WORKING AT THE CAR-WASH (Solomon's POV)

I had just graduated, and every morning that summer looked the same: I'd hop on my skateboard and coast a block down the street to my very first job at the carwash. I didn't have a license or a car, so working that close to home felt like a small victory - plus, a paycheck every two weeks was all the motivation I thought I needed.

For a while, my days were predictable. I woke up with nothing to anticipate except scrubbing cars, wrestling with vacuum hoses, and counting down the hours until closing. That was life - simple, uneventful - until one shift changed everything.

I was heading in for my mandatory fifteen-minute break when I saw her. A new face behind the register. It hit me like one of the movie scenes where the girl turns toward the camera in slow motion. Only this time, I was the camera. And in that moment, something in me said - clear as day - I gotta go see about a girl (yes, a Good Will Hunting reference).

And so I did. Without hesitation. Which for me, was wildly out of character.

What started as small talk became conversations that stretched far beyond surface level. Before long, we were sitting in the Dutch Bros parking lot downing Red Dye 40, sugar filled drinks, sharing stories about where we came from and talking - a lot - about God, all while Kid Cudi played in the background.

Alyssa dragged me out of the house to a bonfire one night, and I repaid the favor by buying midnight pizza so we could watch The Maze Runner on questionable, gluten filled stomachs. We laughed - hard. We spent time like it was endless. And somewhere in those simple moments, without ever realizing it, we were building the foundation of everything that would come next.