Welcome to Our Next Chapter
Sample revised opening
Randy stood in the doorway of the apartment, his backpack hanging from one shoulder.
It had been a long day.
Classes.
Meetings.
Messages from home.
He closed the door behind him and looked around.
Steph’s textbooks covered the living room table.
Her pom-poms rested beside the couch.
From the kitchen came the sound of running water.
“Randy? That you?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“Good. Come help me with these dishes!”
He laughed.
“Well, hello to you too!”
Steph appeared in the kitchen doorway, smiling.
Randy set down his backpack.
Home.
The word caught him by surprise.
A week ago, this apartment had been nothing but empty rooms and moving boxes.
Now there were dishes in the sink, class schedules on the refrigerator, and Steph calling him from the kitchen.
He glanced toward the bedroom, where his purple #19 jersey hung on the wall.
Back home, that number meant Friday night lights, football games, and Raider Nation.
Here, he was still figuring out what it meant to be Randy Nevbanks.
Steph noticed him standing quietly.
“You okay?”
He smiled.
“Yeah. Just thinking.”
“About?”
She walked over and stood beside him.
“Good change or bad change?”
Randy looked around the apartment.
“Good change.”
Steph smiled.
“Then why do you look so serious?”
He laughed.
“Can’t a man have a thoughtful moment?”
“Not when there are dishes waiting.”
“STEPH!”
She burst out laughing.
Randy shook his head, smiling.
Then he looked around once more.
The apartment wasn’t empty anymore.
It was becoming their home.
And for the first time, he realized that the next chapter of his life wasn’t something waiting to begin.
He was already living it.