Page 25 of Roommating

I swing my head to face him. “What? For real?”

He nods. “My parents spent months trying to straighten it out. It was hell.”

“I’m so sorry.” I’ve heard nightmares about this, which is one of the reasons I set Marcia up for so much protection in the first place.

“My grandma knew all about it and so it made no sense to me that she would be so careless.” He clears his throat. “Nothing personal again. I just mean in general.”

“I understand.” I pat his thigh and quickly bring my hand back to my lap. Something occurs to me. “Is that why you pay your bills with a check like a boomer?”

He shrugs sheepishly. “A lot of Gen Xers do that too.”

“Yeah, and they’re still twice your age.” I chuckle. “Thanks for telling me, but that’s not why I ran out of the bar.”

“Why then?”

I gulp. “I missed the deadline to apply for a fellowship that would have saved me $7,500 in tuition.” The deal for a fellowship is that the school sets you up to work somewhere, a museum or library probably, once a week for nine months. The payment comes in the form of a scholarship. I’m already busy with school and work, but I could handle a second job for one day a week. “It would have made a huge difference since I’m not eligible for other scholarships because I’m part-time.” Getting the fellowship wouldn’t be life-changing since it only comprises a small portion of the total cost of tuition. But it would have beensomething.

Adam’s eyes widen. “Will you have to drop out of school?”

My mind wanders to Gabe. “Don’t pack up my things just yet.”

His expression is soft. “Never even crossed my mind.”

I tuck a lock of hair behind my ear as my throat thickens. “I’ll manage… like I have been… but it would have been nice to catch some sort of financial break. Things are very tight right now. I go to school year-round to make up for my part-time status, but I mightnot be able to this year if I need to pick up more hours at the library or take another job this summer. It will delay my degree. At this rate, I’ll be thirty by the time I get a job as a real librarian.”

My mom paid for my undergraduate degree but said grad school was on me. She got her business degree while working a full-time jobandas a divorced mother of two with minimum child support that she had to pay a lawyer to chase down every month until she gave up trying. She did it all on her own. I understand why she’d want to instill the same work ethic in her daughters, but the challenge is real.

“That sucks.” Adam’s blue eyes are gentle and sympathetic.

I appreciate that he’s not trying to make me feel better by minimizing it or offering up solutions. He’s simply listening. “I’m going to talk to my advisor on Monday and see if they’ll let me submit a late application.” This idea came to me just now.

Adam nods. “Decent plan. Sometimes deadlines aren’t as fixed as they say. They’re just motivators to get people to move.”

I chew on a chipped nail. “Yeah, well, I hope this is one of those times.”

The cab stops at our building, and we ride the elevator and enter our apartment in silence. I’m exhausted. A second after my head touches the pillow and the second before I fall asleep is when it first occurs to me that Adam left the bar without his date.

Chapter Twelve

Monday night, I’m on my bed reading for school when my phone rings.

I drop the book to my side and scooch my body up so my back is straight against the headboard. “Hi, Mom,” I answer.

“How are you, sweetheart?”

My shoulders relax and my legs go soft at the warmth in her voice. We’ve never been Rory–Lorelai close, but we haven’t spoken in a couple of weeks, and I miss her. The call starts out as usual. I’m fine. So is she. Her job is good… busy. School is going well. It’s the same basic catch-up as always since neither of us ever have anything earth shattering to share.

“How’s Marcia?”

“She’s great. Well… she had a little issue with her back this weekend, but she’s fine now.”

“I’m glad it’s nothing serious.”

“So am I. She bounced back like a boss.” I smile to myself. I still can’t believe she went to yoga class the next morning.

“How are things going with her and her grandson?”

“Really great. Her face is permanently lit up around him. It’s adorable.”

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