"Mom! I'm home!" I kick off my shoes and drop my bag infront of the hall closet.
"Put your shoes away and pick up your bag." I roll my eyes but do as I'm told. I don't want my most recent privilege revoked. "Oh, hi Jarrod. Gemma, remember our agreement." I nod and lead Jarrod up to my room. I drop my bag on the floor and kick it for good measure before I remember that the brochure is in there, so I rifle through my bag and plunk down on my bed. Jarrod sits beside me, reading over my shoulder.
"Sounds a little too good to be true to me. I mean, they pay our way there, pay for our living and food, let us leave whenever we want, and pay our way back? And if we stay the required amount of time they pay for tuition fee for whatever school we want? I dunno Jarrod. It sounds fishy."
"Not really. Military does the same thing."
"I guess. So what do you think?"
"Well, I think you should at least try it. It says right there you can leave whenever you want, so if you don't like it, you can just come home." I nod.
"But what will I do without my trusty sidekick?" Jarrod laughs and squeezes my shoulder. "Sorry but I can't stay long. My parents need me to watch the kiddies while they go out."
"That's okay. You'll probably be told to leave soon anyway."
"All right, so then I'll see you tomorrow?" I nod.
"Yep. Where else would I be?" Jarrod laughs as he leaves my room. Now to tell the parents. I haven't the slightest idea as to how I'm going to do that. They don't know about what I can do, and I don't really want to tell them, either. I flip the paper over and Liz's number jumps out at me. I take my phone from my pocket and dial it. Liz finally answers on the 6th ring.
"This is Liz."
"Hi, Liz. It's Gemma Slate."
"Oh, hi!"
"Yeah, um, I'm in."
"That's wonderful."
"Only one problem."
"What's that?"
"My parents don't know anything about this stuff and I am not telling them."
"Don't worry. That will be all taken care of. I have different sets of information for the parents."
"Different, like how?"
"I can't discuss it right now, but I can stop by a little later if you'd like."
"Uh, sure, okay."
"I just have to do a few things and I can be there for about 5. How does that sound?"
"That's fine."
"Okay, great, I'll see you then. Bye now."
"Bye." I hang up and slip my phone back in my pocket.
"Hi Gemmy!" I groan as my kid sister comes running into my room.
"Hi Sophie."
"What's doing?"
"Nothing. Where's mommy?" Sophie shrugs while looking around my room.
"Don't know. Come outside Gemmy! I want you to see something!"
"A surprise?" She bobs her little head.
"Yes! Come!" She grabs my hand and practically pulls me out of my room. I follow her to the backyard where a hole about a foot deep is waiting for me. I look at Sophie and sigh.
"How did you get a shovel?"
"I found it."
"Where?"
"Over there." She points in the general direction of the back shed.
"You know you're not allowed to play with stuff like this. You could hurt yourself. Now help me fill the hole back up, then we'll wash up and get you changed for supper." She pouts but helps me anyway. After she's cleaned up and changed she goes to her room to play while I go down to the kitchen. I should probably tell my mom that Liz is coming over, in half an hour. "Hey mom."
"Hi sweetie. What's up?" I sit on the floor beside the fridge.
"Someone came to see me at school today."
"Oh? Who?"
"Her name is Liz. She's from North Carolina."
"And she came to talk to you? Why?"
"Some program they're working on I guess. They want me to go there."
"Oh, I don't know. That's clear across the country."
"I know. She's coming over to talk to you and dad."
"When?"
"At 5."
"Well, we'll see. I'm not making any promises." I nod. I had expected as much.
"I'm gonna go upstairs." My mom nods, already sidetracked by dinner. I head up to my room and flop down on my bed. I'm surprised to find that I really want to go. What Jarrod said earlier has stuck with me. I won't have to hide anymore. I'll be with people just like me. That can do the things I do. I sigh. All in a perfect world.
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