Later, I get called into the coach's office. She tells me that UCLA is interested in me. I instantly smile. She also tells me I need to train hard, really hard. And that I need to focus on track only, and drop any drama I'm dealing with. She tells me to think about it, since it's a big decision. When I get out of her office, Izzie is standing there. "What did she want?" "Just to congratulate me." I lie. I don't want to tell Izzie yet. We walk down the halls, almost done with the school day. I feel Izzie's hand graze mine, and we entwine fingers. I feel my cheeks turn red, and we look at each other.
I go to Don's pizza. I decide to talk to Evan. I see him taking orders, and once he's done I walk up to him. Maybe he will know if I should go to UCLA or not. "Hey." He looks at me in shock. "I know you have know reason to talk to me, so feel free to tell me to go away, but I just had to…" I trail off. "Hi." I say again. "Hi." He says back. We sit down together at the bar. "So, you don't hate me?" I ask. I still feel awful about what I did to him. "No, I don't know." I guess he's still working the whole thing out. It did happen really fast. "No." He says again. "I'm sorry." I say, holding the tears back. "I know." "I didn't want to-" "Casey. I know." He cuts me off. I look at him sadly. "Guess what?" He says, trying to change the subject. "I got into that EMT training program." "Really?" I ask, smiling. He's been wanting this. "That's great." I say. "I'm gonna have to buy a lot more khaki pants." He smiles. "Yeah." I reply, laughing. "So, what's going on with you?" He asks. I look down. It's hard talking to him after everything that happened. "Come on, let's just be normal." He insists. I nod. "I think that UCLA might be an option." He instantly smiles. "Of course it is." "I just basically have to give up everything and breathe, sleep and eat track. Do you think I should do it?" I ask. He instantly says, "Yep." "You're that sure?" "Yep." He says again. "Why?" I ask. "I've spent most of my life just doing whatever's easy. Now I'm doing this EMT stuff, and it's really hard, but it's good." I nod. "I feel like I've got a purpose. So, just don't do the easy thing. Do the hard stuff." I nod again. That is a good way to look at things. "I've had to do a lot of hard stuff lately." He nods, and looks down, knowing that I'm talking about the breakup. I feel a single tear fall from my eye. After a minute, Evan says, "Well, I've gotta get back to work." "Yeah." I say. We stand up for a second, before I decide to hug him. He gives me a small smile, and goes back to work.
I tell the coach early the next school day that I want to do it. I want to give up my whole life to train for UCLA. "This is going to be fun." She smiles. "No it won't." "I meant for me." She replies. I laugh. This is going to suck. I need to train harder, eat healthier food, work out, and stay out of drama. Hopefully Izzie and I are past the drama, so I won't have to worry about that. I walk out of her office. "What was that about?" Izzie asks me. "I told her I'd give up my whole life to train for UCLA." Izzie looks shocked. "Oh. Wow." She says. "I should have told you earlier. I'm sorry." She nods. "You're fast too, I mean so fast. I just did well in that one race." "Stop. This isn't about me." Izzie says. She looks into my eyes. "I've been thinking, you're right. I've been awful to you. I don't want to be like my mom, but my brain just betrays me sometimes. And you're so good, and solid, and wonderful." I look at her. "But I get it, if you don't want to do this." She motions at her and I. "I know I'm not easy." I think about what Evan said the other day. To always do the hard stuff, not the easy stuff. I shake my head at her. "I'm not looking for easy." She smiles brightly, and I pull her in for a kiss.