“You got it,” I tell her before picking up the spoon and silently taking another scoop.
Chapter 20
The sun streams through the window and I wake with a smile on my face.
It’s my first day of college. Summer is over and I have no choice but to pull up my big girl panties and finally move forward with my life.
Anton is behind bars and hopefully will be for a long time. Aria is safe at home with a father who loves her. Noah seems to have his whole world sorted out and Rivers has made the changes in his life to make it possible for him to keep moving forward.
That just leaves me and Tully. Summer started off horrendously but by the end, we were able to enjoy that last bit of freedom which we took complete advantage of, and now, we’re both going off to college and I can’t freaking wait.
Well, we’re not exactly ‘going off’ in the typical sense of the word. It’s not like either one of us have bothered looking into the campus dorm rooms. We live close enough to make the drive every morning, and besides, finding alternative living is an extra expense neither one of us can afford.
All my life I always thought this was never going to happen so the fact that I’m waking up this morning and get to scream at the top of my lungs to remind all my neighbors that I’m going to college today is a big deal. Like a big freaking deal. I wouldn’t dare be that obnoxious about it, but the idea does happily enter my mind for a few fleeting seconds.
I thought I’d end up working some boring nine to five job that gave me no chance of moving up in the world and I was going to learn to be content with that. How wrong was I?
This past year has opened my eyes to so many possibilities and I’ve never been so proud of myself for being able to make some of those possibilities a reality. Don’t get me wrong, the next few years of my life aren’t going to be easy. There’s going to be times when I want to give it all up and go searching for that dead end job. If college was easy, everyone would be doing it. It’s going to be a challenge, and something tells me there’s going to be sleepless nights, tears, fights, late night calls to Noah, and extreme emotional overload, but I’ve never been so ready.
I want it all.
Broken Hill University can hit me with it as hard as they like. I’m ready. I’m a fucking machine and I’m going to dominate.
My bedroom door is thrown open and I have just enough time to prepare myself before my monster of a six year old sister comes charging at me. She throws herself high into the air and as though she’s practiced this precise move over and over again, she comes flailing down on top of me, punching me in the boob in the process.
The wind is knocked out of me and a sharp, guttural groan comes tearing from within. “It’s college day,” she cheers, making it impossible for me to be mad with her. Though, to be honest, I should be impressed that she waited until the sun was up. She must have been standing outside my door for ages just waiting until it was a good enough time. Either that or the monster heard my alarm go off.
Before I can get a word in, Aria plants a foot on either side of my waist and begins jumping up and down, making me fear for my life. I mean, if she were to fall right now, I’d be in all sorts of trouble.
“It’s college day! It’s college day! It’s college day!” she cheers. “You’re officially a grown-up.”
My arm snakes around her tiny little waist and I throw her down on my bed beside me. “What do you mean I’m officially a grown-up? I thought I already was. I’m eighteen, you know?”
Ari shakes her head before rolling her eyes as though my inferiority is embarrassing to her. “No. I’m a big girl because I go to big girl school and now you’re a grown-up because you go to grown-up school. Duh.”
Well, shit. How could I argue with that logic?
I manage to free myself of Aria and somehow climb out of bed without any further insults or injuries. I stretch like there’s no tomorrow, slip my feet into the comfiest pair of slippers I’ve ever owned and get myself to the bathroom to make me feel human again.
Instead of wasting my morning away and taking my time, I decide that from now on I’m going to be adulting. I throw myself into a quick shower and shave my legs because I couldn’t possibly attend my first day of college without looking my absolute best. I get my hair done, pick out a nice outfit that doesn’t make me look as though I’m trying too hard, but won’t have me laughed out of there for shitty taste. And then finally, I make my way into the kitchen with the plan to annihilate the biggest breakfast known to man. After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.