Page 51 of Grease Monkey
“Mom,” I say, holding my hands up like I’d expect you’d do to a wild animal. “I can explain.”
“What are you doing applying to different colleges?”
“I wanted to know what my options we—”
“You have no options, Morgana. It’s Harvard or nothing.”
My overnight bag thuds to the floor. “I don’t want to go to Harvard, Mom. I don’t want to be a lawyer.”
“Since when?” she seethes, the crinkling of the paper in her hand the only sound other than our breathing filling the room.
“Since always. But you and Daddy didn’t want to ask me what I wanted.”
“This is because ofhim,isn’t it?”
I blanch. “No, Mom, it’s not. This is about me.”
She scoffs. “I think it is, Morgana. I think that boy has filled your little head with fantasies and dreams. He has been slowly bringing you down to his level because he knows he can’t keep up with you. He’s not good enough for you, so he has to make sure he can keep the playing field even. Was it his idea for you to go on these?” She reaches behind her and throws a pink packet at me. I catch them and recoil.
“You’ve been going through my things again.”
“Did he ask you to go on the pill, Morgana?” She clicks her tongue disapprovingly. “Once he gets what he wants from you, he’ll be done with you.”
“No,” I yell. “That was my idea. Teddy doesn’t even know I’m on it.”
She stares at me and then down at the letters in her hand, sifting through them. My heart’s beating painfully hard against my ribs, my stomach is roiling, and my jaw is aching as I fight against the wobble of my lip. Why is she doing this?
She hums thoughtfully. “Stanford University. The University of Connecticut. The University of Virginia. Yale University. The University of Vermont. All these schools want you?” I nod. She pauses when she gets to the last one. “You want to attend business school?”
“Yes,” I whisper.
She folds the letters and taps them against her palm.
“Very well. If business school is what you want, I have…”
“It is,” I interrupt, rushing forward and holding her hands. “It is, Mom. I want to go into finance or something. I know I’ll be good at it—”
She raises her hand, cutting me off. “I have conditions, Morgana.” I swallow hard and press my lips together, fighting the swell of hope that skirts along the edges of my heart. “First, you will attend a school your father and I deem suitable. There are some prestigious schools here you’ve already applied to.”
She eyes me with something I wish was pride, but I know it’s not. I nod.
“It will not be Arizona, Morgana.”
“Mom…”
“You think I’m stupid? I know Teddy’s family comes from Phoenix.”
I drop her hands.
“You will come off that birth control.”
I step back. It’s becoming harder to breathe.
“You will break up with that boy.”
“No…” I whisper.
“You will stay away from him, Morgana.”
