Page 24 of Never Forever

Matt:…

Matt: What about school and stuff?

Me: I’m not going. Mom is going to talk to the principal. Let him know about my schedule. I’ll be tutored on set.

Matt:…

Matt:…

Matt: Will I see you before you go?

Me: No. I have to go to Portland tomorrow. My mom wants me to work with my acting coach before I fly out in a few weeks. She says it’s important I do this right.

Matt: No doubt.

Me: We can still text, right?

Matt: Sure. Absolutely.

I stareddown at the phone, my thumbs hovering over the keyboard.

I wanted to tell him I really didn’t want to go to Vancouver. I wanted to stay in Calico Cove and start my sophomore year with him. I wanted to go to his track meets. I wanted to go to the formal dance at the end of October. With him.

But it all felt too big. I was going one direction and he was going the other. I was going far away and he was staying here.

And I didn’t know for how long.

Me: I’ll see you when I get back?

Matt: Yeah. Of course. But do you know when you’ll be back?

Me: Not really. Have an awesome season though. You’ve been running so much I know you’re going to win everything.

Matt: Thanks.

I started to write I’ll miss you, but I deleted it.

6

When Matt Didn’t Give Up

Matt

To say sophomore year sucked was an understatement. The only highlight was I made the varsity team. I had a growth spurt and got a few inches taller, so Coach wanted me to train for the decathlon events.

Which was fine by me because it was all about the work.

Lifting, running, throwing, jumping, lifting even more.

But everything else felt empty because Carrie wasn’t there to see it.

We texted, but it was hard because of the time difference. Like we couldn’t really have a conversation. It was mostly just updates.

Me: How is everybody on set? Are they nice to you?

The next day at some point I would get back a text.

Carrie: Yes. Everyone is really nice. How is school?