“I’m not,” I say, taking a sip of my iced coffee. “What if he overhead me say something like that?”
“So what if he did? It’s not like you insulted him,” she says. I shake my head and pull in more of my refreshment. A giggle escapes me. Even imagining calling Duke a whore to his face makes me nervous, much less actually doing it. Though, if I’m being honest with myself, in the back of my head, I’m contemplating doing it the next time he calls me Princess.
“So, when are you going to ask me about school?” My head shoots up at the implication. She’s on target, of course. But still. How does she know? My shock registers on her face, and she leans in close.
“I saw the search history on the desktop.”
“I was going to ask. I was just putting it off.”
“Why?” she asks. I let out a heavy sigh, unsure how to explain this to her. Despite the fact that my father had put me in the most exclusive private school in Brooklyn, one that promises its parents a ninety-nine percent graduation rate and a ninety-six percent college acceptance guarantee, he never intended for me to go to college. He’s old-school Italian like that. Before my mother even gave birth to me, I was expected to grow up into the perfect Principessa, marry the family man my father most approved of, and to provide my husband with as many male children as I could. Not that I ever asked, but he never mentioned it, either.
“I’m afraid you’ll say no.”
“Alex, you make your own choices. Jim and I don’t get to decide that for you.”
“I also want to get a job,” I say, before I can stop myself. Getting a job is something I’ve been thinking about for the past month or so. The money Gloria gave me will last me for a good, long time, but I want to be productive. I can’t just sit around the house all the time. It’s driving me nuts.
“I’m sure Jim can find something for you to do around the shop.”
“I’d like that.” And I would. So far, this day has been a serious rollercoaster of emotions. So much that I had been holding in these past two months came to the surface today. I have a home, a family, I might even have a friend in Duke, I’m actually getting to go to college, and I might be getting a job. And finally, this feels like my life is taking a turn for the better.
Chapter 13
You were once wild here. Don't let them tame you.
Isadora Duncan
MY ARMS ARE like jelly after shopping for the party. When Ruby told me we were going to be picking up party supplies, I expected a few bottles of each kind of alcohol and even a few cases of beer. What I hadn’t known was that we’d be filling up the Suburban with enough food and liquor to supply the entire town. It took us visiting two grocery stores and three liquor stores to find everything we needed. Thankfully, when we got back to the house, the prospects took over grilling and setting everything up. I have never been so grateful for Tall and Squat before.
The noise outside of my bedroom door is at an all-time high. Even PJ and Tegan, who are normally in everyone’s business, have taken to hiding out in here with me. The house has never been this noisy before, but then, Jim and Ruby haven’t had people over like this in the time I’ve been here. Not that I would really know what’s going on out there. The moment Ruby turned away to find Jim, I snuck off into my room to hide and check out the fall schedule for Redwoods College. But that was over an hour ago, and the school isn’t very big, a few hundred students at the coastal campus at the most. There’s a selection to choose from—art, history, science, and even automotive technology courses available. But some of them require other courses be taken first, and I don’t know where to start. It isn’t helping any that I grabbed a bottle of vodka before sneaking off. It’s not like I’ve been sitting here chugging it out of the bottle or anything. I’m classy. I grabbed a glass to pour it in.