Never Grow Up

Wendy.” She shook Miss Brandy’s hand. “Not sure you knew that.”
Kari rolled her eyes and smiled. That Ashley.
“I didn’t know.” Miss Brandy studied the name tag on Ashley’s sweater. “It says there, your name is Ashley.”
“Yes, I know.” Ashley peeled off the name tag and folded it into a tiny square. “That’s my real name. It’s confusing.”
Miss Brandy definitely looked confused.
“Oh.… I’m Wendy in the Peter Pan play.” Ashley did a single laugh as she looked around the table. “I should’ve started with that.”
Pretty soon, though, Brooke cut into the conversation and the rest of lunch the talk was about doctors and specialties and operating. Kari was surprised they didn’t break into a discussion about surgery again.
When she finished eating, Kari jotted six observations in her journal.
Miss Brandy is nice. I wouldn’t make a good janitor. Some people cook food at a hospital. Which is very needed, even if the food didn’t taste the best. The walls are a strange color. I do NOT like the scary looks on the nurses’ faces running down the hall.
She closed her notebook and looked at the nearby window. A bird fluttered onto a tree branch and the sun streamed through the scarce leaves. Kari sighed. She planted her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands.
I want to be outside with the birds, she thought. Or dancing with my friends. Or learning history in Ms. Nan’s class. She took a bite of her salad. It tasted the same way the hospital smelled. Which gave Kari one more thought, the detail that probably best summed up her thoughts about working at the hospital. The observation was this:
I want to go home.
Kari realized that people needed to work at a hospital. They had to cook and clean and care for the patients. Patients like Alex. And all of them were gifted to do so. And they all seemed to like it. They had found what they were passionate about. And while Kari didn’t really have a desire to follow a career path at a hospital, she was grateful for the people who did.
And in that moment, Kari knew her time at the hospital hadn’t been a total disaster. In fact, she was glad she’d come along. Not because Career Day had shown her what she wanted to do when she grew up. But because it had done a very nice job of telling her what she did not want to do.
And that was at least part of the answer.

14
Career Day Confusion
ASHLEY
Ashley wasn’t listening to the hospital conversation between Brooke and Miss Brandy. Because something amazing had happened! The nice woman had given them each a piece of paper with a list of jobs they could do at the hospital. And that was the highlight of lunch for one reason.
The page was the perfect kind for making a paper airplane.
So while everyone else at the table talked, Ashley folded the top right corner of the paper toward the center, then she did the same to the other side. A few more bends and tweaks and she had a fine-looking jet. Not just any jet.
This was a 747.
She held the plane up over her head and inspected it. “Whooosh,” she whispered low. “You’re going to fly across the whole cafeteria.”
Before anyone could stop her, Ashley stood and held the plane high. Then with the exact right speed, she shot the paper jet through the air.
“Ashley!” Miss Brandy was on her feet now, too. “What are you doing?”
“Flying! Look at it!” Ashley didn’t take her eyes off the plane. It drifted across the tables and chairs and came to an impressive landing just shy of a table of people in white coats. Doctors, probably.
“No.” Miss Brandy’s voice was louder than before. “That is unacceptable.”
Before Ashley could run after her plane, Miss Brandy marched over and grabbed it from the floor. She was not holding it the most gentle way, which meant the wings were getting bent.
Miss Brandy returned to the table and set the damaged 747 down beside her. She raised her brow at Ashley. “We do not throw paper airplanes across the cafeteria!”
Kari and a few of the kids at the table smiled. But no one laughed.
Ashley waved her hand toward the rest of the room. “I think the people liked it. This place isn’t very entertaining, Miss Brandy. If you haven’t noticed.”
At that, one girl let out a small giggle. But she slapped her hand over her mouth. Apparently no one wanted to take Ashley’s side here.
“Ashley, sending paper airplanes across a room full of people can be dangerous.” Miss Brandy pulled the paper jet closer to herself. “Please finish your lunch.”
The dots were not connecting for Ashley. She raised her hand.
Miss Brandy let out a loud breath. “Yes, Ashley?”
“Excuse me… but how is it dangerous… watching a paper airplane soar overhead?”
For a few seconds Miss Brandy looked stumped. Then her face got more stern. “For one thing… you could poke someone’s eye out!”
Ashley thought about that. “I will say… no better place to have your eye poked out than at a hospital.” She looked around at the other kids. “Am I right?”
No one said a word.
“Right or wrong, the plane is mine now.” Miss Brandy settled back into her seat and after a few seconds she picked up the conversation with Brooke and a couple other students.
Fine, Ashley thought. Her captured plane seemed to cry out to her from across the table where it sat. Come get me… I want to fly. “Not today, little jet,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry. You have to stay in paper airplane jail.”
Ashley leaned back and crossed her arms. Suddenly she felt bad about her paper airplane. And the way she’d talked to Miss Brandy. “Excuse me.”
Miss Brandy raised her eyebrows. “Yes, Ashley?”
“I’m sorry.” She really meant it. “You’re right. Paper airplanes should be outside. Free. Like the birds.”
“Yes.” Miss Brandy smiled. “I agree. Thank you.”
Ashley was