Before the Morning [BEING EDITED]

10 | Screenplay

"So, you're into film?"

Nolan looked away from the window. Andy had just pulled out of Greeley High's parking lot and was heading for the main road. "I guess," he said.

"Is it what you want to do when you graduate?" Andy asked. He switched on the radio, but turned it down. Nolan wished he would turn it up. Not because he liked the song, but so the music could fill the silence so he wouldn't have to.

He shrugged. "Used to be."

"Oh," Andy said. "What do you want to do now?"

"Not sure."

Not sure. Of course, he was. He didn't want to do anything. Any interest he'd had in making a career for himself had died with his parents.

Andy grinned. "Same, dude. It's driving my parents nuts. They're like, 'You shouldn't go to college if you don't know what you want to do.' And I keep telling them, 'Let me just get to college first and then I'll figure it out.' For some reason, that doesn't make them feel any better."

Nolan's lips twitched.

"So, Little Haynes is your brother," Andy said. A random subject change, but Nolan was grateful.

"Yup."

"He invite you to the wedding?"

Nolan's eyebrows shot upward. "What?"

"Few weeks ago, Little Haynes told Garner he and Grace were getting married." Grace. Sam's last name.

"He's eight."

"That's why he asked Nora to officiate. Apparently, no one else would take the wedding seriously? Like, dude, I'm sitting right here."

"At least you were invited."

"We'll see. He said my invitation's in the mail. If it doesn't arrive in time, I'm gonna be pissed. I love me some wedding cake."

Nolan smiled despite himself.

"You ever have wedding cake? That shit is delicious."

Caleb and two redheads were waiting outside Fern Elementary when Andy pulled up to the small circle surrounding the school's entrance. Even before he switched from Drive to Park, the kids were racing toward them.

"Caleb has the lead," Andy said. "But Jenny is close behind—op. She's first now. Sorry, Nolan."

Nolan's lips twitched.

"Vick closing in—"

"Vick?"

"Yeah, my parents went and named him Victor, like he's an eighty-year-old man. Vick makes him sound a little edgier, but still no younger than forty."

Something slapped against the side of the Jeep. "Yes!" Jenny cried.

"Hey, hey," Andy rebuked as the door flung open and the three piled in. "Hands off the merchandise."

"What merchandise?" Jenny asked, buckling in. She'd nabbed the seat behind her brother.

"You know very well what merchandise."

She stuck out her tongue. He returned the sentiment.

Nolan twisted around in his seat as Caleb buckled. "I hear you're getting married," he said.

"Your invitation's in the mail."

"I live with you."

"We like stamps."

The ride back to Greeley was a short one. Caleb chatted with Jenny and Vick, and Nolan talked with Andy. Soon enough, Andy was parking in the parking lot. Despite there being numerous closer spots, he chose the one he'd been parked in before. "Hey, this is my spot," he said when Jenny and Vick whined. "She and I have been through a lot together."