“When it comes time for you to have more help.”
I kept my eyes on the road, but from my periphery, he was shaking his head.
“No, I…I can’t leave. And our house…that’s for you. Our family home. Why?” he demanded suddenly. “What are they telling you? Where am I supposed to go?”
“Nothing, Dad,” I said quickly. “It’s okay. I was just thinking out loud.”
“No, no,” he said, shaking his head and running his fingers through his unkempt hair. “I can’t. I have to stay close. I have to—”
“Okay,” I said soothingly, my heart sinking. “There’s a place near MIT for…later. Is that what you want?”
He nodded. “Yes, yes. I can’t leave the vicinity, lest she be unable to find me.”
“Who?” I asked, a heavy feeling in my gut.
“Your mother,” he said.
Fuck.
“I have to stick close. Otherwise, how will she know it’s okay to come back?”
“I don’t know, Dad,” I said. “I don’t know.”
Chapter 31
Emery
In English class Monday morning, we finished our lesson on applying the themes ofRomeo and Julietto modern life just as the bell rang. I practically jumped out of my seat. I hadn’t had a chance to have the girl talk with Harper that was required after a weekend like the one I’d had with Xander.
“Miss Wallace, can you stay a minute?” Ms. Alvarez said sternly.
Harper raised her brows at me. I shrugged back.
“Sure.”
When the last student had left, Ms. Alvarez shut the door, and a smile broke out over her face. “UCLA sent me a very large, very thick envelope.”
“Oh shit.”
I stared as she pulled a manila envelope from her desk drawer and held it out to me. I took it and was surprised at how heavy it was.
“Go ahead,” she said, beaming like a proud mother. “Open it.”
“You didn’t look and see?”
“This is your moment, Emery. I’m just happy to witness it.”
“It could be nothing,” I said, tearing the envelope open with shaking fingers. “They might’ve just felt sorry for me and wrote a really long rejection letter…”
Dear Emery Wallace,
It is my great pleasure to inform you that you have been accepted to the University of California, Los Angeles for the fall semester…
I stopped reading to stare at Ms. Alvarez. “Oh shit. Sorry I keep saying that.”
“Perfectly understandable.” She came around the desk to hug me. “Congratulations, Emery.”
“Oh wow.” I sank into the desk in front of hers, the strength having drained out of my legs. I’d done it. I’d rebelled against my father and now a different life was ready to burst forth like a sun on an entirely different horizon.
