Page 100 of Forbidden Billionaires, Vol. 9

Sunday

I traced my lips with the tips of my fingers as I stared at a list of universities in the northeast. It would be crazy to transfer schools for someone I just met.

I knew that. But there were a lot of other reasons to transfer too.

I was miserable at SMU. I was miserable in California in general.

Even if I’d never met J.J., I would have at least looked at this possibility.

I stopped touching my lips. That wasn’t true.

I’d waited until the day after J.J. kissed me to look up new universities.

Which meant I was doing it for him. I bit the inside of my lip as I looked at tuition prices for some of the colleges I recognized in New York.

It didn’t hurt to do a little research. And regardless of J.J.

, I was committing myself to a year of depression if I went back to Cali.

I sighed and leaned back on my pillow. It was stupid to look.

I had a great scholarship to SMU. Aiden would be gone in the fall, so it wasn’t like I was going to run into him.

And all his friends had just graduated too.

I’d be able to start over. I’d meet new people and make new friends.

I thought of J.J. and Kristen. They were both more fun than anyone I’d met at SMU. Ugh.

I glared at the ridiculous tuition costs.

Even with a decent scholarship, which was unlikely since I would be applying so late, any school in New York would be more expensive than SMU even before you factored in the cost of living.

Which meant I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t going to call my dad and ask him for more money.

And I wasn’t exactly making lifechanging money at Sweet Cravings three days a week.

I glanced over at Kristen who was still sleeping soundly.

Just because a school in New York wasn’t an option, it didn’t mean I still couldn’t transfer.

After all, J.J. was absolutely not a factor in this decision.

Definitely not. Kristen went to a college nearby.

I typed the University of New Castle into google.

A state school even without a scholarship might be cheaper than SMU was.

Which meant I wouldn’t have to bother my dad and I wouldn’t have to be in hell for one more year.

And I wouldn’t have to say goodbye to Kristen at the end of the summer.

I clicked on the University of New Castle’s undergraduate admissions page.

My eyes scanned the information about transfers.

Right above the application button there was a note that space was limited for fall admissions based on major.

I still didn’t even know what I wanted my degree to be in.

I’d bounced around so much at SMU that I was close to having enough credits for three different majors.

I clicked on the link anyway just to see if they listed the majors where there was still room.

No luck. And the page said that the normal deadline for fall applications was May 1 st .

So whatever spaces they had left were probably very limited.

If I was going to do it, I needed to do it soon.

I glanced over at my phone. If I’d had J.J.’s number, I would have called him to talk about it. Yesterday at dinner he acted like he wanted me to transfer. He kissed me. It was possible that we were exactly on the same page. But…I didn’t have his number.

My fingers went back to my lips. No one had ever kissed me the way he had.

It didn’t matter that he apologized and ran off.

He did that because of what I’d told him about focusing on myself this summer.

The next time I saw him, I was going to tell him I’d changed my mind.

This summer didn’t have to be all about me.

It could be about us. And a few states between us in the fall was a lot better than a whole country between us.

If he was willing to try long distance, we could make it work.

We had all summer to figure out logistics.

I stared back at my screen. It was only $75 to apply. I’d eat ramen noodles for a few days and I’d never miss the money. I clicked on the big blue button labeled APPLY NOW.

***

My application was completed, minus the essay portion.

The question I had to answer was, “Why do you want to transfer to the University of New Castle?” And it needed to be 500 words or less.

I had somehow written a 3,000 word essay about Aiden cheating on me, how I was a total loser, how the beach didn’t smell the same on the west coast, and how I was kinda sorta falling for a lifeguard.

None of it was acceptable for an admissions essay.

It was more of a rant. I backspaced for what felt like the millionth time.

Why do I want to transfer to the University of New Castle?

I let the question roll around in my head.

Delaware was home to me. And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel alone.

That was the honest truth. I deleted everything I had written and started typing again.

***

“I have to kill him, don’t I?” Kristen asked.

I wiped the tears from beneath my eyes. I hadn’t realized that Kristen had woken up. “What? No.”

“But he made you cry.” She sat down on the edge of my bed. “What the heck happened on your date that made you wake up like this?” She waved her hand not just at my face but in front of my whole body.

I glanced down at my pajamas. There was absolutely nothing wrong with them. She was starting to think she was a fashionista after watching so much Project Runway.

“I’m not crying because of yesterday.” I wiped away my remaining tears.

I had pretended to be asleep when she came home last night.

For just a few hours, I wanted to keep what happened between J.J.

and I to myself. But if she had seen me when I got home, she’d know my tears weren’t over him.

And she certainly wouldn’t be threatening to kill him. “I actually had a really great time.”

“So what is this?” She did the thing with her hands again.

“I’m going to pretend you’re just asking why I’m crying, and not insinuating that I’m a hot mess.” I turned my laptop toward her. “Can you read this and tell me if it’s okay?”

Her eyes started scanning my essay. “You’re applying to the University of New Castle?

” She looked up way before she could have possibly finished the essay.

“You’re applying to the University of New Castle!

” She leaned forward and threw her arms around me.

“Mila, we’re going to have so much fun there together. ”

I laughed and hugged her back. “I don’t even know if I’ll get in. Applications are past due, but they have a few spots open on a case by case basis.” I released her from my hug. “So I need this essay to be perfect.”

“Right.” Kristen looked back down at my computer screen. A few minutes later she lifted her head. “Is this really how you felt? I mean…I know you said it, but…now I feel it. I’m so sorry, Mila.”

“It felt like I couldn’t breathe. I’d never felt so alone in my entire life.” I shook my head. I didn’t want Kristen’s pity. “But life is pretty good right now. After all, I have a new best friend.” I kicked her shin with my foot.

A smile spread over Kristen’s face. “Best friend, huh?”

I had called her my bestie in my head a few times but never out loud.

“I like the sound of that,” she said before I had a chance to overthink it. “And you’ll definitely get in with that essay. Goodbyes suck, and I was already dreading ours. Now I won’t have to. What major are you declaring?”

“I chose marketing just because I was close to finishing that degree at SMU already. And also undeclared as my second choice. I’m hoping that if they don’t have any room left in marketing they might still take me.

Honestly I still have no idea what I want to do after I graduate, so maybe I haven’t tried the right courses yet. ”

Kristen clapped. “You’re definitely going to get in. Do you think you’ll live in the dorms? Or an apartment?”

“I think I’ll hold off on planning all that until I hear back.” I turned my screen back to me. “Any changes you’d make?”

“Zero. It’s perfection in written form. Hit submit!”

I held my breath as I pushed the button. That was that. I quickly filled out the billing information for the application fee and shut down my computer.

“So…” Kristen said.

I looked up at her. “So?”

“Your date must have been good if you’re moving all the way back to little old Delaware to be closer to him.”

“His new job is in New York, not Delaware. Me wanting to transfer has nothing to do with J.J.” Well, maybe a little. Or a lot.

“Oh you learned his name! What else did you learn about him?”

That he rides a motorcycle and his kisses make my knees feel weak. “Well, the whole he’s moving to NYC at the end of summer thing, which is a bummer.”

Kristen shrugged. “That’s not very far away from the University of New Castle. What else did you learn?”

“That he looks amazing even when he’s wearing a shirt.” And not wearing pants. “He loves a good burger. He rides a motorcycle…”

“God, of course he does. Did he wear a leather jacket? Did he make you wear a leather jacket?”

I laughed. “No, and no.”

“All he’s missing is the jacket and tattoos. Everywhere.”

Tattoos and a leather jacket would definitely scream bad boy a little louder. But I liked that J.J. was a good bad boy. I smiled to myself.

“Anything else?” Kristen asked. “Anything in particular to get you to look into transferring schools in the fall? Because I could have sworn we talked about that a few weeks ago and our conversation certainly didn’t spur you into action.”

“Well, he maybe mentioned transferring credits and the possibility of moving back to the east coast.”

Kristen squealed. “He didn’t even hint at it? He just flat out asked?”

I couldn’t conceal my smile any longer. “Yeah. And we also kissed.” I decided that leaving off the fact that he apologized afterward and drove off on his motorcycle was for the best. He was definitely just worried about how I’d react to the kiss.

He was worried that he crossed the line.

And I couldn’t wait to see him again so I could tell him there was no line anyway.

Kristen picked up one of the pillows off my bed and threw it at me. “And who said it was a date date? Not just a friend date?”

“You,” I said as I hugged the pillow to my chest. “I just…I never expected him to actually like me as more than a friend. I mean, I’ve opened up to him about Aiden.

He knows I was a loner out in Cali. And he doesn’t do long distance relationships.

” That was the only troubling thing about our kiss.

I hoped it was the fact that I told him I wanted to be single this summer that made him stop kissing me, and not the fact that he was worried about me being unfaithful to him if we were ever apart.

I wasn’t the kind of girl that cheated. Apparently I was just the kind of girl that got cheated on.

Ugh. I hugged the pillow a little tighter.

“Well, it looks like he’s singing a new tune about long distance relationships. So when is your next date?”

“Um…I don’t know. I figured we’d just see each other on Tuesday when I usually go to the beach.”

“Oh. Huh.”

“What, is that bad?” I couldn’t exactly extract plans from him when he was running away from me.

“No, it’s…” her voice trailed off. “Didn’t you say he has the weekends off too?

I figured you’d have plans again today. But he’s probably just doing that whole guy thing.

” She rolled her eyes. “I hate when guys act like there’s a two-day rule.

When two people like each other that only have one summer…

they should be hanging out at every opportunity. ”

She was right. June would be over before I even knew it. We only had two months in the same state.

“Screw the two-day rule. Text him something sexy and go out to dinner. I can manage on my own for a couple of nights in a row.”

“I don’t have his number.”

“Oh. Huh.”

“Would you stop saying that?” I laughed and threw the pillow back at her. “I only just learned his name, and I had to force it out of him.” Actually I had to steal his wallet and get him practically naked, but Kristen didn’t need to know the specifics. “I’ll definitely get his number on Tuesday.”

“Well, in the meantime…” she turned my laptop back toward her. “We should stalk him on Facebook.”

“How about you stalk him and I make pancakes?”

“Even better.” She started typing as I climbed out of bed.

When I was little, my dad used to make pancakes every Sunday morning.

It was one of the only good memories I had of him.

I pulled out the flour. I wondered if he was making pancakes for his new family now.

The thought made my stomach twist into knots.

I needed to call him if I was transferring schools.

Before he got a chance to send a check to the wrong place.

I cracked an egg in the mixing bowl. My dad probably wouldn’t even ask why I was transferring.

He’d just try to get off the phone as quickly as possible.

I started to beat the batter a little harder than I should have been.

I hoped to God that J.J. was nothing like my father.

Or Aiden. Or anyone who found joy in making my heart hurt.