Being part of the Omnia Academy Council had its perks; the depth of our reach was far. I quickly gained access to the high school’s social media account and deleted the post about Ryder picking up the playbook and kids commenting onhim having a photographicmemory. It wasn’t worth the chance for someone to go digging and find that gem of information.
“They’ll never see you coming in a million years.”
I’d found my unicorn.
3
Ryder
July
It was going on eleven in the evening when I walked up our cracked cement path leading to the house. From outside, I saw the soft glow of a single light on in the living room. Pam was probably up with one of the babies.
I’d worked eight hours at the library and then went straight to the grocery store and worked until ten thirty. I was working my ass off and tucking every cent away to help pay for college. Though, college was looking like it was going to consist of me attending school in Lancaster. So far, I had received letters saying that I hadn’t been accepted from five of the six universities I’d applied to. I was still waiting to hear from USC.
It was true that Lancaster Community College was way cheaper, and they had accepted me, but Lancaster was also a lot farther away, and there was a good chance I’d need to find living arrangements there, or I’d be dealing with a long commute. All the big schools I applied at were here in Southern California, andI could commute with public transportation. I really didn’t want to go to Lancaster.
After I quietly closed and locked the door, I went into the living room and saw Pam in the rocking chair with one of the babies in her arms. I wasn’t surprised to find her still up. She was always up tending to the babies or one of the kids. Roger didn’t help her much. She smiled at me as I sat on the couch.
“How was work today?” she asked quietly.
“Good. The library was slow, but the grocery store was busy.” I whispered my reply so I didn’t wake the baby.
“You’ve been working so much. You should try to enjoy some of your last summer before you go to college.”
“I know. I’m enjoying it, though. I listened to some of the street musicians today after I left the library. The music was insanely good, and I could have sat there for the rest of the night listening.”
“Don’t go letting Roger hear that. You know how he feels about you wasting time listening to music from those people who don’t have real jobs.”
She didn’t get it. She didn’t understand that listening to music calmed me down. And Roger was so far removed from giving a fuck about me.
“Anyway.” I sighed. “I want to be able to have enough for school and incidentals, so I don’t want to waste money going to a movie or anything.”
“Then work instead of wasting time listening to homeless people making noise.”
I could feel myself starting to get riled up. I needed to just go to my room.
“I’m tired,” I whispered, stretching my arms over my head.
“There are leftovers from dinner in the fridge if you’re hungry.”
“Thank you. I’m starving.” I pushed myself off the couch and headed toward the kitchen.
“Oh, there’s a piece of mail that came for you today?—”
I stopped in my tracks and turned to face Pam.
“Is it from USC?” I quickly asked.
“No, sweetie. It looks like it might be a wedding invitation.”
“A wedding invitation?”
“Maybe one of your friends from school is getting married.”
“Why do you think it’s a wedding invitation?”
“The envelope looked elegant, like it was some of that expensive stationery stuff. It’s thicker too, like there could be cards or a mini menu in it. And it has a fancy wax seal on the back.”
