Star Runners

Chapter 3

3

On Sunday, before setting about doing his chores, Austin searched the Internet. There had to be some evidence of this Lobera School of Excellence in San Francisco. The main LSE Website required a login and password just to view details about the school. Apparently, the school worked through individual recruiters. A few hits on the search engine turned up references to people’s online resumes and applications, but nothing else.

Several hits on his search mentioned affiliate schools in Saint Charles in Missouri, Fairport in New York, and Bristol in Virginia. He had never heard of any of these towns before. One blog mentioned a Lobera-related school in South Georgia near Savannah. He thought about Josh’s meeting with the recruiter.

Austin’s cell phone rang, so he hurried to his room, slammed the door, and plopped onto his bed so hard he bounced. He answered the call, and Josh’s voice shot out.

“Austin! We’re done!”

Loud voices and rock music mixed in the background as Austin strained to hear.

“I can’t hear you very well. Where are you?”

“We’re celebrating at The Bull. You want to come join us?”

His stomach dropped. “I don’t have a car, remember?”

“Oh sorry. Anyway, I got it, and I’m taking it!”

“The scholarship?”

“Yeah, what do you think? It’s a full ride, and I can start at the first of the year.”

Austin inhaled. “First of the year? What about high school?”

“That’s the best part. I have enough credits to go ahead and start college if I want to. Any remaining credits I need can be done at my new school as joint enrollment.”

Austin swallowed. “That’s great, man. I’m happy for you. So what’s the deal?”

“It’s like a boarding school. I have to get a pass to leave on the weekends, but the school has educated some of the best in the world. They don’t accept many each year, so I feel lucky.”

Both paused for a moment before Josh cut through the silence. “I’ve never been farther west than Mississippi and now I’m going to school in San Francisco for free.”

Austin buried his face in his free hand. “I can’t believe you get to leave.”

“Yeah, I’m leaving two days after Christmas so I can move in and be ready to start the spring semester.”

“So what’s so great about this school?”

“You mean other than the fact that it’s free?” Josh said. He paused, saying something inaudible to someone nearby before he returned. “Anyway, people throughout history have received the best undergraduate education from this school. They didn’t provide specific details, but Lobera has graduates in the top levels of government and the private sector.”

“So the recruiter really turned your head? Be careful of those kinds of people.”

“I’ll be careful. I’m on probation the first semester. If it doesn’t work out, they send me home. Hey, ask your mom if you can come out to meet us for dinner or at least dessert.”

Austin gazed out his bedroom window. “I can’t. We’ll catch up later. I’m really happy for you.”

“Thanks, buddy. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

“Have a great time celebrating.”

The call disconnected. Austin dropped his phone on the computer desk. He stared out the window and watched a flutter of wind jostle the leaves.

Right now, Josh was celebrating his scholarship with his parents, probably talking about the future. Other students Austin talked to at school spoke of colleges and universities they would attend next year. He always changed the subject or remained silent. Whenever he was asked, he replied with uncertainty about where he would go to college or said he was narrowing down his choices. It had been the same answer for three years now.

It had been different with Josh. They never spoke about college. Instead of talking about math, geometry, and scholarships, they discussed comics, games, and movies. Hanging out with Josh had been a true escape from the rest of the world. After Dad had died, flying side-by-side in their Tridents through an asteroid field allowed him to disappear from his empty, silent house. His father’s deep voice no longer echoed down the hall. The energy he used to bring home would never come again. When Mom cried, Austin welcomed the earphones as he played Star Runners. There was never any need to talk about the future.

How could this game take his best friend away? And not just away, but across the country? Worse, what would Austin do after graduation? He didn’t want things to change. He had been glad to have another year of high school to figure it out. Now he couldn’t ignore the fact he had no plans beyond high school.

He rested his face in his hands, suppressing the lump in his throat. Mom wanted him to go to the local community college, but he would have to go into debt. Dad would have known what to do, what to say.

“Austin?”

He jolted forward and rested his elbows on his desk. He wiped at his face, pretending to take notes on a sticky note.

“What?”

His mother walked in. “I thought I heard you on the phone,” she said. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Her bedroom slippers kicked through the dirty laundry on the floor. His old bed, the bed his father grew up using, creaked as she sat down. For several moments, she just sat there.

“If you need to talk, I’m here.”

Austin slid his fingers across his face. “Nothing to talk about.”

“Yes, there is. I heard about Josh.”

He leaned back in the chair. “Yeah, he called.”

“Mrs. Morris called me about the same time you were on the phone.”

“Oh.”

Mom reached forward and touched his shoulder. “Look at me.”

He turned the chair around, but wouldn’t make eye contact.

“I know he’s your best friend and I haven’t been there for you.” Her eyes brimmed with tears. “Don’t give up. We’re going to find a way. I promise. You need to buckle down, and I’ll start looking for work. You will go to college or do whatever it is you want to do, all right?”

Thoughts of Dad waiting for him after baseball games filled his mind for some reason. Dad always came to the fence behind the dugout to tell him “good hit” or “nice play.” Being a catcher, it took time to put on his equipment. As he did so, Dad always found the right words to say at the right time. Austin hadn’t heard those right words in a long time.

Grandpa used to visit a couple of times a year before he passed away. Austin remembered watching Mom and Grandpa sit on the back porch while they sipped on sweet tea. They talked for hours into the night.

Austin cleared his throat. “Who did you talk to when Grandpa died?”

She frowned, her face crumpling. She brought her hands to her face, sitting in silence with her face obscured until she whispered, “I talked to your father.”

Until that moment, he’d never thought of his mother being alone. He’d complained to the world about his luck and cursed fate, but he’d never considered thinking about what she had been through, the man she had lost. He stood and embraced her.

They cried as the leaves waved outside the window.