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I decided to walk to CVS instead of riding my bike. It was a nice morning, warm and not humid, and I figured I’d use the time to delete all the angry mom messages from my phone. When I got to the last one, I was just turning the corner into the parking lot. My thumb was about to come down on the seven button for delete, when I heard Je
Daily Field Journal of A
“Hey, Mr. Ryan.”I went over to the computer to clock out. He’d just come in the back door and was putting his stuff down on the desk.“Jake. Off so soon?” he said. He sounded tired. He hadn’t sounded like that once since I’d known him.I hesitated. “My shift’s over.”“Right. Of course,” he said, waving a hand. “I apologize. I’m just out of it.”I hit the enter button and stood up straight. “Everything okay?”He looked over at me, then down at some paperwork on the desk. “No, actually, since you asked. Turns out I’m getting a divorce.”My stomach kind of fell out of my body. “Oh.”Ally must have been freaking out. Shit. She must have been so upset.“I’m . . . sorry?” I said, cracking a knuckle.“It’s okay. I mean, it’s not okay. But it’s going to be okay.” He shrugged hugely and pressed his fingertips into the desktop. “I screwed up. Apparently there’s no going back.”I tried to swallow, but my throat was dry. All I could think about was Ally. Ally crying, Ally curled up in a ball on her bed. My heart actually hurt.“Anyway, I just figured I’d tell you because I know Ally’s been having a hard time of it this summer,” he said, turning to look at me. He folded his arms across his chest. “She could probably use a friend.”My heart skipped a beat. Was that his way of giving me his blessing or something? Did he not know that Ally and I hadn’t even spoken since July Fourth?“So what do you say, Jake? You go