Page 14 of Student Seduction

4

Emersyn

Ihadn’t spoken to Aiden since the first day of school. I stayed silent and kept my head down in his class all week.

I had, however, spoken with my dad. He’d talked to my mom and suddenly she was up, bathing herself, and washing her bedsheets. She’d even made her famous chicken cacciatore when Ethan and I had returned home from his fall league baseball game that Thursday night.

“A letter came for you,” she said during dinner. “It’s on the kitchen counter.”

I practically tripped over my chair trying to get to it.

Once I did, the Southeastern Museum of Modern Art’s fancy letterhead informed me that I’d been accepted to the internship program.

Only four out of hundreds of applicants were accepted based on a unique project submitted over the summer.

I’d sculpted a larger than life size version of an intricate conch shell I’d found at the beach while visiting my dad.

I did the dishes in record time before calling Drew.

“I’m so happy for you, Em,” he said after I’d relayed the news. “But let me ask you this, how the hell are you going to have time to work downtown three days a week?”

“Saturday won’t be a problem. Tuesday and Thursday, I can check out of school early and have Ethan ride the bus to the Anderson’s so they can take him to baseball.”

I didn’t know if that would actually work. But it was Plan A for the time being.

“One more question. What are you going to wear?”

I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. I surveyed my pitiful wardrobe.

“I don’t know.”

My mom refused to accept the money my dad sent for child support. She tore up the checks each time they arrived. And they were made out to her so it wasn’t like I could intercept them and use the money. She was prideful and said we didn’t need his help.

“I could maybe call my dad and ask to put some clothes on his credit card.” My balloon of hope was deflating quickly. “But orientation is this Tuesday. I won’t have time to go shopping before then.”

Drew was quiet, then hopeful-sounding when he finally spoke. “Stacy left a ton of stuff behind. Church clothes and stuff mostly, but it should be business-appropriate and close to your size.”

“God love her. Text Stacy and make sure it’s okay. I have to check that Ethan finished his homework, then I’ll be right over.”

My mom was leaning in the doorway of my bedroom when I disconnected the call.

“You got the internship,” she said softly. “Congratulations.”

I sucked in a breath. “I know I have responsibilities around here. I’ll still get Ethan to and from practice and games and keep the house clean and help with the bills and—”

“Emersyn,” she broke in. “Relax. We’ll manage. I’m glad you got what you wanted. You deserve it.”

Huh.

That hadn’t been the response I was expecting. The weight on my shoulders wasn’t gone, but it felt five pounds lighter.

Maybe things would start looking up. For all of us.

“So I’m just goingto say it,” Drew began. “All during first period, you look like you have a seizure disorder or something.” We stood in his sister’s old bedroom, going through her left-behind clothing and assembling outfits. “Twitchy, like you’re tweaked out on pills.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” was the best response I could come up with.

The truth was, I knew exactly what he was talking about. I still couldn’t look at Aiden or his desk without recalling what he’d said.