Real Future: Alaskan Girl Comes Home

Welcome Back

Ichecked my phone again. Where were they? I was trying to be patient but I was so ready to get home, shower and relax. I had missed my flight in Seattle due to weather issues and didn’t get to the airport in Los Angeles until nine hours after my original flight was supposed to arrive. Luckily my luggage hadn’t been lost, I had been especially worried about Toothless. Now I was just waiting for my parents, who were stuck in traffic, to pick me up. What a trip, I thought, as I settled into the uncomfortable chairs in baggage claim to wait. I must have dosed off, though how in that position and with Toothless meowing at me, I wasn’t sure, because I jumped awake when my phone started ringing.

Hello, I mumbled groggily into the phone.

Hi sweetie, we’re outside of baggage claim, do you need any help?

No, I’m good, I replied, grabbing my stuff with one hand so I could stay on the phone. Where are you? I don’t see you.

We see you; dad is pulling up to you.

Oh, okay, I see you now. I hung up the phone. After dad managed to find a spot on the curb, he got out and helped put my luggage in the trunk while my mom hugged me.

Sorry we’re late, there was an accident on the 405, so traffic was terrible.

It’s okay, I said as we all got back in the car and left the terminal area. I made sure to put Toothless safely with me in the backseat.

We missed you so much, dad said, looking at me in the rear-view mirror.

I missed you too, I admitted. It had been strange being gone all summer. This was the first time I had spent that much time away from my parents.

How was the internship? And your time in Alaska?

It went great, it was such an amazing opportunity and company to work for. Of course, they want me back as soon as possible. And honestly, I want to get back even quicker. I felt guilty for even thinking like that, but it was true. I had never wanted to move to California and now I wanted to get back to my real home more than ever.

Well that’s wonderful, especially since you’ll be moving back up there at the end of this school year anyway.

I know, I can’t wait. I just need to decide if I’m going to go to the University of Alaska, or Alaska Pacific University.

Well you have a year to decide; you can apply to both and then make your decision later.

Yeah, I know. Everyone up there says hi by the way.

Ah, that’s sweet of them. I know some people who will be glad you’re back in Tehachapi though, my mom said, giving me a knowing look.

I know, I replied, staring out the window, wondering how that meeting was going to go.

I had been in Alaska all summer and when David and I had said good-bye, I could tell that he was unsure of how things were going to go. We talked a lot over the summer, either via text, call or video chat, but there was no doubt that it was different being so far apart versus seeing each other every day. I had been really glad to have Toothless with me, someone to keep me company while I was away. The hardest part was that I didn’t want to be available to talk all the time. I had wanted to enjoy my summer back in Alaska and gone on long hikes over the weekend where I had no reception to receive calls or texts. There were a lot of areas in Alaska where there was no signal. Then, when I had arrived back in town, I usually had several missed messages. It wasn’t that I had moved on or anything, I was just trying to enjoy myself. But now that I was back in California, my heart was hammering, nervous to see him.

We’ve invited David and his family over for dinner, my mom said. But you’ll have time to relax and take a nap if you’d like before they arrive, assuming traffic is better going north than it was coming here.

My heart rate picked up its pace even more. Okay, I said, imagining that awkward first meeting with both of our parents as witnesses. Perfect.

The drive back was definitely better. The accident seemed to only be affecting the other side of the road. In about two and a half hours we were home. I brought my stuff in, let Toothless out, showered and dressed quickly and then crashed on my bed, only bothering to run a brush through my hair once.

A few hours later my mom was knocking on my door. Jessica? David and his family will be here in about half an hour. I wanted to give you time before they arrived.

I said something noncommittal so she would know I was awake. Yawning, I got up slowly, ignoring Toothless’ protests as I pushed him aside. My head was starting to hurt. It’s definitely dinner time, I thought as my stomach growled. I got dressed and went to the kitchen where mom was getting hamburgers and hot dogs ready to go on the grill.

I got a drink and asked if she needed any help. If you’d set the table, I think we’re good other than that.

Alright, I replied, getting plates and utensils for the pasta and potato salads we were having as well. When I was done, the doorbell rang. I heard dad opening the door and greeting David and his family. Bracing myself, I went out to the entryway as well, not sure what to expect. However, when I saw him, all my worry seemed silly because there he was, grinning as he hugged me, welcoming me back.

~~~

Finally, I thought to myself as I woke up Friday morning. Today was the day. Jessica was finally flying back to California. I had received a text from her the night before saying she missed her connection and would be arriving later than intended, but I wasn’t going to see her until tonight for dinner at her house anyway. I was glad though, that we hadn’t planned anything since she’d probably be tired after spending extra time in the airport.

I spent the day at work like I had all summer. Today was my last day however, since school would start back on Monday. I hadn’t originally planned to work all summer but it wasn’t like I had anything else to do. The only bummer was, it was an unpaid internship, whereas hers had been paid. But at least I got some experience out of it that I can write down on a resume, I thought to myself as I left the building for the last time. My supervisor had already said I was welcome back and that he would be more than willing to write a recommendation should I need one. I knew I wouldn’t be back though. This internship had made it painfully obvious that engineering wasn’t really the path for me after all.

I was a little nervous that Jessica wouldn’t feel the same about me, after having spent three months apart. There had been times when she didn’t reply for days to my texts. I felt a bit silly, but I had done my best to give her the space she obviously wanted. Hopefully being apart had helped cement the feelings rather than make them wane.

I had just enough time to get home and then we were all three on our way to Jessica’s. My parents had been teasing me since our invitation for dinner but were oddly quiet while we were driving. I was surprised, but grateful as well. I was so excited to see Jessica again that my stomach was starting to feel queasy. I had better get over this before dinner time so I don’t seem rude by not eating, I thought to myself, trying to calm the gurgles down.

When we got to their house, my mom rang the doorbell and her dad answered. He let us inside and then Jessica came into the entryway. As soon as I saw her, my stomach calmed down and I grinned. It seemed so dumb that I had been worried because here she was, she was back and in my arms.

In Person Long Distance

Saturday Morning. I woke up and at first was confused by the layout of the room around me, but then remembered that I was back in California after my brain had kicked into gear. Pieces of last night’s dinner came to mind as I rolled over onto my back, staring at the ceiling. I had been so glad to see David but we hadn’t really had a chance to talk much. I was still tired from traveling so he and his parents had not stayed long after dinner was finished. David did say hi to Toothless before he left and we made plans together for today. So, now that I was awake, I was faced with wondering how today would go, as we transitioned from a long-distance couple back to… to what?

I sighed. There was no use just staring up at the ceiling so I got up and went to my suitcase that I hadn’t unpacked yet. I put my clothes away, replaced all of my other belongings and then got ready for the day. We were going to Morro Bay today, which was about a three-hour drive from Tehachapi. I put my bathing suit on under a loose dress and grabbed other necessary beach items: sunscreen, towel, sunglasses, and placed them all in my bag with flip flops. It was supposed to be a warm day, actually hot compared to Alaska so I made sure to bring water as well. It wasn’t until I was done with all of this, that I realized I hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t have time to do so because I heard knocking on the door, meaning David was here.

Oh well, I thought, I’ll just be hungry until lunch time. That was one thing I had done a lot over the summer, made due with snacks or easy to eat items so much that I regularly skipped meals, something I did not feel was good to tell my mom. I made my way to the front door, ignoring the smiles from my parents. I’ll see you later, I told them, waving.

Outside, David took my bag from me and we walked to his truck. He opened my door for me and kissed me, making me blush. It had been so long since we had been able to do something as simple as kiss each other. Long distance stinks, I’m so glad we’re together again. However, my stomach ruined the moment by letting out a loud rumble.

Ummm… was all I said.

Did someone skip breakfast? asked David, laughing as he got into the driver’s seat.

Well actually, yeah, I guess I forgot to eat and when I remembered, you were already at the house.

Do you want to stop and get something or go back inside? he asked.

We can just stop at Carlos’ donuts, if that’s ok, you know I’m addicted to donuts.

Sounds good, David responded and about five minutes later we were pulling into a parking spot. That was one nice thing about Tehachapi. It was so small that driving anywhere was a piece of cake. Anchorage, on the other hand, sprawled over such a large area and had very few straight roads which made getting to your destination more challenging.

Once inside, we each ordered two donuts and got back in the truck.

So, are you ready to get back to school on Monday? David asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

I suppose, it feels strange to think that this is our last year of high school. I also feel like there is a lot to do with college applications, tests to study for and take that I am not sure I will want to do many after school activities this year.

I know what you mean.

I didn’t know what else to say after that, so I took a bite of donut to fill the moment. Why is this feeling so awkward?

Did you have a fun summer? David asked.

Yeah, it was great being back in Anchorage, and I loved the internship. I met a lot of people and hopefully that will help me get my foot in the door. Did you enjoy your internship?

I had a good time, and definitely learned some things.

Oh? Like what? I asked.

Well, for starters that engineering is not for me.

I thought you were all set to go into engineering in college, I replied confused. My internship had left me with no doubts about what I intended to major in.

Well, you know, I thought engineers were more hands on and whatnot, instead it was a lot of designing and calculations and stuff that yeah is great but I don’t think I would enjoy it long term.

Awkward pause as I again didn’t know what say. Architecture is all about the design process.

True, and if that is what you enjoy then great, but I don’t think it’s for me.

So, what are you thinking about doing then?

I still haven’t really decided, we have a whole year to figure it out after all.

I was really struggling with this conversation. What happened to The Plan? I definitely know where I’m headed, but he doesn’t seem to care. Should that bother me?

"Anyway, that’s enough of that talk for now, I think. How did Toothless like Alaska?"

I followed the new path the conversation had taken, allowing my thoughts to rest for the moment. Maybe I could just enjoy the day with David and worry about the rest later. Well I kept him indoors, I didn’t want him to get used a place and then come back here and be confused. But he seemed to handle the travel okay, which I was worried about.

That’s good, especially if you plan to head back to Alaska this coming summer.

And we are back to talking about the future…I changed the subject again. So, what are you planning to do in Morro Bay today?

I was thinking that we would hang out at the beach, maybe walk a bit. There are some tourist shops, nice restaurants and we can rent paddle boards, if you are interested.

I’ve never done that, have you? I imagined myself falling off the board repeatedly into the water. This should be great.

Twice before today, it’s easy, don’t worry.

If you say so… after that we just talked about random things going on. It wasn’t like we hadn’t talked in the three months that we were apart so there wasn’t a whole lot of catch up to do. It was just different in person now. Sometimes we just listened to the music playing on the radio, and I enjoyed the scenery passing by.

When we got to Morro Bay, we found a parking spot and got out of the car, stretching from sitting for so long. It was a beautiful day and being the last Saturday before school started up again, it was packed. We joined the crowd of people making their way to the beach, where we were greeted with the sounds of waves crashing, birds calling to each other, and people chatting. The scenery was amazing, the water lapping at the shore, birds soaring, and Morro Rock standing tall all by itself.

Let’s just walk the beach for now, I suggested, not wanting to get wet and sandy just yet.

Okay, David replied, heading north away from the crowds a bit. He reached over to hold my hand, and I was surprised to find myself smiling in response. Maybe it is still easy after all, I thought. We walked for almost an hour before turning around. We went past where we had parked and over to the area where the shops and restaurants were. There were a lot of beachy souvenirs and nick knacks, but I wasn’t really interested in buying anything.

Are you hungry for some lunch? David asked.

Sure, I replied.

Let’s just do something light, that way it doesn’t bother us while we are paddle boarding. Sandwiches sound ok?

That works, I agreed and he led the way to a small deli.

Their menu was fairly basic. I ordered a turkey sandwich while David got one with salami and pastrami. We got a bag of chips to share and made our way to a table outside. The salty smell as well as the sounds of the waves was so different from the mountains of Tehachapi. Anchorage had lots of water around it but the beaches weren’t like this. They were a lot colder for starters, and not frequented nearly as much, except the lakes in the summer. Those were always crowded in nice weather.

We didn’t really talk much, just ate our sandwiches and enjoyed our surroundings. When we were done eating, David led the way to the paddle board rental shack. It really was just a shack that someone had set up to rent out the boards. We paid for ours and rented a locker for our valuables. David took his shirt off and I couldn’t help but blush as I took off my dress as well, hoping he didn’t think I looked like a dork in my one-piece suit. I tried not to feel his eyes on me as we made our way to the launch site.

Once we were ready, the instructor went over basic instructions, which I tried my best to commit to memory and then it was time