In the state of Iowa, there wasn't anything special about it. All Scott and his mother can see are just cornfields and farmhouses while driving.
Before heading on the road, Mrs. Smith found a place where they could both settle in. There was a house that belonged to Scott's grandparents before they passed away, giving ownership to her. She told Scott that she lived there when she was a little girl and was hoping that he could have the same experience as her. "You know, Scott, I think you'll like it there. I remember the time when I used to be a cheerleader and went to prom with the cutest guy in school."
Mrs. Smith drives there, remembering her old memories. "The town is also known for its great neighborhood, maybe that'll help you with your anger management. Better than finding you a therapist."
With disappointment and sadness in Scott's mind, "Mom, are you mad at me? Ever since I was little, I have always been angry at many things and I don't know why. Maybe that's why Da -"
Mrs. Smith stopped him from finishing his sentence. "Please don't mention him!"
Mrs. Smith raises her voice, tightening her grip on the steering wheel. At a young age, Scott's father left them as he knew that his anger was difficult to handle. He would always come late from home as he didn't want to deal with Scott, as his tantrums made him go crazy. However, it all changed. One morning, he was off to work, hoping to come home around evening. However, he didn't come back when it was dinner time. Scott and his mother assumed that he was working overtime like he always did, but a whole week had passed, and he still had never come back.
For most of Scott's life, his father never guided him properly in his absence, and his actions only made Scott's anger worse, as he had no other way to cope with his anger issues, feeling abandoned and lost. "Scott, it's not your fault. It's just that life can be a complicated road, and I bet the more you're on there, the more you can overcome it." Mrs. Smith calms herself after raising her voice.
Soon, it looks like they're near the town Mrs. Smith mentioned as they approached a huge billboard. The town was called Sunshine Valley, a town where the neighborhood shines and the sun rises. The town looked nice with its nice roads, decent houses, and shops. However, there were many advertisements about the town's one and only high school. The school was called Sunshine High School. There were so many advertisements from billboards to cut-out posters showing a stereotypical high school jock with a poster saying to apply now. It didn't make sense that there were so many advertisements for one school.
Speaking of advertisements, it seems there aren't many people around the town. The roads and streets were empty like a ghost town. Even the stores were vacant, with barely any people shopping. The only people were just them driving to Scott's grandparents' house on the empty road. Scott just assumed that it had a small population, but his mother was shocked. She remembers that it was packed when she was younger.
"Weird. The town should be filled with people. There should be people walking on the sidewalk and children playing in the park. Well, it is July, so many people must be on vacation." Mrs. Smith was trying not to get worried.
After driving through town, they found the house that Scott's mom used to live in. The house was light blue, had a garage, a backyard, and was pretty good nonetheless. Mrs. Smith drove to the parking space and they went inside. It was dusty as the house had been vacant for thirty years. They both looked around to discover more about the house. The house has two stories, two bathrooms, two bedrooms, and a large kitchen and living room. Scott believes this house might be more comforting compared to the one they left behind.
"Wow, this house is pretty dirty. Maybe with some window cleaner, a vacuum cleaner, and a mop, we can fix this house before the end of the day." Mrs. Smith was filled with excitement as she had never been to her childhood home for a long time.
They got their cleaning utensils from the trunk and started cleaning. Scott took care of the dirty windows, while his mother was responsible for vacuuming the two floors. When cleaning the windows, it was fun for Scott. He had cleaned every window from the backyard, and the sides, and was on to clean the front windows. Scott has never been so productive since school ended. He put on his headphones to help him with his work.
When cleaning a spot, he suddenly saw his reflection. And someone else's. There was a guy with blonde hair, a yellow and white jock jacket, black jeans, red sneakers, and a grin on his face. His hands were in his pockets, watching Scott clean the windows outside his new house. He was so scared that he quickly looked behind him. But when he did that person was gone. It was like that stranger was there, but just quickly vanished. Scott was a bit terrified but tried to distract himself by just cleaning the windows.
"Who the hell was that?" Scott tried to finish cleaning the windows quickly, thinking that the person might come back.
It was now evening, with Scott finishing cleaning the windows early, giving him enough time to mop the floors and set up his room in his mother's old room. It was exhausting for him with all the work that he had done, and he crashed on the couch. At the same time, Mrs. Smith was also finished with vacuuming both floors.
"Whew, I'm tired." Scott is taking a breather while lying on the couch. "Also, I'm getting hungry." Scott's stomach was growling.
"Yeah, come to think about it, we never had anything to eat while we were in the car." Mrs. Smith lay her head down on the couch with Scott.
"How about we get a veggie pizza?" Mrs. Smith brought up the phone from her pocket.
Scott was so hungry that he didn't care what toppings his mother was going to order, so he said yes when she said pizza, but not to the part about it being veggie. Mrs. Scott called the nearest pizza place and placed the order. After ordering the food and paying with digital pay, the doorbell started to ring. The ringing made Scott sit up on the couch, waiting to devour the pizza.
However, it was shocking to see how fast it was delivered to them if they already knew before they put in the order. Mrs. Smith opened the door, and the pizza was just sitting on the floor. But next to it, there was a letter. It was an envelope with the letters SH imprinted on the yellow seal. She picked up the letter out of curiosity.
When bringing the letter, Scott was informed about the mysterious letter in their stairway. They didn't know what the envelope had inside, so Scott opened it, and it was an acceptance letter. The letter shows it saying:
Dear Scott and Parentals,
We are excited to announce that you have been accepted to Sunshine High School!
Our school is excellent in its:
- Academics
- Sports teams, especially baseball
- Diversity
- Staff
- Culinary Cafeteria Food
There will be no deadline for your acceptance letter!
Sign and mail us back your acceptance letter to enroll!
Join us for the 2020-2021 school year, especially for our rising seniors who will be the stars of the year. The academic year will start on August 27, 2020. We hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
The Admissions of Sunshine High
That was unexpected. Neither Scott nor his mother had applied for the school yet. But Scott's mother must've guessed that since it was the only High School in town, it must be sent to those who are new in town, and there wasn't a choice for him but to accept the offer. After finishing their pizza, Scott got to bed early, thinking about how unusual the town was.
"I know mom grew up here, but isn't it weird that I saw a weird reflection, our pizza was delivered a few seconds after mom put our order, and a random letter appeared in front of our house?" Scott questions himself while looking at the ceiling.
He also realized that the letter already knew his name, even though they had never been to the school before. Scott didn't want to overthink it, so he turned off his lamp and got ready for bed, closing his eyes.