walked down the narrow hallway with me. A few facts of the school were that it was built in the last century and was once full of children that looked alot like my current classmates before red-lining impacted its enrollment, there were creative posters and murals covering any wall found in the school (full of dedications to political activists like MLK and Muhammad Ali), and I was suddenly the minority as soon as I stepped through the doors.

Each classroom decorated the door with someone that was influential like Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, President Obama, or Nelson Mandela. They divided the freshmen by the names of different leaders and on each locker stuck a positive quote. I looked back at Alex whose eyes were full of nostalgia.