Coming home had its ups and downs for Haley. The ups were no rent, she didn’t have to have a job, and just about everything that her little heart could want was taken care of. The downsides were that she had to go to college, her classes were stressful, and she didn’t exactly have a lot of spending money. Her mom mostly took care of that kind of stuff, but still, she felt bad for asking. However, one of the unforeseen plus sides was the fact that she was given a great opportunity to reconnect with some old friends—at least, the ones that hadn’t gone on and done something with their lives yet.
Haley had known Mackenzie since they were in grade school, and while they were never “close”, they had been well enough acquainted that when Haley had met her at the beauty parlor it wasn’t weird that either should mention that they get together and catch up.
They were around the same age, but it was apparent that their lives had taken drastically different turns. Whereas Haley had moved out, had roommates, and eventually came back home to take a swing at college, Mackenzie hadn’t left their little home town for longer than a family vacation. She’d already settled down, had a baby… when were her friends old enough to start having babies?!
“God, I don’t think I could do it.” Mackenzie speared the fluffy egg portion of her All-Star Breakfast platter, “Go to college and actually finish, I mean.”
Haley had remembered Mackenzie as this toned, stringy Christian Athlete that had gone to the same Youth Group as her on Wednesday nights. Instead of sitting across from the fit sixteen-year-old athlete that she liked to remember, Haley was instead sitting across from a doughy mother of one who couldn’t seem to stop herself from wolfing down pancakes. She never would have guessed that she’d ever get fit, active Mackenzie Hollifield in a place like the Waffle House off of I-26, but wonders never ceased to amaze her. Then again, she’d never been able to picture Mackenzie as anything other than a size 0, and that had clearly changed as well.
“It’s not that hard.” Haley said with a little pride in her tone, “I mean, it’s only my first semester and I’m pretty sure I’m gonna get at least A’s and B’s.”
Haley was honestly sort’ve fading in and out of the conversation. It was pretty late, and she wasn’t used to staying up this long past dinner. She had class in about twelve hours—she needed to get home soon so she could get a full eight hours! That way she could wake up, get ready, and eat a big breakfast before her Bio exam tomorrow. Not that she wasn’t exactly interested in catching up with good ol’ Mack, it was just… well, past her bedtime!
The one thing she hadn’t regretted about this meeting was the food. She and Courtney got Big Daddy’s every other day or so, and she peppered her weeks with takeout here and there. Mom cooked for her at home too, but it had been so long since she’d been to the Awful Waffle! She’d ordered an All-Star Breakfast with extra bacon and toast, plus an extra pancake or two—she’d better not tell Courtney about eating so much after dinner; she’d probably wet blanket all over the fact that she got to catch up with an old friend!
“Oh yeah, no, the first semester’s easy.” Mackenzie said dismissively, the way she spoke made her double chin catch ever so slightly, which is something that Haley couldn’t help but notice as it struck her as particularly odd, “The second semester, that’s what got me.”
“Wasn’t… having a kid what got you?” Haley joked as she took a sip of her milky coffee, “I mean, I can’t imagine. It must have been really hard.”
Mackenzie took an equally big bite of her own late-night breakfast—two biscuits covered in gravy and ham with a side of eggs. Haley hadn’t thought much of her own, much bigger order. But to see skinny little Mackenzie Hollifield eating like this was so scandalous! It helped distract her from her own portion sizes—practically double the size of the mother of one’s.
“Oh, I didn’t have Tiffany until after I dropped out.” Mackenzie said as if it were the plainest thing in the world, “I just couldn’t deal with it all, you know? I just wanted it to be over with.”
“Yeah, I can relate to that.” Haley said. Bite bite.
“Totally.” Mackenzie snorted, “And it all just gets harder from there.”
“Yeah?” Chomp chew, “How… how so?”
“Well you’re in Gen Ed classes now, right?” Mackenzie continued, unfettered, “By the second semester, you’re going to be taking specialty classes!”
“Uh…” gnash gnash, “…huh?”
“Yeah, and they’re super hard.” The meaty mom laughed obliviously, “I had like, super good grades, and I only just barely managed to pass any of my classes!”
And as Haley let her friend’s words sink in, she felt the weight of her academic life fall heavily on her shoulders. How could it get harder? She was barely managing to keep her Life scholarship now! If she got low enough grades, she’d lose her ticket in! And then she’d have to start paying her way in, or take out loans! She was going to have to get a job, and… and…
“Are you okay, Hay?” Mackenzie leaned in, “You don’t look so good.”
“Y-Yeah! Totally okay!” Haley answered curtly, “Hey, do you think I could get another order of hash browns here?”
Haley’s cheeks swelled with potato, grease, and gravy.
Why did she ever think that she could do this?
"And, uh... make 'em country..."
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