The comforter was a pale green with light purple flowers. It had been on clearance at Walmart for ten dollars. It wasn’t much, but it was mine.
Pride filled me that within forty-eight hours of arriving, I had a place to call mine. I was surviving. “I love it. Thank you . . . for everything.” An involuntary yawn came from my mouth.
“You’re so welcome. I’m going to head over to my brother’s.”
Brooklyn walked to the door before I remembered to ask, “Is it okay if I give you the money for rent tomorrow after I go to the bank?”
Turning back, she lifted her hand loosely and swiped her palm in a not-a-big deal gesture. “Of course, that’s totally fine. I’ll see you in the morning. Night, Kenzie.”
Brooklyn bounced as she left and closed the door behind her. I sighed and looked out the window. An ingrained instinct took over as I momentarily panicked at not seeing the candle burning as dusk had come and gone.
Placing my hands to my temples, I spoke aloud to myself. “You’re not at The Society. You don’t have to burn the candle.”
Changing into one of the two pairs of pajamas I now owned, I crawled into bed with the one pillow I had bought. The smell was as foreign as it had been last night, lacking the familiar vanilla scent of my old home. Silent sobs racked my body as I let the emotional damn bust. I cried for all I had lost—my mom, my best friend, my home, and my way of life.
THE DAY TO find out how I scored on the test dawned. With sweaty palms, I traipsed up to the building that had the answers to my immediate future. I prayed that the test results came back favorably and I’d be able to attend school here.
The breakfast I’d eaten seemed heavy in my stomach even though I’d only had dry cereal from a bag that was cheap at the store. Brooklyn had offered for me to eat any of her food or use her milk, but I couldn’t impose on her like that.
I was thirty minutes early. If I didn’t pass and get accepted, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.
Making my way to the front desk, Brooklyn sat behind it. As soon as Brooklyn hung up the phone she grabbed something and raced around the desk. “The results came early! Open it!”
A thick envelope was shoved at me and I wanted to open it in private, for fear of rejection, but Brooklyn stood there smiling expectantly at me. Not having the heart to tell her no, I ripped open the envelope.
Before I could read what it said, Brooklyn jumped beside me. “Oh my, you got a thirty on your test! That’s incredible! Kenzie, they’re giving you a seventy-five percent scholarship!”
I couldn’t help it as I joined in on the jumping. “I’m going to college! I’m going to college!”
“You’re going to college!”
The excitement sent a huge wave of relief through me. I had a purpose.
“Girls! Please, keep your voices down. There are meetings taking place.” A stern voice broke our crazy behavior.
My heart seized and the blood drained from my face for fear of messing up. Rules were not to be broken. “I’m so sorry,” I muttered and cast my eyes downward. The motion was how we showed we were penitent in The Society.
The older woman in a business suit gave me a soft smile as I chanced a glance at her. “It’s okay. Congratulations and welcome to the University of Arkansas.”
“Thank you.” My voice was respectful and back to normal volume, but the smile broke free on my face. I’d done it! I’d gotten into college! The first thought was to run and tell my mom, but she was gone. Because of mom’s foresight, I’d been able to pass the test. I wanted to bring the test back up to read it again to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. As the lady returned to her office area, Brooklyn and I looked at each other and quietly giggled. So much pressure was removed from me in that moment and seventy-five percent of my tuition was going to be paid.
I was about to leave, when Brooklyn grabbed some books. “Okay, before you leave here, let’s get you registered and fill out all the paperwork for classes. You can go to the administration office to get your ID and class schedule finalized once we get it all selected. I work with someone at the advisors office who can help over the phone. Your scholarship covers seventy-five percent of tuition and five hundred dollars in books per semester.”
My head spun.
“I don’t know how I can ever thank you enough for helping me with all this.”
Throwing her hand up as if it wasn’t a big deal, she responded, “I think you’ll probably be helping me with my homework based on those scores.”
“I doubt you’ll need my help, but thank you and of course I will help if I can.” I was going to be lucky just to survive here with all that I had to learn.
We looked at all my choices and I focused in on the task at hand. Finally . . . there was something worth smiling about.
IT WAS AFTER two when I left the Admissions Building. I was now registered, had my class schedule pending professor approval, and an appointment tomorrow to meet officially with an advisor.
Everything had been done over the phone with Brooklyn’s help except I needed one more government ID. Hopefully, the bank had one of the required documents on the list to finish registering.
For now, I was going to be an undeclared major until I was able to understand all my options. Apparently, your first semester was what they called core classes and everyone had to take them before you began to take degree specific ones.