Page 41 of Austen, Edited

Gathering up her things, she hurried back to her dorm, jogging through the nearly empty back roads to her building.

“Whoa! Where are you going in such a hurry?” Lisa, one of the other roommates, asked as Abby barreled past her in the hall of their dorm room.

“Just didn’t see the time, and I’ve got to hurry.” She scrambled around her room, grabbing a change of clothes and running to brush her teeth. She’d never changed out of her pajamas after breakfast, preferring to be more comfortable while she read and studied. If only she’d checked her phone sooner, she wouldn’t be trying to do ten things at once.

She threw her long hair up in a ponytail, smoothing out the sides with her hands. Her relaxed t-shirt and jeans would be good enough for whatever Greyson had planned for the day.

Tiffany walked into the room and stopped, watching Abby in a frenzy. “What are you doing?”

“Greyson is going to be here in a few minutes. I’m just trying to look halfway decent. What have you been doing?”

Closing the distance with a few steps, Tiffany held out a letter to her. “I ran up to the mailbox really quick, and you got this.”

Abby glanced at her expression, all sadness and pity. She took the envelope from her, glancing at the return address in the corner.

Boston Correctional Facility.

Her heart sank. It took several moments to register the fact that her mother was trying to contact her again. Her mother had sent it to her old dorm from last year, but she was almost afraid of what it said on the inside.

Working up the courage, she slid her finger through the top of it, slicing through the envelope and getting a small paper cut. She pulled out the paper, her stomach clenching as she recognized the handwriting.

Abby,

I just heard that I’ll be moving to a halfway house by the end of the month. It was one condition of my parole. I was disappointed you didn’t show up for the hearing, but I can kind of understand why you didn’t. I’d like to see you once I get out. I’ll leave the address at the bottom so you can contact me if you want.

Mom

Abby scanned the rest of the document, not really registering the words. The date of her mother getting out of prison was in a week. She turned the envelope over and saw the postmark was from almost two weeks ago. It was probably better that she hadn’t received it sooner or she would have had more time to worry about it. With their mailboxes all the way on Upper Campus, she and Tiffany didn’t get up there very often to get it, not that Abby usually got mail anyway.

“Are you okay?” Tiffany asked, sinking onto the bed next to Abby.

“My mom is getting out of prison in a few days.”

Tiffany shrugged. “That’s not a huge deal, right? I mean, she can’t do anything to you now. You’re an adult and don’t have to stay with her or anything.”

“Yeah, because aiding a theft would get me thrown in there with her.” Abby couldn’t pull her eyes away from the letter, even though all she saw was blurred out. She’d known this day was possible since the last letter she’d been sent in the spring, the one her mother had written requesting her to appear at the hearing. There had been no date set at that point, and Abby knew if she’d gone, it would have only made things worse.

It was all like a dream, and she couldn’t believe it was actually happening. Abby had never met her father, and her mother had always struggled with addictions. There had been a few nights throughout her childhood where her mother had been in jail overnight for disorderly conduct or something like that. But then she began running out of money and had turned to stealing in order to fund them.

“She’s going to want to see me. I don’t think I can do it.”

Tiffany wrapped her arm over Abby’s shoulder and pulled her to her side. “If you want, I can go with you.”

Abby glanced over at her roommate, grateful for the friendship they’d shared over the years. “I’ll think about it.”

A knock at the door brought Abby back to the time. It was a few minutes after the thirty-minute mark Greyson had texted her.

“I’ll get it. You finish getting ready.” Tiffany stood and disappeared through the door.

Abby set the letter on the desk and then turned to grab a hoodie from her closet. She sat down on her desk chair to slip on her sneakers and was tying them up just as she heard Greyson’s heavy footsteps in the hall.

“Hey,” he said, leaning against the doorframe.

Abby glanced up, making a bow in the laces without looking down. “Hey.”

He took one long stride in her direction and knelt down. “Are you all right? What happened?” His thumb rubbed over her cheek, sending a warm burst throughout the rest of her face.

Her emotions were high now that he was there, and she couldn’t say anything, the tears threatening to fall. Handing him the letter, she worked to tie the other shoe. It took him a few moments to read, but then he looked up and said, “October 30th? That’s in a week.”

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