“You never call me this early. And why aren’t you in class?”
“It starts in a few minutes, but I just had to tell someone. I got an e-mail last night, and it turns out that I’m one of the three finalists for the scholarship. I guess the dinner at Mom and Dad’s must have had a positive influence… Though the e-mail didn’t exactly say it directly, I think I might actually be in the pole position.”
“Pole position?”
“Yeah. You know, when they restart a race following a wreck or whatever, that’s the car in the first position.”
“I know what it is. I’m just curious how you know what it is.”
“Steve watches a lot of NASCAR. He makes me watch it, too.”
“So it’s really a relationship now?”
“I don’t know… there’s this really cute guy in one of my classes. He’s a little older though, and he’s dating my sister, so that might be a problem.”
“That is a problem.”
“I’m just glad you put your ego aside and went to talk to him.”
“It had nothing to do with my ego.”
“Ego, close encounter at a bar fight, same thing.”
“You’re insane, do you know that?”
“Sometimes,” Serena admitted. “But it’s worked out so far.”
Maria laughed. “That’s great news,” she said. “About the scholarship, I mean.”
“I don’t want to get too excited just yet. Don’t tell Mom or Dad.”
“I wasn’t the one who told them last time.”
“I know,” she said. “Do they still think you’ve been staying in the dorm with me?”
“Yes. And it’s my turn to say don’t tell them.”
Serena laughed. “I won’t say anything. But I’m pretty sure Mom knows that you’ve been staying with Colin. Of course, she’s operating under the don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy, which means it probably won’t come up tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Yeah, tonight.”
“What’s tonight?”
“You’re kidding, right? Mom’s birthday? Family dinner? Don’t tell me you forgot.”
Oops. “Uh…”
“Seriously? Do you never check out my posts? Or my tweets? I know you’ve got a lot going on, but how could you forget Mom’s birthday?”
She’d have to cancel dinner with Jill and Leslie, but they’d understand, right? “I’ll be there.”
“Are you going to bring Colin?”
“He’s working. Why?”
“Because I was wondering whether to invite Steve.”
“What does one have to do with the other?”
“It’s simple. I figure that if Dad is busy glaring at Colin, he won’t be able to grill Steve, and they’ll think he’s great in comparison.”
Maria scowled. “That’s not funny.”
Serena laughed. “It’s a little funny.”
“I’m hanging up now.”
“See you tonight!”
After hanging up with Serena, Maria realized she felt strangely nervous as she made her way to Jill’s office. She didn’t think Leslie would be offended – it was an honest mistake – nor did she want Leslie to question Jill’s recommendation. But when she said as much to Jill, her friend laughed aloud.
“Are you kidding? Leslie doesn’t care about that kind of stuff.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. It’s your mom’s birthday. What are you supposed to do?”
“I could have remembered in the first place.”
“There is that,” Jill noted, and Maria grimaced. Surprising her, her cell phone rang again. Thinking it was probably Serena again, she was going to ignore it before realizing that she didn’t recognize the number.
“Who is it?” Jill asked.
“I’m not sure,” Maria said. After debating for a few seconds, she took the call, praying to God that it wasn’t Lester.
“Hello?”
It wasn’t Lester. Thank God. She listened to the voice on the other end. “Yes,” Maria finally said. “I’ll be there.”
She disconnected the call but continued to hold the phone, thinking about it. Jill must have seen her expression.