"Remember those offers I had last year? The football scholarships?"
"Yeah."
"I got some more offers. Coach is coming by tonight to go over them with me. The schools are in Idaho, Oklahoma, and Texas. If you had to pick, where would you want to go?"
"Texas," he says, without hesitation.
"Why Texas?"
"Warm weather. I'm sick of snow."
I smile. "Me too. Let's do it. What do you say?"
"When would we move?"
"This summer, before school starts. I'd have to be down there in August for practice so maybe July."
"What about Brook?" he asks, getting this sad look on his face. He doesn't want to leave her. He loves her almost as much as I do.
"She might be going there too. She's looking at colleges there. She's got a sister in Dallas. That's where we'd be going if I took the deal."
He smiles for the first time since he got here. "I think you should take it."
There's a knock on the door, then it opens slightly. Brook peeks her head in, her eyes widening when she sees Jake.
"Jake!" She races over and hugs him. "We've been so worried about you."
"I'm okay," he says.
She stands back, keeping hold of his shoulders as she looks him over. When she sees he's okay, she smiles at him. "We missed you."
"I missed you too," he says with a sheepish grin. He's at that age when saying stuff like that is embarrassing. He only did because of what he's been through. In a few weeks he'll be back to thinking he's too cool to give us hugs or admit that he likes us.
"Did you just get here?" Brook asks him.
"He's been here awhile," I say. "We've just been talking. I didn't know you were ditching class to come here."
"I had to," she says. "I wanted to see Jake."
Danny walks in, along with his parents. I didn't think they'd be here yet. They would've had to take off work to come here. They're good people. I don't know how I'll ever thank them enough for this.
"Hey, man," Danny says to Jake, giving him a hug. "Welcome back. I like the new look."
"I don't." Jake runs his hand over his bald head. "Girls won't even look at me like this. They like guys with hair."
"Why are you so worried about girls?" I ask.
That sheepish grin of his appears again.
"We've got a bed all ready for you," Danny's dad says, going up to Jake. "Tommy keeps asking when you'll be there."
Tommy is Danny's younger brother. He loves Jake because he's the only one who will play video games with him.
Danny's mom gives Jake a hug. "We're looking forward to having you. Brook packed up some of your things. They're already at the house."
"You went to my house?" I ask Brook.
She glances at Danny. "Um, yeah. Danny took me. We just went in and got some of Jake's clothes."
