Page 8 of Forever Foolish

“This is Chloe’s path,” his father said gently. “That girl will be on her way to the Academy in two years. She’ll be there for another four. If she gets flight school like she wants, she will add another year of training to her career path – before she must serve ten years. That is fifteen years of waiting, J.J., and you have your whole world before you,” his father urged softly as J.J. stared at the napkin in growing horror.

Fifteenyears.

“Live your life, experiment, and try things; don’t pigeonhole yourself in some little butcher shop on the outskirts of Juneau. There’s an entire big, beautiful world out there to see – and you’ve got plenty of time to explore, grow, and learn before there is even a chance for your crush on Chloe to develop. I’m not trying to be unkind, but do you understand what I’m saying?”

“But Mr. Murray…”

“Mr. Murray will understand, and if he wants you there – he can wait for you to grow up and live a little.”

J.J. swallowed as he stared at the napkin, seeing the hash marks along the lines that ran parallel to each other in strange arcs… never intersecting. He extended his hand, pointing at the napkin, trembling.

“What’s that mark?”

“That would be if you served four years… and if you re-up, you would get a bonus and serve two more years. You could come home, buy a place, and start setting up your life while learning your trade before re-evaluating things with Chloe King. Time has a way of changing things, and you might find someone else along the way.”

“I won’t…”

“Or she might,” his father said quietly. “You’re both young. Focus on becoming the man I see before me, waiting to be free to explore the world – and then you can come home to settle down.”

“What about college?” his mother interjected.

“I don’t want to go to college,” J.J. said firmly, staring at the napkin grimly with his gut churning painfully. Reaching across the table slowly, his fingers grabbed it, pulling it back and wadding it into a ball in his fist… before meeting his father’s eyes. “Four years?”

“It will pass in the blink of an eye.”

“Fine. You win.”

And with that, J.J. got up and left the room, determined to text Chloe.

Chloe, I wish we were closer and could talk.

J.J. saton the edge of his bed, feeling sick to his stomach and just wanting to be alone. He could hear his parents talking in the other room and knew that his mother was upset that he wasn’t attending college. Becoming a reporter like her wassooofar down on the list of dreams that it was almost in the negative range. Being in the Army hovered around a zero – to a ‘one’ on the scale.

What’s going on?

Is the Academy four years of school?

Yes – it’s like a college but for the Air Force. Why?

No reason.

J.J. – why are you asking?

I’ve got some time to burn, I suppose…

What do you mean?

Four years of college, then flight school, and then you have to serve, right?

Yes.

I guess I didn’t realize what a commitment it was.

Are you mad?

No, just surprised and a little stunned. I guess I always assumed that we would still be talking in a few years.

Why won’t we be talking?

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