“Are you guys free for the next few hours?” They nod. I have an idea, and these are the two people I’d want to do this with. “Let’s go look for a jeweler.”
Billie screams and puts her hands on her head. “I was fucking joking, Locke!”
“I’m not going to propose!” My sister holds a hand to her chest, and Grant laughs. My body starts walking backwards to where Grant parked his car. “But I have an idea, and it involves a jeweler. Are you guys coming?”
They glance at each other. My brother laughs again, and my sister mumbles something while wrapping the coat tighter around her body.
With brown leaves crunching under their feet, they follow.
twenty-eight
ROSIE
I tanked it.
The most important exam of my entire life, and I tanked it.
It doesn’t make any sense. There was nothing I hadn’t studied back and forth, up and down, hours and hours on end. I knew every subject that was thrown at me. I should’ve breezed through each page.
The numbers started blurring together when the first of the four final candidates turned in their work. My mind ran blank while the analog clock above the door ticked away. When Jeremiah tossed a look over his shoulder and scoffed, things stopped making sense.
I was the last person to finish. Probably the least confident. And definitely the only one walking out with the weight of the world pressing on her shoulders, waterworks threatening to flood her waterline.
Just wait, I yell at myself.Wait until you get home to cry, at least.
The hallways I’ve walked countless times feel daunting now. Weaving in ways I don’t remember them doing, and walls closing in while I walk in double steps.
Hold it back until you get home.
“Rosalie.” A soft but commanding voice calls out my name, and I suck all my emotions into a vault. Slam the door shut and throw away the key.
“Dr. Adebayo!”
There’s fake joy injected in my tone. I hadn’t realized I was walking past her office, or that her head was peeking out from the door. I hope she doesn’t notice how scarily close I was to losing my cool.
The only thing worse than becoming a wreck in front of my classmates, would be embarrassing myself in front of her. How humiliating would it be to lose my composure in front of a woman with so much grace and class? Said humiliation hits ten times as hard when you’re standing so close to the finish line.
Her head tilts. Perfectly styled bun not losing one strand of hair when she nods at me. “Is everything all right?”
My stomach drops.
“Of course!” The artificial joy makes its way into my voice. Only this time, it sounds even less convincing.
Dr. Adebayo thins her lips into a smile and sidesteps. “Do you have time to step into my office?”
I take a deep breath. Will myself to keep my composure together when I nod and enter the room.
The large, red oak desk and certificates lining the walls are familiar. I’ve visited her office many times before. Asking about degree requirements and inquiring about the Xion internship. Silently hoping she’d offer to write me a letter of recommendation.
I found out later she’s ineligible for that because of her standing in the department, but it was worth a shot.
The heavy door closes behind her. Dr. Adebayo motions for me to take a seat in one of her plush office chairs, and she takes the one to my right. Immediately, I start to overthink myself.
Where I plop into the seat, she descends into it. Gracefully, with the fabric of her dark gray slacks staying in place the entire time. Her white button-up blouse is rolled up at the sleeves, and I bet it’d look unprofessional on someone else. But on her, it’s chic. Authoritative.
Her hands lace together upon her lap, legs crossing, and I’m in awe.
“Today was your Xion Group exam, if I’m not mistaken.”
