"Hi, honey. How have you been?"
"Okay. How about you?"
"Not so great."
"Why? What happened?"
He sighs. "Maddie and I have been going through a difficult time."
I'm not surprised. She's half his age. Did he really think he'd get along with someone that young? They have nothing in common.
"What do you mean by difficult?" I ask.
"We've been arguing more than we should."
"About what?" I ask, wondering why he's telling me this. Until now, he's acted like they have the perfect marriage.
"I don't want to get into it all, but one topic in particular has been bothering me. It concerns you."
"Me?What about me?"
"Your college money. Madison has been trying to convince me that it's better if you work your way through college but it's never made sense to me. I have the money and I want you to have an education."
I smile, but keep quiet.
"We can't come to an agreement so I finally just told her I'm paying for your school. Given how much I'm paying for her acting lessons, she shouldn't complain about me paying for my own daughter's education. Anyway, I just wanted to call and let you know."
"Dad, that's great! I can't tell you how stressed I've been trying to figure out a way to pay for it."
"I'm sorry I caused you that stress but you can relax now and focus on getting into a good school. Perhaps Yale? Harvard?"
"Dad, I don't think I'll be getting into those schools."
"You might if you transferred back to your prep school. The top universities look to those types of schools for recommendations. That's why I sent you there."
"What are you saying? You'd pay for me to go back?"
"I'm considering it. I know it's where you'd rather be."
Not anymore. The thought of going back there doesn't even sound appealing. Back to all my fake friends? My fake life? I don't want that. I'm not that person anymore.
"Don't tell your mother about this. Not yet."
"I can't go back there, Dad. I don't have a car, and even if I did, it takes an hour in traffic to get there."
"Which is why I'm considering renting you and your mother a small house, just until you graduate."
"You'd really do that?"
"You're a brilliant girl with a lot of potential. I'd hate to see you attending some state college because my wife and I can't agree on something that should not even be an argument. Honey, I'd love to talk more but I'm meeting with a client soon and I need to prepare. We'll talk soon."
"Yeah, bye."
I call up Dean. "Guess what?"
"What?"
"My dad just called and said he's going to pay for college. It's not definite so I'm not getting my hopes up, but just having him bring it up as an option is something I never thought would happen."
