Free Beautiful Dream by Paige Laurens Page B

they’ll be excited, so I’m eager to tell them, only no one answers. I text Gracie next, but she’s in school and also doesn’t answer.
    I pace around my room for a few more minutes, wondering, debating, wanting to call Josh and tell him I officially got the call, and to thank him again, but after what happened the other night, I’m embarrassed and confused.
    I abruptly stand, trying to not think about it, and head into the living room area.
    “Hey, what are you doing?” I ask Ren, and she looks up from her laptop.
    “Check this out - it’s called The Facebook,” she shoves her computer my way. “You can connect with people in your classes and at other schools.”
    “Huh,” I bend down to look at her screen.
    “Yeah, I’ve already connected with like ten old friends, and stalked this guy in my theater writing class who I think is cute, but I can’t tell if he’s gay or not.”
    I roll my eyes.
    “You should sign up!”
    “I don’t think so,” I shake my head. God, I don’t think I have any high school friends left that I’d want to connect with anyway. I ended up losing touch with all of them.
    “Suit yourself,” she shrugs. “But next year, when you’re off teaching somewhere and getting your masters, while I’m still here,” she motions around the room, “it’d be a great way to stay in touch! We both know you’re terrible with the phone, and what will I ever do without talking to you all the time?”
    “Well,” I sigh, scrunching my nose. “You’re sort of going to find out a little earlier than expected.”
    “Don’t even shit me. That’s not even funny!” Her hand waves me off, too focused on scrolling through other people’s pictures.
    I as watch the faces move across the screen. “Could Josh be on there?”
    “I don’t think so,” she shrugs. “I think you need to be a college student.”
    I sit on the couch, listening to her clicking away on the keyboard for a few minutes, trying to think of how I’m going to tell her I’m leaving.
    “So,” I clear my throat. “I got a student teaching position.”
    “What?!” She looks up excitedly. “Luci, that’s great! Which school is it?”
    “Mine,” I answer.
    “Yours?”
    “Yeah, my old high school.”
    “Oh?” She’s confused at first, and then registers what that means. “Oh,” she deflates, falling back into the chair.
    “Yeah,” I sigh.
    “Is it because of the teacher?”
    “No… Yes… I’m not sure,” I answer honestly.
    “I understand,” she encourages. “I mean, maybe this is what you finally need to gain closure.”
    I nod, watching as she returns to her computer.
    I try my parents one more time before I finally call Luke back, after a million missed calls and texts from him. I still can’t believe what happened this past weekend in the bar, but I’m so desperate to take my mind off last night with Josh that I settle for the lesser of two evils.
    “Hey!” He answers on the first ring, and I’m a little put off by his excitement. We didn’t exactly leave off on happy terms. Still, it’s exactly what I need to stop thinking about Josh, so I ask him to lunch.
     
     
    By Thursday, I’ve grabbed my phone no less than a hundred times, staring at Mr. Harrington’s name on the screen. Not only have I not heard a single word from him, but my parents haven’t called either. In fact, I have Ren call me just to make sure my phone is actually working.
    That night, I go to bed fairly early, waking in the wee hours of the morning, drenched in sweat. I’m panting from another nightmare as I stare at the ceiling, mustering up the energy to get up and change into dry clothes.
    In this dream I was calling Josh to tell him that I still loved him, but he couldn’t hear me. I was shouting and shouting to no avail. I hung up the phone, thinking it was the connection, but as I started to call him back, my phone all of a sudden fell out of my grasp and down hundreds of stairs. It kept rolling and rolling