Page 112 of To Love or to Lose
Gwen and I make eye contact over mom’s shoulders before we say, “For life.”
128 days until graduation
“Jameson, can I talk to you?” Wren asks, standing in the entry of my bedroom.
I sit up in bed. “Yeah, come on in.”
She smiles lightly, but I can tell there is something weighing on her mind. “So, I just got off the phone with your dad,” she says, sitting in my desk chair.
“Yeah?” I shut the book I’m reading, setting it on my nightstand. “What did he have to say?”
Henry Beaumont is a businessman first, father second. I have no doubt he has barely thought about me since I got on the plane that brought me here, except when he’s bragging about my accomplishments like they’re his own.
“We were on the phone for quite a while,” she tells me.
I furrow my eyebrows. “That doesn’t make sense.” There’s no reason for him to be calling Mrs. Callaghan, especially since he hasn’t called me once the entire time I’ve been in Fairwood.“Why?” I question, picking up my phone to check for any missed calls.
None.
I see the tears forming in her eyes, which only worries me more. “Wren?”
“He’s giving you the option to come home, Jameson,” she tells me.
“What?” I stand from my bed.
There’s no way my dad wants me to come home. He was the one who sent me to Fairwood in the first place. He’s the one who disrupted my entire life, said I needed a change of pace.
“Since the semester is over, he said if you want to go back to London and finish the rest of the semester at home, you can.” Wren sounds pained telling me this.
“Do I have to decide now?” I look around my room, seeing reflections of my life in Fairwood staring back at me.
“Oh, no,” she says, standing as well. “You take as much time as you need. Your Dad said he’ll buy you a plane ticket whenever you’re ready to go home.”
“Thank you, Wren,” I tell her, the gratitude pouring out of me.
“Just know that we love you.” Her voice trembles as she hugs me. “And whatever you decide, we’ll support you full heartedly.”
“I love you guys too,” I breathe. The Callaghans have felt more like a family to me than my parents ever have, and I wish I didn’t have doubts about staying with them.
The truth is, if anyone would have offered me a plane ticket in September, October, or November, I would have done anything to get home.
But now?
Now, I’m not so sure.
“I’ll let you know when I make a decision.”
Wren finally releases me from her hold.“Okay.” She says before making her way out of my room and back down the stairs.
I’ve never been this guy before, one so indecisive. Yet, when it comes to going back to my old life—the one I thrived in—or staying in the one I’m currently living in, I’m full of hesitation.
Then, I think of Genevieve and how easy it would be for her if I went back to London—how good it would be for the both of us.
She would be Fairwood’s Valedictorian, and I would be head student of my prep school back in London.
It would be a win-win situation.
And all I can think is,What the hell am I going to do?
