I originally opened The Homecoming War with Meg finding out that her high school was joining the rival high school. After the book went through my first round of edits, I realized I wanted to start in a different place. That said, it was so much fun to write this scene with Meg’s family that I wanted to share it with you all. As usual, this is unedited so expect a typo or nine!
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“Who’s gonna tell her?”
The sound of my sister, Mac, shouting yanked me awake.
“Oh, not me.” My mom’s voice slid around the kitchen and down to my bedroom, despite the fact that she was trying to whisper. Why did the walls in this house have to be so thin? It was like the entire family was talking as loudly as they possibly could through tissue paper.
Rolling over, I squinted at the clock until it came into focus. It was 7:35 AM. An ungodly hour for anyone to wake up, especially in the last week of summer break. I groaned, figuring that sound carried both ways, so maybe my mom and sister would take the hint to keep their pre-work chit-chat to a more reasonable volume. It did not work.
“Keke, she is gonna find out sooner or later. Better you tell her than one of those kids from school.”
Something about grandmama’s tone sounded off and forced me to pay attention. Were they talking about me?
“I know. I know. It’s just you know how she is,” my mom said, still trying to whisper.
Sitting up, slowly pulled my lilac comforter back and actually tried to list this time. If whatever this was involved me, it was better to know now.
“She’s gonna flip out. Maybe I’ll just go to work earlier.”
“Mackenzie Williams…” Whatever threat my mom leveled truly was whispered. I had no idea what this was about, but it must have been bad for mom to use Mac’s real name.
Rolling out of bed, I spit out my retainer and set it in its case before creeping towards the door.
“Y’all are acting like she is gonna pass out. It’s not like this is—” I twisted the handle and my grandmama’s voice cut off. I had tried to open it silently, so no one would know I was awake. But no dice. I could hear grandmama fill her lungs with air before hollering, “Meg, are you up baby?”
As if the hollering was necessary. Maybe this wasn’t bad news, just big news. I had been applying to pre-law programs for spring break. Maybe someone mailed an update to me. I’d read that some law firms could be old school like that.
“Yes.” I called, releasing the handle. I strolled out of my bedroom and tried to act calm as I rounded the corner into the kitchen. Trying to sound like I wasn’t slowly filling with dread, I asked, “What’s up?”
Grandmama glared at mom who visibly tensed midway through pouring herself a cup of coffee. Mac winced and threw a long sheet of hair over her shoulder already perfectly quaffed for her internship at the local radio station. Finally, mom sighed.
“So you know how the district was debating what to do about school enrollment?”
Did I know? Of course, I did. I submitted a public comment and attended a board meeting, which my mom had to drive me to. Why was she being weird?
“Uh-huh. I thought they had decided to start sending all the freshmen to Davies this year and eventually close Hirono.”
“Well…” my mom stalled and looked at my grandmama for help. Which of course, she did provide. I don’t know why mom was even trying, Floyd Jean Williams was never one to let you off the hook when she could teach you a lesson instead.
“I can’t do this anymore,” Mac cut in, “Meg they decided to was more efficient and would save the district money, in the long run, to merge both schools now.”
“What?” My mind drew a blank. This didn’t make sense. “I don’t—”
“Have some coffee,” my mom said, shoving her mug into my hand. It already had her lipstick on it, but I took a sip anyway. Clearly, my brain wasn’t working because I thought Mac said—
“The district school board voted and they decided to just rip the band aid off. Moved everyone over all at once instead of trying to keep a small staff at one school and grow the staff at another.”
Mac was saying words I knew, but that didn’t make sense. When the other student body representatives and I met with them, they promised they would do everything they could to have us graduate from Hirono.
“But they said—”
“Meg, you know politics. They say one thing to get your vote and do another to keep money in their pockets.” Grandmama rolled her eyes. Saying she trusted the words of politicians—even small-town ones like ours—was like trying to tell a 45-year-old the tooth fairy existed.
I didn’t have much coffee in me, but the little I did have told me to not try grandmama on this one or she’d start in on one of her rants. Turning back to mom I said, “How do you know this for sure. What if this is just some Davies’ prank started early.”
My mom sighed and waved her phone at me. “Meg, honey, this is not a homecoming prank. I wish I could tell you more, but all I know is what I got from the district email. Next week, you start as Davies. That’s it.”
“What about our student government retreat?” My brain slowly started to turn as the coffee kicked in. “That was supposed to start on Thursday at Hirono?”
“I don’t—”
“And…oh my god…student government? Does that mean I’m not class president anymore? Because if I am not class president, then I don’t have any meaningful leadership on my resume and no college is gonna take me seriously. If I’m not taken seriously, I won’t get a scholarship and—”
“I’m headed to work,” Mac said, shooting me a sideways look before topping off her coffee mug as she reached for her keys. “I told you she’d flip out.”
“Mackenzie,” Grandmama warned without warning.
Whatever. Mac could make fun, but I was right. Class president was my ticket to a future outta Huntersville. Mac could laugh all she wanted, but unlike her, I was short and stocky. No one here was crowning me homecoming queen and making the basketball team was absolutely not gonna happen for me. I had to excel academically and in leadership or I was dying in this helltown. Not that I’d say that to my family. They seemed to like it here with all their ghosts and half the town in their business.
“I’m sure they have a plan for that Meg. They won’t just strip you of the title. I don’t think,” Mom frowned.
“I have to get to school and talk to someone, maybe Principal Rodgers?” I stood up and almost knocked my coffee over. “Mom, can you give me a ride?”
“Nope. Sorry honey. I have a client meeting at 8:30 across town.” Mom did not look sorry, but I didn’t have time to interrogate that.
Sensing my question, Grandmama said, “Sorry baby, I am helping Ollie take her Cadillac in.”
If it hadn’t been Ms. Ollie, I might have pushed grandmama. As it was, Ms. Ollie was the one friend of grandmama’s church that scared me more than her. I was on my own.
“It’s okay. Nadiya can drive me.” With that, I pulled out my phone and sent my best friend a quick SOS text, then made a bee-line for the bathroom. Mom and Grandmama may have had places to go, but I had a shower to take and, knowing how Nadiya drove, anywhere between 7 minutes to a half-hour before she saw her phone and got here.
Addie Woolridge 