Page 12 of Take Care, Taylor

“Well, fine then.” He put on his pants, finally. “Good luck finding a man who would put up with you like I did.”

“You don’t have to talk to get dressed…”

“No man is going to want to deal with your emotional issues or your bullshit long nights of writing, which are just excuses because you don’t know how to be close to someone who actuallylikes you.” He pulled on his shirt. “Spoiler alert: You’ll die alone.”

He walked out, and Cecelia slammed the door behind him.

“I told you that man was delusional months ago.” Cecelia set the mail down on my coffee table. “I won’t waste another second on him, though.”

“Thank you.”

She picked up a huge navy blue envelope that was sealed in deep blue wax. Then she pointed at the sender’s name.

The Postscript Scholars Program.

My heart flipped in my chest, and my fingers trembled, but I couldn’t bring myself to grab it.

“I can’t open it,” I whispered. “You do it.”

“You think they’d waste money on this type of pretty packaging for a rejection, Audrey?”

“I won’t know until you open it.”

“Okay.” She smiled. “Gladly.”

She tore it open with dramatic flair, eyes scanning the contents before gasping. “You got in! Full scholarship. Tuition, board, and their Luxury Graduate accommodations.”

I blinked. “You’re joking.”

“I would never joke about free luxury housing.” She flipped to the next page. “Ewwww!”

“What?”

“There’s a schedule here for like five classes a day, and it says you have to teach some high school students for five hours a week, too…” She squinted. “This is like—college all over again—but without the fun and ten times the work.”

“I can’t believe I got in…”

“I can’t believe you wanted to get in…” She shook her head, continuing to flip through the pages. “More work, more work, themes, things to pack, and oh! There’s a roommate contact form. Do you want to reach out before you go there?”

“I have to think about whether I’m accepting their offer first.”

She shot me a blank stare.

“I was joking.” I smiled. “No to the roommate, though. I’m sure she’s great, and I’d rather meet in person.”

“If you say so.” She shrugged and turned to the counter, clinking bottles as she started mixing another round of drinks.

I picked up the top sheet, rereading the letter until the words blurred.

We are thrilled to admit you into our program and extend you the top scholarship should you accept our offer.

“So, since you don’t have to check your phone for this anymore, I know you’d love to go to another club with your favorite cousin to celebrate this, right?”

“Now?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s only midnight.”

“Okayyy, fine.” I relented and set down the letter. “But only for an hour.”