Carter's Peak

“my name is holly, and today i am going to get my first job! i’m not expecting anything big (it’s a clean-up service, after all), but i can’t help but feel excited! even the small jobs help someone, and that’s what i want to be doing more than anything!

"today i’m wearing my lucky shoes. my mom gave them to me before my other mother brought me to live with her up here. they were a bit big back then and they’re a bit tight now, but they’ve always helped when i’ve felt a little nervous.”

"i was never much of a hobby person, and definitely not a club person. the days were long enough with school anyways so i didn't mind just chilling at home most of the time. i only joined tennis cause the school required we take an extracurricular and the coach was lax about attendance.

"at some point lily told me i should take a shop class in the off season, and kameal jokingly suggested glassblowing so i could make her a new bong. i think if i hadn't been playing it off as a joke i wouldn't have even done it, but it turned out glassblowing was a good fit for me. it was nice to do something with my hands, and there was something therepeutic about keeping steady control of my breath for long periods of time.

"i don't think lily ever fell for my attempts at making my interest in it look insincere. after all, it wouldn't have been a very funny joke."