“You didn’t let me finish, Kandy!” I barked. “Calm down. I mean it! Find somewhere to sit right now and take a second!”
She sniffled harder, letting out an exasperated breath.
“What are you doing right now?”
“I’m packing. They want me off of campus by Wednesday.”
“Damn. Not much of a notice.” I sighed. “Look, you don’t have to face your parents right away. If you need time or think they’ll need time to digest this before talking about it, take it. I’ll book you a flight, you can fly back to Georgia, and I’ll pick you up from the airport myself. Just say the word.”
“I—I don’t know. I just feel like I’m back at square one again. I feel like I’m ruining everything,” she whined. “What am I going to do without a degree? I can’t afford to pay for college myself and now my parents are going to come out of pocket instead! They’re going to be pissed!
“I understand your frustrations. I do. I get them. I know it feels like you’re in a glass case and the roof has shattered. I know you feel like life is fucking you over, but you need to realize that I am here for you. Whatever you go through, I’m going through it with you. And when it comes to college, I know plenty of people who would take you just from my recommendation alone and I have plenty of money to take care of loans and fees and whatever the hell else you’ll need. Money is not a problem. Getting you into another school is not a problem. We can fix this, so suck it up, finish packing your shit, and come home. I’ll take care of the rest.”
“I’ll have to face my parents eventually, Cane,” she sobbed. “I don’t want them to look at me like they did before. I don’t want anything else bad to happen to you.”
“You can talk to them when you’re ready. You’re old enough to make your own decisions. Ignoring them will only piss them off though, so be honest and tell them where you’ll be if you don’t want to go home right away. They’ll be mad, but they’ll be glad you told them and should respect your privacy enough not to push for more until you’re ready to give it.”
Her sobs weakened, and the sniffling died down. “I love you,” she murmured.
“I love you too.” I slouched down in my chair. “Come home, Kandy,” I said, hoping it would sooth her. “Let’s figure this out together.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
KANDY
My parents had called twenty-one times, left six voice messages, and sent fourteen text messages combined within eight hours. I know because I’d counted.
I felt horrible for ignoring them, but at this point, I didn’t know what else to do. Plus, Dad’s voicemails didn’t make the situation any easier. He kept threatening how he was going to go to Cane and pick a bone with him. Mom on the other hand was more concerned about me losing my scholarship and wondering what I was going to do for school in the long run.
I decided to take Cane up on the offer he’d given me, so the next morning I sent a text to Mom and told her not to come for me—that I had it handled and would see them soon. She called a million times after that one message, but I didn’t answer the calls. I couldn’t at the moment. I needed time to think.
I didn’t have a place to put all my belongings, but luckily Gina had relatives that lived near the campus and agreed to drive me there to let me store my things at their place. I wasn’t allowed to leave anything in the dorm. If I did, it was going to be thrown away. Morgan kept some of it, like the comforter and a few of my softball gloves.
I hugged Morgan and Gina goodbye for good and we all shared a few tears. Afterwards, I caught the flight Cane had booked for me and flew back to Georgia.
Like he’d promised, he was waiting for me up front. He was standing in front of the exit with his hands tucked in his pockets and a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes, like he’d just arrived. I spotted him before he could see me, and my heart sped up several notches the closer I got.
Seeing him, reminded me of when I was a little girl and was looking at him for the first time. Though I was hopeless, the sunglasses shielding his eyes and his bad boy demeanor did something to me—whirled me up inside and drove me crazy.
He looked around for a moment like he could feel someone watching him, and when he was facing my direction, he put on a warm, welcoming smile, pulling the sunglasses off. He opened his arms and I dragged my suitcase on it’s wheels, rushing into them.