The Samantha Project (2 page)

As soon as she left, Josh called to say he was on his way back. He wasn’t surprised that Jessica and Will had left. They were always trying to leave early.

I finished cleaning up the counters and went to get a mop for the floor. I heard my phone ringing in my pocket. I figured I could take a quick call. After all, I had stayed behind to clean up.
 

It was Colin. “Hey, Sam. Did you get my message?”

“No. I’m not supposed to use my phone at work, remember?”

“Well, Braden’s having some people over tonight just to hang out. Nothing big. Wanna go?”

“No. I’m doing that pie thing with my mom. You know how we do that every year?”

“Oh yeah. I forgot about that. So how long does it take? We could go over there later.”

“It’s kind of a whole-night tradition. But you go ahead. I don’t need to be there.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow. You’re still coming over, right?”

“If I’m still invited. Five o’clock? For dessert?”

“Yeah. You’ll get to taste the pies I made.”

“Can’t wait. What kind are you making?”

“I don’t know yet. Hey, I gotta go. I’m not supposed to be on the phone.”

He laughed. “You and your rules, Sam. I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

I put my phone away and heard the bell ring on the door in front. Customers, now?
 

I went out front, where an older man in a long dark coat was waiting. He didn’t look like anyone I’d seen before. I got a nervous feeling in my stomach.
 

“Hello, there. Samantha, right?” the man asked.
 

“Um, yeah. How do you know my name?”

“I’ve been in here once before. I heard someone call you that.”
 

“Well, what can I get you?” I got more nervous as the man watched my every move.

“I’ll have a double espresso.”

“That’ll be $2.39. I’ll be right back.”

I went to get his drink and could feel the man staring at me. Something wasn’t right with him. I thought of going in the back to call the police, but what would I say? That some guy in line was freaking me out?

I set his drink down and took the money.
 

“So you’re graduating early,” the man said.

“How did you know that?”
 

“I overheard it. Again, when I was in here before.”

I knew he was lying. I never talked about that at work. Everyone knew I was graduating at the end of December. There was nothing to say about it.
 

“Well, I gotta mop the floors, so enjoy your drink.”

“Your parents must be very proud,” he said.

“My parents?”

“The fact that you’re graduating early. You must be smart. I’m sure that makes them very proud.”

“Um, yeah, I guess.” I put my hand on my phone, making sure I could dial 9-1-1 without seeing the numbers.

“Your parents work at the university, right?”

“Listen, I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to clean up in back and my boss is—” I could hear Josh coming in the back entrance. “Oh, there he is now. So I should get back to work.”

“Nice meeting you, Samantha. Hope to see you again soon.”

I didn’t respond but instead raced back to the kitchen. I heard the bell on the door ring again as he left.

“You can go now, Sam. I’ll close up,” Josh said as he walked towards the front to check for customers.

“Is he gone?” I asked.

“Is who gone?”

“That man. The one who was just in here.”

“Well, it’s empty out there, so I guess. Why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. He was just weird. Asking me all these personal questions.”

“Like what?”

“Never mind. I’ll go get my stuff.”

“Thanks again for staying, Sam.”

“Hey, would you mind walking me to my car? It’s dark out and nobody’s around.”

“Sure. You ready to go?”

Josh walked me out to my car and I got in, quickly locking the doors. I got a chill and turned the heat up to high. As I got closer to home, I forgot about the incident, not wanting it to ruin my holiday.

I came inside the house to find Mom already wearing her apron. Dad had his sleeves rolled up, ready to get to work on the turkey.
 

“Hi, honey,” he said, giving me a kiss on the head. “Your mom’s already taking over my kitchen.” He was teasing her because Mom usually stayed away from the kitchen. Dad always did the cooking. Mom only used the kitchen during holidays, when she would bake like crazy.

“I didn’t take it over, Stephen,” she said. “I left you that corner spot, right by the sink.”

“A child couldn’t work in that amount of space, El,” he teased.

“Okay, okay. I’ll move some of my stuff,” she said, rushing back to the kitchen. “But the week before Christmas, I get this whole area for two days. I’m not even letting you in. I have tons of new cookie recipes to try.”

I laughed. “Guess we’ll be eating takeout for those days.”

“Oh, speaking of that, the pizza guy just came,” Dad said as he went to get plates. “Go get ready. We’re gonna eat soon.”

We always got pizza on the night before Thanksgiving so Dad wouldn’t have to make dinner while trying to prep all the food for the next day.
 

I went up to my room to put my school stuff away. We lived in a 100-year-old house that wasn’t big, but I loved it because I was sure it had an interesting story. I liked imagining all the people who had lived there before us. The rooms were small and the ceilings were low and the wood floors squeaked all the time. But I still loved it.
 

Mom let me do whatever I wanted with my room, but I kept it simple. A basic wooden dresser was on one wall and an old desk and chair was on the other wall, next to my nightstand and bed. And I had a soft and comfy bright green chair near my closet that I liked to sit and read in.

“Sam, come on. Dinner’s ready,” Dad called from downstairs.
 

I went down and sat at the table, where my parents were waiting.

“How was school?” Dad asked. “You know, I can’t believe I won’t be able to ask you that in a few weeks. You’re gonna be done soon. My little girl, all grown up and graduating high school.”

“I can’t believe it either,” Mom said. “Seems like just yesterday we dropped her off at kindergarten. Time goes way too fast.”

“I’m ready to be done. I’ve had enough of high school.”

“Oh, Sam. You’re not going to miss any of it?” Mom asked.

“Well, sure, I’ll miss some things. But I’m excited to go to college.”

Dad got up quickly from the table. “Oh! That reminds me. We have a surprise.”

“What is it?” I asked, unsure what type of surprise he could have.

He came back and dropped a large envelope on the table. I turned it over. It was from Stanford.
 

“Dad! Why didn’t you tell me this sooner? Did it just arrive?”

“I got the mail right before you came home. Open it!”

I ripped open the top of the envelope and pulled out the first sheet of paper.
 

“What does it say, Samantha? Read it!” Mom said.

“On behalf of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, we are pleased to offer you admission to Stanford Univer…”

Before I could finish, they ran over and hugged me, nearly knocking me off my chair.

“Sam, we’re so happy for you,” Mom said.
 

“Congratulations, honey. That’s a big accomplishment.” Dad was beaming from ear to ear. He, too, had gone to Stanford.

The news really was a surprise because I didn’t think I’d get in. School had always been pretty easy for me, so I took the hardest classes and got straight A’s. But so did lots of other people my age. There were thousands of people just like me. So I couldn’t believe that I got in. Maybe Jessica was right. I did have a perfect life.

“I have to go call Colin!” I said, getting up from the table.

“Don’t you want to finish dinner?” Mom asked.

“Later. I’ve got to tell him now. I can’t wait!” I ran upstairs to my room to phone Colin. He answered right away.

“Hey, Sam. Change your mind about tonight? Cause I can come . . .”

“I got in! To Stanford!”

“That’s awesome! I knew you would.”

“I didn’t. I thought for sure I wouldn’t get in.”

“You’re crazy! You’ve got perfect grades. Great test scores.”

“Yeah, and so do thousands of other kids. But I did it! I got in!”

“I’m coming over and congratulating you in person.”

“You don’t have to do that. We’ll see each other tomorrow.”

“No, I’m coming over now. Your house is on the way to Braden’s anyway. I’ll see ya soon.”

I put the phone down and did a happy dance in my room.
 

I ran back downstairs to find Mom clearing the table. “Did you want any more pizza?”

“No, I’m done. Colin’s stopping by in a few minutes. Oh, I need to call Allie.”

Mom laughed. “You can’t call her. She’s flying home today, remember? She’s probably somewhere over the Atlantic right now.”

“That’s right. I’m all confused on what day it is.”
 

Allie was my closest friend after Colin. She’d spent the semester in Greece on an exchange program for high school students. Her mother did business with some people from Athens that wanted their kids to study in the U.S. and that led to the whole exchange idea.
 

“I should call Uncle Dave,” I said.

Dave wasn’t my real uncle but had been friends with my parents for years. He assumed the uncle role on the day I was born. My parents had no living relatives, so Dave had always been an adopted member of the family.
 

I went to grab the phone, but Dad stopped me.

“He’s at work tonight, Sam. He sounded pretty stressed when I talked to him earlier. Why don’t you wait until tomorrow at dinner?”

“Okay. I just feel like I want to tell everyone.”

“I know you do.” Dad smiled and gave me a hug. “Your mom and I are so proud of you. You’ve really worked hard for this.”
 

The doorbell rang. “That’s Colin. I’ll get it.”
 

I opened the door, where Colin was waiting with a big helium balloon. He gave me a hug before I could even invite him in.
 

“Congratulations!” Colin went in for a kiss, but then saw my dad standing there and settled for a peck on the cheek. “Hello, Mr. Andrews.”

“Hello, Colin. Nice balloon you got there.” Dad snickered.

“Oh, yeah. Here.” Colin gave me the balloon. “I stopped at the grocery store and that’s all they had. I would’ve got you flowers, but they didn’t look very good.”
 

The balloon said “Congratulations” but was all pink with a teddy bear on it and seemed to be meant for a new mom.
 

I smiled at the goofy balloon. “This is great. Thanks!”

“My mom says congratulations, too. But she knew you’d get in. We all did.”

“Dad?” I gave him a look to give Colin and me a minute alone.

“Oh, well I’ve got to get that turkey ready. And Colin, you better be here tomorrow for dessert. Sam and her mom are making a bunch of different pies, and I can’t eat them all.”
 

He laughed. “I can help you out with that. See ya later.”

Dad went in the kitchen with Mom and turned on some music to give us more privacy.

As usual, Colin looked perfect. He was one of the hottest guys in school. Just like Prince Charming, my mom always said. And it was true. He was tall and muscular, a natural athlete, and had dark brown hair and deep brown eyes that drew me in with their intenseness.
 

Colin and I had been friends since second grade. As kids, we spent hours doing silly science experiments. We were sure we would cure cancer or save the world. And he loved that my parents were real-life scientists.
 

By middle school, Colin started playing sports, and we spent less and less time together. He ended up being really good at sports, which caught the attention of all the girls. By freshman year he was dating a cheerleader, much to my disappointment. We barely spoke during that year, other than a casual hi in the hallways.
 

Then, in the middle of sophomore year, Colin suddenly turned his attention back to me. One day, he showed up at the coffee shop I hung out at after school. We talked for hours that day, like we had never grown apart. He wanted us to be more than friends, but I wasn’t ready for that. I figured it would ruin our friendship. But last year, I gave in and we started dating.
 

Before that, I’d never had a boyfriend. Sure, I’d been on dates, but they never turned into anything. I’d always told myself that I didn’t want a serious boyfriend in high school. So I avoided getting too serious with Colin.
 

A few months after we started dating, Colin told me he loved me. I responded by saying nothing because I didn’t want to say it back if I didn’t mean it. I knew my silence had hurt him, but he didn’t get angry over it. He just never said those words again.
 

“So Stanford,” Colin said, smiling. “That’s huge. I’m happy you’re so excited about it. When you applied, I wasn’t sure if you even wanted to go there.”

“I just didn’t want to get my hopes up. But I knew I wanted to go there. It’s a great campus. When I went on the tour, I felt like I just fit there.”

“Hey, now that you’re accepted, you’re not gonna start in January, are you?”

“What? No. I hadn’t even thought about doing that. I mean, I didn’t think I’d get the letter this early. I’ll start in the fall, just like everyone else.”

“Good. ’Cause I’m not ready for you to leave yet. Stanford’s a long way from Minnesota.”

“I know. But let’s not think about that now.” I grabbed him and gave him a long kiss.
 

Colin looked surprised. “That’s a first. You never do
that
with your parents in the next room.”

I sighed. “Well, I’m a college girl now. I’m maturing.”

“You still got a few weeks of high school left,” Colin reminded me.