The day I left town, the sky was still pitch-black, with the first faint glimmers of dawn nowhere to be seen.
I slung my light pack over my shoulder and glanced back one last time at the old house I'd tended to for ten whole years.
Kevin was waiting for me at the bus station. He'd already rented an apartment for me in the city.
John walked me all the way to the edge of town. He tried to take my bag for me, but I turned him down. I looked him square in the eye and said softly, "Live a good life, find a nice girl who suits you, and stop chasing those silly, dead-end fantasies."
Tears glistened in John's eyes as he nodded hard.
I knew, deep down, that he wouldn't get over what had happened overnight. But everyone has to keep moving forward, right?
Once I got to that unfamiliar city, I s
