POV: Frankie Heck
I slowly walked out of Sue's room.
And to be honest, I was still numb with shock.
I still couldn't believe what I had just heard.
Sue. My Sue. The girl who had spent her entire life signing up for every club, team, and test known to mankind…
Wanted to give up the club tryouts.
Now, don't get me wrong. Sue had never actually passed any of those tests. In fact, if there were an Olympic event for failing extracurricular activities, Sue would probably win gold.
But that had never stopped her.
She was always optimistic. Always determined. Always convinced that this time she would finally make it.
Even when other kids laughed at her.
Even when they teased her.
Even when she came home disappointed again and again.
Sue never gave up.
Not once.
Mike and I had even tried—very subtly—to encourage her to move on from some of those things.
Well… I tried subtly.
Mike was just… Mike.
But Sue had always brushed it off with that bright smile of hers, acting like failure was just another step on the road to success.
So hearing her say she wanted to stop trying…
Yeah.
That was more than a little shocking.
I walked down the hallway almost on autopilot until I reached the kitchen.
Mike was standing by the fridge grabbing another beer, leaning halfway inside while stretching his neck toward the living room so he could still see the Colts game.
Completely hypnotized.
As usual.
"Mike," I said slowly, still processing everything. "I talked with Sue."
He nodded absently, eyes still locked on the TV.
"She wants to give up trying out for all the club tests."
Saying it out loud somehow made it sound even stranger.
That finally snapped Mike's attention away from the game.
He turned toward me immediately.
"Do we need to go back to the hospital?" he asked. "Is she still confused from the injury? Maybe she's hallucinating."
"She said she wants to 'find herself,'" I replied.
Mike stared at me for a second.
Then he shrugged.
"Huh."
He took a sip of his beer.
"Well, that's good," he said calmly. "She finally learned how to give up."
He turned back toward the TV.
"Unexpected surprise."
Then he sat down on the couch again.
"Now that it's not an emergency," he added, reaching for the remote, "I'm going back to the game."
I stared at him.
"Mike, you don't understand. She wants to give up. Sue—our daughter—the same optimistic and determined daughter we know. The one who always goes to the end of things no matter what, even if she gets humiliated or physically hurt. And now she wants to stop."
I sighed.
"Even though I told her we would support her no matter what… I can't help worrying."
Mike took another sip of his beer.
"Calm down," he said. "Maybe she finally learned how to give up from you."
"Hey! I don't give up things," I protested.
Mike just stared at me.
"…Okay, maybe sometimes I do," I admitted. "But that's only because I'm too tired to keep fighting."
I shook my head.
"But you should have seen her when she told me. I've never seen her more determined—not even for any of those tests. She really wants this, Mike. She's determined to stop."
From the kitchen table, Axl suddenly spoke up.
Apparently he had been there the whole time.
I had been so distracted I hadn't even noticed.
"Maybe the head injury finally knocked some sense into her," he said lazily. "We should try it on Brick too and see if he stops being weird."
"That is not possible," Brick said calmly from the sofa.
Since when was he there too?
"A head injury knocking sense into someone is not an actual medical effect. Perhaps you are referring to a personality change after trauma. Her actions are probably a result of enlightenment from the near-death experience."
He paused.
"…Enlightenment," he whispered again.
"Boys, to your bedrooms now!" I shouted.
Brick immediately stood up and walked toward the hallway.
Axl didn't move.
Until I remembered something.
"Oh, and we're having a garage sale this weekend to support Sue in finding herself," I added. "You two will help."
Axl groaned loudly.
"Ugh, Mom. I already had plans with Sean and Darren."
"You're going," I said firmly. "You can either help for ten dollars each, or make it difficult and your father will think of a punishment."
"Ugh, why do you insist on running my life, Mom?" Axl complained before stomping off toward the hallway.
Brick simply shrugged and followed him to their shared room.
I turned back to Mike.
"Garage sale," I explained. "She wants new clothes and things to reinvent herself."
I crossed my arms.
"As I said, Mike… she's really determined."
Mike glanced toward Sue's room for a moment.
Then he took another sip of his beer.
"Well," he said.
"At least this new version of Sue might finally stop signing up for things."
Then he looked back at the TV.
"…That alone might be worth it."
"Frankie, relax," Mike said. "If she wants to find herself, so be it. We'll be here if she needs us. It's a positive thing. You don't need to overthink it."
"Yeah… you're right," I admitted.
"Always," Mike replied.
Then he grabbed the remote.
"Now that this is resolved… Colts."
He turned the volume of the TV up.
I stared at him with the most unimpressed look I could manage.
And just like that…
I had lost him to the Colts again.
Seriously.
The only thing that could pull Mike's attention away from a Colts game was a full-scale emergency.
I sighed and leaned against the kitchen counter.
My brain was still running at full speed.
Sue wanted to "find herself."
That could mean anything.
A new hobby.
A new personality.
Or, knowing Sue, she'll probably invent her own club this time.
But then again…
The look on her face earlier hadn't been the usual Sue excitement.
It had been something different.
Something… calmer.
More certain.
And that scared me a little.
Because if there was one thing I had learned about being a parent, it was this:
Kids changing was normal.
Kids growing up was normal.
But when your kid suddenly changed overnight after almost dying…
Yeah.
That was the kind of thing that kept a mother awake at night.
But, still it is especially hard when our babies are growing up. I don't need another idiot in the adolescence phase like Axl.
Behind me, Mike suddenly shouted at the TV.
"COME ON!"
Then he sighed and took another sip of his beer.
I watched him for a moment.
Sometimes I wondered how someone could be so relaxed about everything.
Then again…
Maybe that was exactly what our family needed.
Because if both of us panicked about everything…
We would probably all lose our minds.
I glanced down the hallway toward Sue's room.
"Well," I muttered to myself.
"Let's see what this new version of Sue Heck looks like."
And somehow…
I had a feeling our lives were about to get even weirder.