The Clubhouse - 2. Come and Go

The sky looked like rainbow sherbet as Finn Montgomery stepped outside. Both of his parents were standing next to a Jeep parked in the driveway. As he hugged them both, his mom gushed about how they’d wanted to wait until his actual birthday to give him his present.

While his dad went on and on about heated mirrors and horsepower, Finn examined the bright-yellow paint and the dark leather interior. Stepping around to the front of the vehicle, he noticed the Duke University license plate frame.

“I love it.” Emily Branson looked around the Jeep’s interior, her eyes so big and so blue. He could smell her strawberry bubble gum and her coconut shampoo. Her hair was newly silver and perfectly complimented her freckled skin. Last week her hair had been fire engine red and the week before that a dark caramel. Finn often joked about dating a different girl every week. Her parents hated the constant change in hair color, but he loved it. He loved how unpredictable she could be.

He leaned over and kissed her. Emily wasn’t into PDA, but she didn’t mind the occasional quick peck on the cheek. He waited for her to fasten her seatbelt – his parents had given him a rather lengthy lecture about safety before turning over the keys the night before – and then placed his birthday present in drive.

“This totally suits you.” Her face was glued to her bedazzled iPhone in the palm of her hand. “Can’t wait for everyone to see it.”

Not even a minute later, the Jeep came to a stop outside a large, two-story home with brick foundation and tall, white columns. A wrought-iron fence separated the meticulously maintained front lawn from the main road. Finn thought about the last time he’d been inside the house. Last summer he’d attended Hayden Taylor’s birthday pool party. Half the school had showed up and he’d ended up leaving early due to food-poisoning.

“Hayden says she’s on her way out,” Emily said.

Finn noticed the time. If Hayden hurried, they’d have time to make a quick trip to Starbucks. He reached for his phone which had been sitting in one of the cupholders. He opened his music app and selected a playlist he’d made a few nights ago. Jason Isbell was one of his favorite singers and he was looking forward to seeing him live a few weeks. He pressed play and cranked up the volume.

“Babe, will you turn that down for a sec?”

He bit his lip and leaned forward to turn the volume down. Emily turned in her seat and looked at him intently.

“Remember how I said my dad knew someone who knew someone who worked at the state capital?”

He vaguely remembered her mentioning it while they were watching This Is Us a few weeks ago. Emily’s dad was one of the top cardiologists in the south which meant he knew a ton of influential people.

“Well, he reached out to this person and guess who will be interning in Nashville this summer.”

Finn’s eyes grew wide and a grin spread across his face. He leaned forward and pulled her into a hug which proved difficult due to their seatbelts. Emily talked, lived and breathed everything politics and talked often about wanting to become a senator before she turned forty. He’d hoped they’d spend their last summer together before heading off to college in the fall, but this internship could be a step in the right direction for her. Nashville was only a couple of hours away so at least he could visit her on the weekends.

“I’m so proud of you,” he said. “You totally deserve this.”

Emily frowned and chewed her bottom lip.

“Even though I would’ve rather gotten it on my own merit, I suppose a tiny bit of nepotism isn’t too bad.”

“Em, your dad may have pulled the strings, but it’s your hard work that got you the internship.”

“Speaking of pulling strings, you’re coming with me.”

The color slowly drained from Finn’s face as he stared blankly at his girlfriend. Emily continued to talk but nothing she was saying was registering. Everything was noise. His mouth was dry, and his palms were beginning to sweat. He heard the door to the backseat open and a cool breeze blew through the inside of the Jeep.

Hayden Taylor was Emily’s best friend and almost-neighbor. They lived in the same subdivision and had known each other since the sixth grade. Finn had known Hayden since Kindergarten and had become good friends with her brother who was a year older.

Hayden climbed into the seat behind Emily and had the same look of amazement as Emily had just moments earlier.

“Oh my gosh, Finn. When did you get this?” she asked as she fastened her seatbelt.

“Last night,” Emily said. “It’s an early birthday present from his parents. What did I get for my eighteenth birthday? Pearls. Finn gets a Jeep.”

“But you asked for pearls,” Hayden said with a matter-of-fact tone.

Finn watched her through his rear-view mirror and smiled. Hayden smiled back. She was pretty but it was the kind of pretty that got eclipsed when you were standing next to someone like Emily Branson. Hayden had light brown hair that curled at the ends. She was quite tiny in both size and height and Finn often felt like a giant when they happened to be standing next to each other.

“Touché,” Emily said before she popped her gum. She looked over at Finn and asked, “Aren’t we going to Starbucks?”

Finn nodded and pulled out of the neighborhood. After picking up three coffees from the Starbucks down the street from their school, he pulled into his assigned parking space behind the gym.

“We’re going to be late,” Emily said as she vacated the Jeep, caramel macchiato in right hand, phone in left.

Hayden asked as she unfastened her seatbelt. With Emily out of the Jeep, he could smell her perfume. Lavender and vanilla. He noticed she was wearing her favorite Panic! at the Disco T-shirt and a pair of dark denim jeans. She grabbed her backpack off the seat next to her and reached for the door handle.

“You coming?” she asked.

“In a sec,” he told her.

She gave him a quick smile and climbed out.

Finn watched as his girlfriend and her best friend enter the school through one of the side entrances. There were other students milling about the area, most of them relishing their few moments of freedom before their first class of the day.

Finn looked up at his school and the thought of going inside made him want to vomit up the dark roast he’d been drinking. He looked down at his hands which were gripping the steering wheel. The tips of his fingers had gone white from biting into the leather. A bead of sweat trained down the side of his face as he tapped his foot against the brake pedal.

Everyone that was important to him was expecting him to walk inside that building. Emily was waiting for him to show up to homeroom. She would expect him to eat lunch with her and Hayden and his best friend, Braden, who was also Hayden’s boyfriend. His parents were expecting him to be here as well. The only time he’d ever missed school was when his grandfather passed away sophomore year. Coach was expecting him to show up to practice after school.

“Screw it,” he muttered to himself as he put the Jeep in reverse.

As Finn backed out of his parking spot, he thought about all the places he could go. There were infinite possibilities and all of them were infinitely better than walking inside that building.