moving up, moving on

March 2038 - Justus Lim and Pierce Phillips are 30, Phoebe Dai Bui is 29.

Justus and Pierce don't see each other very often, but one day out of the blue Justus calls and asks him to come over. "I need to talk to you," Justus says. "It's important."

They haven't seen each other in a couple of years, but they're still friends, and Pierce can't let him down. "I'll come by before work," he says.

"How are you doing man?" Pierce asks.

"Good, how about you?"

"I'm good. Things are pretty busy with the kids and school, but they're good." Pierce pauses, then adds, "I haven't seen you in a while. I heard you had a rough time after you and Phoebe broke up."

Justus just shrugs. "Yeah I guess." It's a small town, and he knows Pierce has heard about everything - the heavy drinking, the loud arguments with strangers, and passing out in his old apartment building. But all that's behind him, or at least it will be soon.

"You know, Phoebe's in congress now," he says.

"I know, I voted for her on Election Day."

Justus shrugs. "I forgot to vote. But I read about it in the paper the next day. I can't believe it; well I guess I can, actually. She always had a lot of ambition. And she's married now, to that columnist at the paper, Adrian Bui."

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Pierce interrupts. "You didn't want to just talk about your ex."

"Well, all of this made me realize I need to get out of town," Justus says. "I need a fresh start. That's why I asked you to come by."

"You're leaving New Athens?" Pierce asks incredulously. "Where are you going to go?"

"I don't know, man. I'm going to go see the world. It's time to get out of here, away from ex-girlfriends. I only went to college nearby to be with Madison, and then I moved to New Athens to be near Phoebe. Now they've both moved on and I'm still hanging around doing nothing." Pierce starts to protest, but Justus cuts him off. "I never planned to stick around here. I need to get out of here and start my own life."

Pierce wants to protest, but he knows he's right. "Good luck man," he finally says.

*****

I got tired of playing Justus, so I decided it was time for him to move away. He wasn't very interesting; all he ever wanted to do was skip work and juggle bottles. Bye Justus!