Small Town Pride by Phil Stamper

Author:Phil Stamper
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2022-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

When I walk into Jenna’s house, I’m hit with a musty smell that’s so familiar from all our times hanging out. While my parents have made changes to the house over the last few years, hers has stayed the same since her grandma gave it to her dad.

The thick shag carpet, still a bright orange, always feels a little like a massage pad on your feet. Her couches are still in good shape considering they’re from the seventies. In every closet, in every corner, they’ve got reminders of her grandma—old Reader’s Digest magazines, a stack of records, an old Atari in the basement that probably hasn’t been played since Jenna’s dad was a toddler.

Jenna greets me with a jump-hug, which is a special kind of hug more closely resembling a tackle. The first few times she knocked me flat on my butt, but lately I’ve been able to stay upright.

“Ready to talk business?” she says once I set her down.

“As soon as you are.”

She leads me to her dad’s office, where it looks like she’s just printed a presentation twice as long as the ones they make us do in school.

“I start with goals, so everyone knows what we’re there for. But then I dive right into the history of pride parades,” she says, handing me the first folder. “That’s when you’ll unveil all your research on how pride parades have gone for other small towns like ours.”

“We have to present? I thought Mom and Dad would take care of it because of the new rules.”

“It will make more of an impact if we present. Mayor Miller knows it; that must be why she raised the age limit to eighteen. Your dad needs to be there to open the floor, that’s all. Then we’ll take the stage, answer the questions, and hope for the vote to be in our favor.”

I sigh. “And the chances of that happening?”

“Well, I haven’t asked Dad outright, but he’s obviously a yes.” Her eyes dart away from me as she says it. “The other two on the council, Regina and Althea, are in the mayor’s back pocket. They don’t have any kids in school with us, and I don’t know any other way to convince them. They might be a no, but I think we could get one with our speech if the town seems to be on board with it. Mr. Foley is the fourth one, and he’s a bit of a wild card.”

“He could go either way. He said he’d watch out for me, but that he doesn’t support the festival,” I say. “But Mom said he responds to logic. I think the presentation will sway him.”

She nods, and she starts picking up all the papers scattered around before going back out to the deck. “Well, let’s rehearse our parts. We’ve only got a few days until the next town meeting.”

“That means we have two days to make this perfect.” I sigh. “We can do it. What about Brett? Should we see if he can come over and rehearse with us?”

She shakes her head.

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