Page 13 of Follow My Voice
I give him a tight-lipped smile.
Kamila plants a quick kiss on his lips. “I thought you weren’t going to be home until later.”
Andy rubs his neck. “I left early—it was a rough day.” His eyes move from my sister to me. “Why is everyone so serious?”
“Kamila, once again, was trying to convince me to start college,” I answer.
Andy turns to my sister. “I thought you said you weren’t going to pressure her.”
Kamila crosses her arms over her chest. “When did you two team up against me?”
I shrug. “When Andy stopped making such a fuss about my eating habits, like the Coke and popcorn that you claim are ‘unhealthy.’?”
Kamila sends her husband a murderous look. “Andy!”
He throws up his hands. “You know I can’t say no to her.”
Kamila laughs. “All right, just think about it, okay, K?” She takes Andy by the hand. “Come on, I’ll give you a massage.”
Andy throws me a military salute. “Good night, K1.”
I salute back then head to my room, my mind still stuck on the conversation with Kamila. I grab my laptop and look up our city’s community college out of curiosity. I scroll through the slideshow that appears on the home page, and I begin to wonder if that could be me one day. I decide to venture further and click on thePrograms and Pathwaystab. I scroll to the bottom and see a photo of a classroom full of students. Frustrated at myself for missing out on so much, I shut my laptop and grab my phone instead, choosing to do something that will distract me: reading my exchange with “Kang.”
That night I dream of a radio station, a university campus, and the outline of a guy whose face I can’t see.
I wake up feeling a little uneasy the next two days, thinking about the conversation with Kamila. She has no idea how much I wish I could be a part of the world, be a normal teenager, experience life.
I think about all the things a nineteen-year-old should bedoing—decorating a cramped dorm room with a roommate, pulling all-nighters, cramming for an exam I forgot to study for, going to football games, joining clubs just to socialize.
I spend the entire day ruminating over the possibilities and my limitations, weighing the pros and cons of going to college, until I finally give up and decide to curl up in bed with a book to pass the time until Kang’s show comes on.
But as luck would have it, even my favorite pastime decides to mock me today.
“Welcome back to our show, folks. This is Kang, your faithful friend and companion for this hour ofFollow My Voice. You might need to break out your sweaters tonight. We’re going to see lower temperatures as the summer heat eases and we get ready to welcome a cool, autumnal breeze.” He sounds almost excited about it. “Most people prefer summer, but I love the cold; watching snow fall outside my window is one of my favorite things. I wonder if you listeners out there agree with me. Are you winter or summer people?”
I like the cold, too.
“Anyway, with the new semester having started this week, today’s topic is how education has changed in the past few years. These days we can’t help but mention the impact of the internet and technology…”
I tune out Kang as I begin to think about the topic, back to the pandemic days, when we were forced to take school online. I could do that now, but I know Kamila won’t like that; she wants me to leave my bubble, enjoy society. Am I able to? Thinking of the progress I’ve made so far makes me believe I could…
Sitting by the window, looking at the dark sky, I leave my thoughts behind and realize the show is about to end and Kang hasn’t read a quote to his listeners. Was the person messaging me someone else pretending to be him? The thought makes me feel both hurt and relieved at the same time. It’s better this way becauseif I started texting Kang, I’d probably start wanting to meet him, and that’s a risk I can’t take.
“Well, that’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed the songs and theme of tonight’s show. Thank you for your messages; even though we don’t have time to share them all on the air, I assure you that I always read each and every one as soon asFollow My Voiceends. This is your friend and companion, Kang, bidding you farewell. Have a wonderful evening.”
I’m so disappointed… I’m about to rip my headphones off when I hear Kang’s voice again. “Oh, and our quote for today is fromNorthanger Abbeyby Jane Austen: ‘The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.’ Good night, folks.”
For the second time in less than three days, Kang leaves me breathless.
9Surprise Me
“KLARA.”
The sound of the water running as I wash the dishes almost drowns out the insistent voice calling my name. My body is present, but my mind is elsewhere. Even though it’s been two hours since Kang’s show ended, I can’t stop replaying his last words over and over, confirming that he in fact sent me those messages the other night.
A hand waves in front of my face. “Klara.” Someone shakes my shoulder, bringing me back to reality.
“What is it?”
