“You did?” He paused at the top of the stairs.
“I did.” I shrugged and gave a small grin. The news was finally starting to sink in for me. Their excitement was making it real.
“Congratulations!” he said, pumping his fist in the air. He grinned as he came over to give me a hug. “Does this mean that you’ve gotta move now?” he asked and instantly I locked up. Tommy released me from our hug as he felt my embrace go weak.
“I don't know,” I stammered. The initial euphoria of telling my parents had worn off and now I was back to trying to figure out what to do about Jacob.
“Yeah, guess we’ve gotta start looking for places in Silicon Valley,” my father said and I was glad for it because my stomach was still too heavy and my mind too fuzzy to find a response.
“How exciting,” said my mother.
Tommy was the only one waiting on a real response. I pulled my eyes away from a blank stare and met Tommy’s gaze, holding it for a moment before speaking.
“Yeah, buddy,” I said. “Means I’ve gotta move.”
He’d known the answer but was waiting for me to speak before unleashing a frown across his face.
“That sucks,” he said bluntly. “I liked having you here. It wasn't so lonely.”
“Yeah, you’re telling me,” I said, more sincerely than he even realized.
It was almost nine-o’clock when I was finally able to escape from the congratulatory circus I’d found myself in. My room was dark except for the light from my computer still with the email sitting on the screen like a statue. Whether it was a heroic statue or more of a memorial, I couldn’t decide.
All I knew was that I had to call Caroline.
I stripped from my clothes and threw on my most comfortable pajamas. They were old and worn, but familiar and safe.
With a deep breath, I hit Caroline's picture on my screen. The phone rang all the way until voicemail.
I stared at my ceiling fan, watching it spin all the way until I heard the electronic prompt to leave a voicemail. I hung up and immediately dialed again.
This time she picked up after several rings.
“What's up Alicia?” she asked, as if nothing were wrong in the world.
I sucked in a deep breath and then just blurted out what I had to say as quickly as possible. “I got the internship with ZephTech.”
“You did?” Caroline's voice squeaked with excitement.
“I did.”
“Alicia! That’s awesome,” she cried out. I could feel her smile through the phone.
“Thanks, Caroline.”
“Damn, I’m so freakin’ proud of you, girl,” she said. “I knew you’d get it. I really did. That’s so awesome.”
“I know,” I said. “It’s crazy, right?”
“It’s crazy that it’s finally real,” she said. “But not crazy that you got the job. I freaking knew you would. You’ve got to be stoked right now.”
“Yeah, stoked.”
“What's wrong?” Caroline asked, immediately picking up on tone. “What's the problem? Who do I need to beat up for you?”
“Caroline, I’m kind of freaking out,” I said. My voice cracked with the effort to keep my emotions in check. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“What do you mean?” Caroline asked. “Why wouldn't you take the job?”