Chapter 7 - A Plan Made Without Me
Ms. Calder asked me to save the original email headers and let the university review the forwarding rule. She wouldn't call it proof of who had logged in. A shared computer and a family email could explain plenty of things. But it explained why Mom always seemed to know about messages I hadn't told her about.
Natasha Brooks agreed to meet me outside the library. She was a nurse with two young children and the weary face of someone who spent too much time arranging coverage.
"I'm embarrassed," she said. "Your mom told me you were taking a gap year. I wouldn't have booked you otherwise."
"I told her in April I was going."
Natasha showed me a message Dana had sent on May seventeenth: Zarya has chosen family over the scholarship. Confirmed through August. It was twelve days before the portal withdrawal.
"Why did you believe her?" I asked.
"She's your mom. You babysat for us for years. I figured she knew your plans."
The answer wasn't malicious, which somehow hurt more. Adults believed adults. A teenager could say no a dozen times and still become an obligation on somebody else's calendar.
Natasha offered to write that she had never dealt with me about the summer arrangement. She also said she'd ask Dana to return the deposit instead of demanding that I repay it.
"Will that make things worse for your family?" she asked.
"Probably. But this arrangement never belonged to me."
Afterward I called the city recreation center. A staff member explained their summer program's sliding-scale fees and how Mom could apply for assistance. There was a waiting list. None of it would solve everything by tomorrow, but the world contained choices beyond keeping me home.
Cleo texted from Mom's phone that evening: Did you forget about my science project?
I sent a photograph of the circuit diagram we'd drawn together. Then I wrote, I remember. I'll meet you at the library Saturday if Mom agrees.
May you like
Three dots appeared, vanished, returned.
Mom says you can't see us until you apologize.
