Chapter II
December 11, 1999
“Yeah,” William responded to the knock on his bedroom door.
“It’s David,” his friend replied.
“Oh.” William paused Tetris and dropped the Gameboy on his bed. “Come on in.”
David walked into the room as William made his way to the closet to pick out a
flannel. William knew David expected him to be ready before he arrived to pick him
up, but William got distracted by the game.
They were going to Eric’s going-away party an hour early to help set up. Something
William didn’t feel like doing, but David had volunteered their help.
“How’s college going?” William asked as he put the flannel on.
“It’s great. There is so much going on that it’s hard to keep up with things, you
know?”
“Not really,” William replied honestly. There wasn’t much going on in his life. He
worked at the gas station and came home. Eric wasn’t around much, and William
wasn’t friends with any of his classmates that stayed in town.
“You could go to the college in town,” David suggested. “Take some of the required
classes while you figure out what you want to do.”
“You’re starting to sound like my grandmother,” William replied with a laugh. “But
that’s better than Eric suggesting that I join the army with him.”