The cool morning breeze whips through the courtyard at a college campus. Students can be seen sitting outside of a star bucks sitting in small metal chairs. A man named peter is sitting at a patio table waiting for someone lazily leaning over the table all the while he is staring at the guys playing basketball on the courts only yards away. The shots of the players drift into his range of hearing.
His attention immediately gets pulled to a woman standing mere feet away from him talking loudly on her cell phone. She shouts “literally my mother couldn’t even figure it out I had to do it all and explain it all to her I felt so embarrassed.” With his concentration broken peter looks over at her, she noticing him staring slowly walks away taking the conversation elsewhere while giving him a glare.
Peter looks down at his wrist watch and then proceeds to get lost in the basketball game going on. A large group of people come out to star bucks chatting away in one in intelligible conversation. Behind him a man appears and sits down right across from him without him even noticing.
The man sits back and speaks loudly and clearly sending his voice over to peter “Hey man I’m sorry I’m late class ran crazy long”. Peter turns his head without moving his body and says “you know they mad cell phones for a reason what the hell is so important that you couldn’t call me or drop me a text, what the hell Sam.”
Sam clears his throat “I just wanted to see you in person man sorry to leave you in the dark”; he stops for a brief minute and looks around at all the people. “I just figured that I should tell you in person before you hear it from someone else, I’m dropping out of college.”Peter is taken aback by what he just heard but Sam keeps talking cutting off Peter’s chance or butting in. “yeah I have just realized throughout this semester that this is not just my scene man. It’s not what I’m meant to be doing. My time is better spent elsewhere.”
You can see the anger in Peter’s face but he pushes it down and keeps his cool. “You don’t even have a job you’re only a sophomore, what do you think you’re going to do? You don’t even have a room off campus to stay at your parents turned your room into a study when you moved out and Jesus they are going to flip out on you when they find out”
Sam stands up and sits down in the chair next to Peter and proceeds to put his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Don’t worry bout me I have friends that can help I will be fine, a job will fall into my lap eventually and someone will let me stay with them till I get off my feet.” Sam smiles a goofy smile at Peter that shows he has his head completely in the clouds.
Peter cracks a smile as best he can, feeling strange feelings for his friend. “Okay well what about your parents huh? They are going to figure out eventually that you’re not in school it’s not like you can hide your complete absence here. I have to tell you as a friend that you are pissing your future away. College is the only way to secure a promising future.”
Sam hugs peter causing him to be taken aback momentarily. “Thanks for caring so much Pete you’re a good friend but you shouldn’t spend your time worrying about me. I’m going to miss hanging out with you on campus but I will be okay and then we will hang out. You will come over to my place and hang out when I get my own pad.”
Sam looks at his phone and says “oh crap I have to meet someone in 5 minutes I have to run I will catch you later man.” He flashes a smile and grabs his bag getting up and runs off down the path into the distance.
Peter just watches his friend walk away and knows that even though Sam thinks he knows what he is doing with his life he is headed down a path that he will end up regretting. The finest time of his life is ending and what is beginning is the next chapter; its self titled but you might as well call it adult hood.
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