Julien Gregg's Saguaro University Arizona Chronicles - The Story of Jake Miller Chapter 10

 Copyright © 2025 by Julien Gregg 
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The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.

Ten

When we landed it was a scramble to get all of our bags and head for the truck and car. We got everything loaded into the back of the truck. It was a sunny day so we didn’t bother with the tarp. Everything was in bags that had zippers so it was fine. I drove Brady and Evan drove his car. We arrived home and got everything inside so that Brady and I could pack for school.

“You’re leaving again,” Evan said when he saw me packing.

“For the last time,” I said. “This is my final semester and then I’ll graduate.”

“You sure will,” he said. “I can’t wait until you come home to stay.”

“I can’t either,” I said. Then I kissed him.

We stood there kissing for a good minute. Then I loaded all of my bags and boxes into the back of the truck. Brady put his bags in the back of the truck and this time I used the tarp to cover it all and keep it secure. With a kiss and a hug for Evan, Brady and I left for school.

We had a five hour drive ahead of us so I stopped for gas and got sodas for both of us. Then we headed to the freeway. Brady was silent so I said nothing as I drove out of Los Angeles and toward Arizona. Then finally he broke his silence.

“So you and Evan are gay, right?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“Not at all,” he said. “I thought for a while that I might be gay but I grew out of that.”

“Well we didn’t,” I said with a smile.

“You and Evan make a good pair,” he said. “I like both of you very much. I want to thank you for taking me with you to Quincy and showing me what a real family is like. I mean I knew from staying with friends from time to time that my family wasn’t normal but I really enjoyed seeing you with your family.”

“Thank you but you know you’re a part of that family now,” I said.

“How do you figure?” he asked.

“I adopted you,” I said. “Maybe it wasn’t a legal adoption but it’s a symbolic one. We’re young adults and can form families any way we want. Evan is my family but he wasn’t born into my family. You are now my family but weren’t born into my family. Jacks thinks of you as another nephew and Rod things of you as another cousin.”

“That’s wild,” he said. “I liked everyone but I still felt like an outsider looking in.”

“And you will until you get used to being around us all,” I said.

“You have one more semester,” he said. “I have two more years of school. Do you expect me to come to you for all of my breaks?”

“Yes,” I said. “If you need help getting to me just let me know and I’ll send you a ticket or rent you a car.”

“Why are you doing this for me?” he asked.

“Because you’re a friend who needs a family,” I said. “I have a family that needs people. It was a great fit.”

“Thank you,” he said. “I don’t think that covers what you’re doing but I am very thankful.”

“Just remember that when I call you out and make you go home with me for the summer,” I said.

“What would I do all summer?” he asked.

“Whatever you wanted to do,” I said. “You can get a job or just hang out at the house.”

“You and Evan are all right with that?” he asked.

“More than,” I said. “Don’t worry so much.”

“I’ve never heard of anything like this,” he said.

“Well you have now,” I said. “Just think of me like your real big brother and Jacks, Lisa, and Rod as your uncle, aunt, and cousin. Evan is just my lover but your brother in law. Think of it that way.”

“Where are your parents?” he asked. It was a straight forward question.

“They’re dead,” I said. “They died when I was fourteen. It was a car accident.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Thank you,” I said. “But it was a long time ago.”

“So you’re my brother, Jacks is my uncle, Lisa, though she hasn’t married to Jacks is my aunt, and her son is my cousin?” he asked.

“Family,” I said. “You got it right.”

“Thank you for doing this for me,” he said.

“You’re so welcome,” I said.

“I went from really having no one to have a lot of people,” he said.

“You sure did,” I said. “We’ll love you, Brady. We’ll be there for you like no one has ever been there for you before.”

“That’s wild,” he said.

“That’s us,” I said.

We didn’t say anything for a long while. I was sure that he was thinking over all that I’d said. I was telling him the truth. We would be there for him like no one had ever been there for him before. We would love him like no one had loved him before.

I pulled into Osage at five o’clock in the evening. I drove straight to the frat house and we unloaded the truck. We moved into our room and I started to set up my stuff. He connected his Xbox to the television. That was fine with me. Mine was still in Los Angeles. He put his clothes away and I put mine away. Then I talked him into a game of “Pirate Seas”.

We played that for at least an hour. Then Neal and Travis were in my our room talking to us about their holiday at Neal’s parents’ house. Travis said he’d had a great time. He said that Neal’s mom was a kick and his dad was awesome.

“Did you know that Neal’s dad was a professional wrestler?” he asked.

“I did know that actually,” I said.

“Who’s your dad?” Brady asked Neal.

“Nick ‘the Tank’ Porter,” he said.

“No way,” Brady said. “I used to watch him on television.”

“That’s my dad,” Neal said.

“My friends just get more and more cool,” Brady said with a smile.

“Told you,” I said. “You’re one of us now. Get used to it.”

“Oh that’s right, Brady went to Quincy for winter break,” Travis said. “So you met the family?”

“Yeah,” Brady said. “I’ve been adopted.”

“Congratulations, so have I,” he said. “I don’t go there much but Jacks told me I’m always welcome. He said he considered me one of the boys.”

“That’s great,” Brady said. “I won’t feel so much like an outsider with two of us.”

“You’re not an outsider,” I said. “You’re a member of the family.

“Just accept it, Brady,” Travis said. “It goes easier if you accept it.”

“I guess,” he said.

“All right, Neal,” I said. “We have the release of the expansion for ‘Pirate Seas’. What’s next?”

“Should we make an expansion for ‘Project Rescue’?” he asked.

“I suppose,” I said. “I just don’t have any idea what it would be. But I’ve been thinking of a ‘Nightmare Two’.”

“Really?” he asked. “What would we do with a two?”

“Grave yard,” I said. “We’d still have ghosts, vampires, and zombies. We could have hell hounds protecting a dark church where another witch is waiting.”

“They’re also putting out the second edition of the roll playing game for ‘Legends Rise’,” he said. “They contacted me to tell me that they were drawing up contracts for it.”

“Cool,” I said. “They also want to make ‘Pirate Seas’ into a roll playing game,” I said with a smile.

“Awesome,” he said. “More money.”

“Yes, for both of us,” I said.

We all went downstairs for dinner after that. We connected with other brothers that we hadn’t seen in a while. Everyone was talking about my games and I was smiling from ear to ear. Neal was smiling. We told them the news about “Pirate Seas”. I mean the expansion was about to come out and they were making it into a Roll Playing game. I had checked my email and we had meetings in Osage with the roll playing game company and their graphics teams coming up. We had a new version of “Nightmare” to work on and an expansion for “Project Rescue”. I was happy.

The next day I started to write out “Nightmare Two” on the sheets. Neal and Brady were with me and gave me input so I added some of what they suggested. Then I sent them off to the team to get it started.

Then we were surprised at the meeting with the roll playing game company. They not only put out the second edition of “Legends Rise” they wanted to make “Pirate Seas” and “Nightmare” into roll playing games. They were talking about “Project Rescue”. I was told at that meeting that the names Jake and Neal were now quite popular in the roll playing game business. I was elated. We signed the contracts for not one but two new games and a second edition of the first. We made a lot of money in that deal. I was happy with it.

Classes had started as well. I was going to three classes a day and loving it. I did my assignments, studied for tests, and coded my new version of “Nightmare”. I had a lot on my plate and baseball was about to start as well. We had a practice a week so far. That hadn’t cut too far into my coding, but when the season started I hoped to have the game coded or else it would seriously cut into coding time.

I continued to have dinner out with the entire group which consisted of Neal, Travis, and Brady. Evan came to be there for alumni night and I spent the night with him. We all had dinner with him the day after the party. He was shocked when we told him about the meeting with the roll playing game company.

Classes got harder and coding time got thinner and I got a bit grouchy. I didn’t like not having time to code. I had a whole game to code and there was no way I’d get it done while I was at school. That made me a bit angry. It would also make the team work on projects handed to them by Stan.

I called the team and told them that with classes, baseball, and fraternity stuff to do there was no time for me to code core files for the game. I’d have to get to them when I was out of school. They understood and continued to work on the sections of the game that they’d been working on. This way all of that would be done by the time I got to the office.

Neal was still making graphics. He’d finished a lot of them and had them on a CD for me. I just sat it on my desk and tried to put it out of my mind. I had work to do in my classes. I had code to write for computer classes, papers to read for another class, case studies for another class, and papers to write for several. I also had a practice a week for baseball and I assisted the social chair plan the mid term party. I was stretched a little thin. By the time the party happened I needed a break. I drank a little at the party and got a bit drunk. I was still functional but I needed to stop drinking. I did and switched to coffee about a third of the way through the party.

“You look a little out of it,” said Brady as he sat down beside me.

“Had a bit to drink tonight,” I said. I was proud of the fact that my words didn’t slur. “Switched to coffee to slow myself down. Don’t wanna be drunk.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this before,” he said, smiling at me.

“And hopefully you never will again,” I said. “I’ve just been run a little thin this semester with papers to write and case studies to read and code to write for class I haven’t been able to work on the game. It stresses me.”

“Why haven’t you been able to work on the game?” he asked.

“Because I have all of this course work to do, a practice a week for baseball and that’s about to go to three a week, and then there’s not time left for the game. I have to eat and sleep.”

“I hear you,” he said. “I get it. You’re a senior and you’ve packed too much on your schedule trying to get to the bachelors degree, right?”

“That’s exactly right,” I said, pointing my finger at him. “I did this to myself.”

“Well then the person you’re angry at is you,” he said.

“Wise young man,” I said, grinning at him. “I’m gonna go up and go to bed.”

“Later, Bro,” he said as I got up to head upstairs.

I went upstairs and stripped out of my clothing and went to bed. The next morning I fully expected a hangover. I got up and felt fine though. There was no hangover. Still I didn’t think it would be a good idea to get that drunk again. I got out of bed and went into the bathroom to take my shower. Then I picked up all of my clothes from the night before. I got dressed and went down to breakfast.

“Good morning, Jake,” said Todd with a smile.

“Good morning, Todd,” I said as I sat down beside him at the table.

“You were a little drunk last night,” he said.

“Yes,” I said. “I didn’t like it much.”

“You didn’t?” He asked.

“Not a bit,” I said. “I’ve decided to only drink wine at dinner from now on.”

“How’s your head treating you?” Todd asked, smiling at me again.

“Like it does any other time,” I said.

“Stomach upset?” he asked.

“Nope,” I said. “I’m a little hungry but other than that I have no complaints.”

“You have got to be kidding,” he said. “No hangover?”

“Not that I’ve found this morning,” I said. “Perhaps I didn’t drink enough.”

“Oh you drank enough all right,” he said. “You should have a hangover.”

“But I don’t,” I said.

“Don’t that beat all?” he asked those around the table. “He gets good and drunk and has no hangover this morning.”

“Sounds lucky to me,” said one of the brothers. “Wish I could do that.”

I ate my breakfast and thankfully Todd let me eat it in peace. Then I went back up to my room and woke Brady. He smiled at me and asked about my head. I told him I didn’t have a hangover. He smiled again.

“Why did you wake me?” he asked. “It’s Saturday.”

“Baseball practice,” I said. “Remember?”

“Oh God,” he said as he rolled over and faced me. “What time is it?”

“If you move quickly you can have breakfast before we leave for the field,” I said.

“Oh God,” he said again. I laughed.

“We have to be there in about an hour,” I said. “If you move now you can eat before we go and sweat.”

“I’m goin’, I’m goin’,” he said as he sat up, swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up.

He went to the bathroom. While he was in there I changed into my practice stuff. He came out and dressed in his and went down to eat. I waited a few minutes and then sat down. I could have gone back down with him but I didn’t want to hear the no hangover crap.

When it was time to go I went down and retrieved Brady. I drove him over to the athletic center. We got out and headed for the field. Coach was there waiting on the team. We were the first to arrive. Travis came running up a second later. Now there were three people on the team at practice on time.

Others began to arrive and Coach shook his head. I waited for him to start yelling about the time. He did a few minutes later. I looked at Brady and smiled. He didn’t look happy. I was about to remind him that it was his decision to join the team this year but he just blew air through his lips.

We got down to practice after Coach had reamed those who had shown up late. Practice went smoothly and we were released two hours later. Brady and I headed back to the frat house to shower and change. I actually did a little coding that day but only a little. I still had assignments to do. I got all of those done and then I went back to coding. Brady saw me and smiled. I coded until dinner. Then I went downstairs with Brady and had dinner with the brothers.

“You got a little coding in today,” he said. “It seemed last night that you had absolutely no time for coding.”

“I said that, yes,” I said. “But I decided I was just going to code today no matter what.”

“And you’re working on ‘Vampire Two’?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “That’s the project we’re all working on. I had so much in my portal that I didn’t get to code any of the core files. I just coded in what others had coded and graphics for it.”

“Okay,” he said. “But you were coding.”

“Yes, I was coding,” I said.

“Okay,” he said again. “You’re feeling better today?”

“I’m fine, Brady,” I said. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll figure things out as it goes.”

“Good,” he said. “You worry about me so I worried about you.”

“Thank you,” I said. “Now let’s eat.”

Time began to move a lot faster because I was always working on papers and reading the statistics and more homework. Then it was Martin Luther King day and classes were closed so I had the day to code. The core coding was easy this time because the game still uses the core codes from the first edition. I just had to change a bit and add a few files and then I was done with it. I couldn’t believe it.

I checked the portal and found more to code in it. I did that and by the time it was time for dinner the game was finished. I went and ate dinner with the brothers and then spent the rest of the day to run the code and look for mistakes. I didn’t find more than six mistakes so I fixed them and then sent the game to Evan to present it. I was happy now and I sat back and sighed.

Then I did my work from classes that I didn’t get done yesterday. I wrote a paper and then worked on another. It was time to go to bed when I was finished with all of that. I went and brushed my teeth and went to bed.

Then before I knew it the parties for the pledges began. I didn’t drink at the first party I just got to know some of the freshman. This was the second rush and I didn’t have anything to do with them this time. I just talked to some of them and then the party was over. They’d turned in essays and all of that and were given the questionnaires to fill out before the second party. Then they’d weeded out those that didn’t answer the questionnaire correctly and shrink them down to ten.

The second party was much like the first I just hung out and talked to freshman and played pool and darts with them. Then I went up to bed and slept like a baby. The next morning I got a text from Evan. He was finally in Osage for the alumni night. I went to the hotel and wrapped my arms around him and held him tight for a moment. Then I pulled back and kissed him.

“Hi,” he said with a smile when I let him go.

“Hi yourself,” I said with a smile.

“The game is epic,” he said.

“Thank you,” I said. “You don’t know what I had to go through just to code it.”

“Run a little thin this semester?” he asked.

“God yes,” I said. “Every time I turned around there was a paper to write or a report to read. It was just wall to wall class work. Then there was baseball once a week. Now he’s about to step that up to three times a week. I’m so glad that I got that game done.”

“You got it done on Martin Luther King Day didn’t you?” he asked with a knowing look.

“I did,” I said. “I didn’t participate in any of the stuff they did for the day I just sat in my room and coded until it was done. Then I checked it for mistakes, found a few, and fixed them. Then I sent it to you.”

“You’re supposed to be enjoying this semester,” he said.

“I know,” I said. “I am enjoying it now that you’re here.”

“Well I’ll be here for a few days but I have to get back to Los Angeles in a few,” he said. “Someone sent me a game to present.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I’d be there to present it myself but I just can’t get away right now.”

“I understand and Stan understands,” he said. “This is your final semester of college and then you’ll be with me in Los Angeles and all will be right in the world. Then all you’ll have to do is code games.”

“That sounds like Heaven,” I said with a sigh.

“You took too many classes this semester didn’t you?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “I’m going to drop a few because I don’t need more hours than what this semester would have given me without them.”

“Then drop them and get some rest,” he said. “You just coded a major game and you need to be able to relax.”

“I’ll do that,” I said with another sigh.

I spent the night with him and we made love slowly and carefully. The next night he was there for alumni night and the freshman were impressed that he was there but they really wanted to talk to me and Neal. That was fine we just picked up cards and wrote assessments of them like the rest of the alum.

Evan went back to Los Angeles and I dropped a class. That loosened up my schedule and let me code on the expansion pack to “Project Rescue”. I was a little easier to be around too.

Baseball went to three practices a week and I was fine with that. We still weren’t playing the way I’d have liked for us to but I wasn’t the coach. We had our first game and won it but it was a near thing. We only won by one point. Coach was thrilled though.

In classes my professors told me that I was more with it now that I’d dropped a class. I apologized to them for my folly. They all understood. Time moved on. I was doing great in my classes and the expansion pack was going well.

We had another game and won by two runs. Coach was thrilled. But I was most thrilled by finishing the expansion for “Project Rescue” and started to map out another game. This one was a lot like “Legends Rise” but it was more quest oriented. It was about the quests. You had to go and buy things for the quests, you had to plant he quest with your friends and then go on the quest. You could do quests made by non player characters or you could map out your own. There were jewels and gold to find. There were monsters to fight and species to befriend. It was massive. It was like “Legends Rise” on steroids. I called it “Forest Quest”.

I wrote it out on the sheets and then sent it to the team. Then I went to class. I had dropped a second class that I didn’t need so now I had time in my schedule to get the homework done and to code the games and breathe. I was happier and the professors of the classes that I remained in were happy. Coach was happy and much more importantly I got more sleep.

I had two classes a day now and I loved every minute of it. I had time in my day to code almost every day until we started to study for finals. I was happy. Evan would be happy when he called and heard the light hearted tone of my voice. Whatever, right? At least I had more time to code.

After classes that day I coded core files on “Forest Quest”. I worked until dinner time then I ate dinner. I ate in the dining room with a lot of the brothers. After cleaning up after myself I went back up to my room and did my assignments. I got those done just as it was time to go to bed. I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. Then I changed into sleep shorts and a t-shirt. I went back in the room and went to bed.

The next day I did it again. I had two classes, coded until dinner, and then did my assignments. I also had baseball practice three times a week. We practiced and practiced but we weren’t getting any better as a team. We played a game against Arizona State and won by the skin of our teeth. Coach was thrilled but we knew that it was a close thing.

We played a game against another college and lost our shirts. No one said anything about that one. We lost three in a row and Coach went ballistic. He yelled at us for the losses and screamed that we weren’t a team out there. He said that we had to learn to work together as a team. Of course we knew that we just couldn’t do it.

I was also thinking I’d wait a year to go back for my master’s degree. I wanted more time in the office with the team and with Evan. Of course if I went to UCLA I’d be with Evan but I was thinking that UCLA wasn’t the school for me. I really liked Saguaro University. I wanted to do my Master’s program here. Of course I couldn’t live in the frat house but I’d still be alum of the frat. I could show up on alumni night.

I needed to discuss this with Evan. It would be two years without him again. He’d either have to come to Osage a lot or just content himself with phone calls and emails. I wasn’t sure that he’d like either of those options. I had time. I was taking a year off anyway.

“What are you doing?” Brady asked me as he came into the room and found me staring at the floor.

“I’m about to start coding,” I said.

“It’s dinner time,” he said. “You’re out of coding time today.”

“Oh, well then I guess I’m going to dinner,” I said.

“What’s up with you?” he asked.

“I’ve decided to wait a year after I graduate to go to grad school,” I said.

“Okay,” he said. “What’s got that look on your face?”

“I don’t want to go to UCLA I want to go here,” I said.

“Oh,” he said. “You think Evan won’t like that.”

“I know he won’t like that,” I said. “He’s set on me going to UCLA and I don’t want to go there.”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” he said.

“I have to just talk to Evan about it,” I said with a sigh. “Let’s go eat.”

We went to eat and I was quiet the whole meal through. No one commented on it but Neal gave me a look. I just shook my head. Then I cleaned up after myself and went back upstairs to do my homework. I got that all done and went to bed.

I had dreams about Evan yelling at me because I wanted to go to Saguaro for grad school. He’d never yelled at me in reality but it was sure convincing in the dream. I woke up crying it was so convincing. I had to talk to him and I had to do it soon. I wiped my face and went back to sleep. I slept through the rest of the night.

The next day was Saturday. I got up and called Evan. I woke him up. I felt bad about that but I really had to talk to him. I told him that I was taking a year off before grad school. He said that was understandable. Then I told him that I wanted to go to grad school at Saguaro University. He was quiet after that. I waited for him to say something.

“You want to go back to Osage for two years when we’ve been waiting for you to graduate from Saguaro so you could come home for good?” he asked.

“I’m not sure that I want to go UCLA,” I said.

“UCLA is a good school for video game designers,” he said. “I wish I’d gone there to be honest.”

“Well I’ll think it over,” I said. “At least I’ve got you on the phone so I can tell you how much I miss you.”

“Awe I miss you too,” he said. “We’ll see each other soon. I’ll be there soon.”

“I know,” I said. “It just seems like you’ll never get here.”

“I’ll be there,” he said. “Don’t you have baseball practice soon?”

“No,” I said. “There’s a game against the Tech school.”

“Are you going to win the game?” he asked.

“I doubt that seriously,” I said. “We didn’t beat them last year.”

“What’s changed this year?” he asked.

“We have new freshman on the team,” I said. “The team is no better this year than it was last year.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “You need to be on a winning team.”

“I know,” I said. “Maybe I’ll join a winning team in Los Angeles.”

“Maybe you will,” he said.

“Okay I’m going to get off of here,” I said. “I have some coding to do. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he said. “Goodbye.”

I coded for most of the day. All of my homework was done so I focused in my coding. I put everything out of my mind and coded. Brady came in and looked at me for a moment but then he left. I was watching the time closely. I knew we had a game at six. It was still only nine o’clock in the morning.

I got a lot of coding done before lunch. Then I ate lunch and went back to coding for a while. Then I coded until right around dinner time. I ate a quick burger and then headed to the locker room with Brady and Travis. We changed into our home uniforms and started to warm up.

What followed boggled my mind. We were like a well oiled machine on the field that night. We didn’t let them have a single run before the fifth inning. They didn’t let us have one either but that was beside the point. We scored two in the fifth inning and they scored two in the bottom of the fifth. Then we scored four in the top of the sixth and didn’t let them score any in the bottom of the sixth. Then we got a grand slam in the top of the eighth and the score was ten to two by the time they finally got up to bat in the bottom of the eighth inning. 

They scored three before we got back up to bat. It was now ten to five. We scored another grand slam and they shook their heads in defeat. It was now fourteen to five in the top of the ninth inning. If they couldn’t score nine runs in the bottom of the ninth we’d win this game. When they finally got that third out they tried so hard to score runs but we were on it that night. They finally got one and their side cheered. We also got two of them out. We struck the last batter out and won the game fourteen to six.

Coach was beside himself with joy. Out side of the stands went insane. It was like we’d won the championship or something. This school really knew how to celebrate the small things. They were unreal.

I coded the next day all day long. I coded through lunch but Brady brought me a plate with a sandwich and chips on it. I ate that and drank a soda while I coded. I got a lot done that Sunday and I was really happy when it was time to break for dinner. I took the empty plate down and got myself a new plate with a pork chop, mashed potatoes and gravy and corn. I ate that in the dining room with the frat brothers and we had a grand time. The baseball players were congratulated on a stellar game. We smiled at this. Then I was back in my room again coding.

I checked my portal and found things to code in. I got that all coded in before bedtime that night. I still had a lot of core files to code but I got everything coded in now it was just waiting for me to finish the core files and get the rendering on the green screen for the game. Then “Forest Quest” would be finished.

I went to bed that night secure in how much coding I’d gotten done. I was happy about it. I slept like a baby that night and got up in the morning ready to go to class. I showered and dressed for the day. I went down and had breakfast and then headed out to class. I did well in my first class and my second was no different. I handed in assignments and participated in discussions, took notes, and just had a great day. I had baseball practice at five so when the class ended I did my homework in the quad and waited for five o’clock. I had a practice uniform in my locker at the athletic center I didn’t have to go back to my room. I put my books in my backpack and headed to the field.

Practice was good. Coach was still riding the high of our last win. It didn’t matter though. We’d lost enough games that we wouldn’t make the playoffs this year. We could win every game from here on out and we’d still not make the playoffs. He had to know that. He released us from practice three hours later.

I went to the Taco Shack and got tacos for me and Brady. Then I went back to the frat house and we ate them in our room while I coded some more. He knew which game I as coding because I’d told him when I started. He as looking forward to playing the game and I was looking forward to finishing the game. Then I did. I couldn’t believe it. I had the game finished. I just had to wait for renderings and then I’d code them in, look for mistakes, and then present. I didn’t have anything to code now.

Time moved after that. Evan showed up and I spent a night with him. Then I got the renderings for the game and finished the coding for the game. I checked it for mistakes and found none. I gave it to Evan to present in my stead. He kissed me when I told him I was finished with the game.

We played more games and won and the coach was happy. He knew we couldn’t make the playoffs much less the championship game. He was just happy that we were playing like a team finally and we were. The season ended for us and classes went into review. The semester had gone by at lightning speed for me. I was about to take final exams for my final semester. It was just took much to think about. I’d been at this school for three years. Before this one I’d been at Link University for a year and a half. My undergrad life was about to be over.

We studied for finals and went to the release party for “Forest Quest”. Then we went back to studying for finals. We studied until we couldn’t study anymore. I was studying every day until I was falling asleep then I’d go to bed and start over the next day after classes. We had no baseball now. We just had studying to do.

I took my first final and sailed through it. My second was not an easy one but I had little trouble with it. I took the third and fourth and found them to be difficult but not impossible. Then I was done. Graduation was in two weeks. I had to apply for Graduation and I did that the day after finals. It depended on my final grades. I was stuck in Osage until my final grades were posted.

Evan, Jacks, Lisa, and Rod were coming to graduation. I could wait for the event in happiness to know that my entire family would be there. The rest of my family was either graduating with me or joining the rest of the family in the stands.

I had Brady promise me that he would be in Bell Air shortly after school let out. He was doing me one better and waiting for me to leave because I was his ride. I laughed at this and slapped him on the back. My grades were posted and I did rather well. I got my graduation tickets. I told Jacks that I had tickets for them when they got here. They were flying out soon. Evan showed up and took one of the tickets. They were all seated together. He took Brady with him and another ticket. Then he went to the airport to pick up Jacks, Lisa, and Rod. I gave each of them a ticket.

Then the event took place. They gave speeches and recited poetry and finally they called our names. My name was called and I went to get my degree. I stopped with the dean so that pictures could be taken. Then I left the stage. Travis was right behind me. When it was over Jacks wanted pictures of me and Travis in our graduation robes. I laughed at this. We put our hats on and posed for three pictures. Then we went to take them off and get our stuff.

Evan drove Brady back to Bell Air. I drove myself to Bell Air now that I was all packed and ready to go. I hugged brothers and told everyone to keep in touch. Then I was out of there. I got to Bell Air about six hours later. I stopped to eat because I had forgotten to eat all day long. Then I got back on the road.

“What kept you so long?” Evan asked as I walked through the front door.

“I had to eat,” I said. “I forgot to eat all day long.”

“Typical,” he laughed. “Welcome home, Jake.”

“Thanks, Evan,” I said.

We carried my stuff in and found places to put it. I put my computer together and put my laptop in my laptop case. Then I got my clothes put away and all of my trinkets and stuff put in the right places. We got done and then I was hungry again. Evan took me to the restaurant and I got to see Aubrey again. He smiled when he saw us and asked me if I was a college graduate yet. I told him I’d graduated last night. He smiled and congratulated me.

We ate great food and had great conversation. Then we went home and I slept. I was so tired. I woke up the next day and Evan and Brady were in the kitchen. I came in and they smiled at me. Evan kissed me and Brady poked me in the ribs.

“What’s on your agenda today?” Evan asked.

“Well I’m not sure,” I said. “They told me not to work on anything until I got back to the office.”

“Well that’ll be Monday,” he said. “You got another game in that brain of yours?”

“An expansion for ‘Project Rescue’,” I said.

“Well that’ll do,” he said. I smiled.

I was home and that’s where I planned to stay for at least a year. I was happy to be out of school and done with all of that. I had a great job and I wanted to work my job for a while. I wasn’t even sure I needed a Master’s Degree for what I was doing. Sure Designers usually had a Master’s but did I absolutely have to have one? The answer was yes. I knew that. I just didn’t want to go back to school in a year.

The point was I was happy. We were happy. Evan and I spent the summer working and coding. Brady went back to school in the fall. By then I’d bought him a car. He’d about blown a gasket when I bought it for him but he drove it back to Osage. Travis and Neal come over about every other weekend. I have a great family.