Page 68 of Second Chance Vacation

The Giver

Reaching into my box of corkboard supplies from last semester, I pull out the card stock letters I pulled from the board only a few weeks ago; the letters spelling outThe Giverstacked together.

God, what I would give to go back to that day and tell Savannah no.

Knock, knock.

I am startled as I turn around to find Savannah standing in my doorway with a venti-shaken green tea from Starbucks in her hand. Déjà vu sets in.

“Were your ears ringing? I was just thinking about you.”

“All good things, I hope!”

Placing the drink on my desk, Savannah begins rifling through the box I’m pulling from. She pulls out stills of the movie adaptation I’d used as visuals.

“I never read this book,” she continues to speak as she examines the photos. “Taylor Swift was in the movie, wasn’t she?”

Oh yeah, she totally was.

“Yeah—she’s not in a lot of scenes, but she’s in it.”

“Hmm…” She continues to flip through the pictures. “Why do you like this book so much anyway?”

The Giverhas been a favorite of mine since I read it in my own seventh-grade class back in Live Oak. From the moment Mrs. Hanning handed me that tattered paperback, I was completely lost in the world Lois Lowry painted.

“I don’t know…I just did. I guess…well…I guess I related to it.”

Savannah actually seems to really be listening.

“The premise of the book is that it’s supposed to be this utopian society. Everything is regulated, there is no conflict, there is no pain. Hell, there isn’t even weather. A utopia is supposed to be perfection. Well, the big plot point is that the society is actually really messed up. The things they do to maintain the status quo are that of a dystopia, making their community the exact opposite of what it is perceived to be.”

Looking up, I find Savannah staring back at me, her brows drawn together.

“What?” I glare at her.

She bites at her bottom lip, appearing to be contemplating something.

“I just…isn’t the other big thing that all those emotions that they repress, the pain, the sadness…the love…aren’t those things supposed to be what makes life worth living?”

My eyes shoot up at her, a perplexed expression on my face.

“I didn’t read the book, but I did watch the movie—as I said, it had Taylor Swift in it.”

Rolling my eyes, I put the photos back in the box before placing them on the bottom shelf of my cabinet.

My pocket buzzes.

I pull out my phone to see a text message on my screen from the one person I’ve been avoiding.

Jackson

so, that’s how it’s going to be? another 9 years without talking?

Gnawing at my cheek, I click my phone closed, quickly placing it back in the back pocket of my jeans in hopes Savannah won’t see.

“Who was that?” Savannah asks.

Shit.

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