“You can’t be serious!” Andi James exclaimed.

            “I am. I’m leaving, And,” her best friend, Jake said.

            “You can’t!”

            “I have a duty to my country, Andi,” Jake said again.

            “But, Jake, Guatemala’s all the way in Africa,” she argued.

            “it’s not that far.”

            “It’s a whole other hemisphere!”

            “I know, but I’ll e-mail you every day. I promise.”

            “What if-What if you don’t come back?” Andi asked voicing her biggest fear.

            “Then I’ll have died for a good cause,” Jake said calmly.

            “NO! Don’t say that,” Andi said covering her ears.

            “It’s true, And. You have to except the fact that I may not come back,” Jake said, gently hugging her. She held on so tight he almost couldn’t breathe.

            “Can I throw you a going away party?” she asked into his chest.

            “Sure,” he said laughing.

            Andi relished in the sound, afraid that it’d be the last time she’d ever hear it.

♦

            Andi walked up to the front of the room and surveyed her work. It looked beautiful. She took a deep breath. It was now or never. She had to tell him. She grabbed a mic