- Sunday -

     THE WAY PEOPLE were looking at me, you'd assume someone in my family had died.

"It was just a routine check in." Wren brushed off my previous comment when she pulled her phone from her coat pocket. Before I knew it, there was a dog SnapChat filter playing across both our faces. "I passed the final. It's all good."

I shrugged away from the phone before Wren had a chance to snap a picture, leaving her to take an obnoxious selfie in the middle of our guidance councilors' waiting area. Her smile was as bright as the yellow painted walls behind us as she tagged the photo 'senior pre-med' with about about a million heart emojis following her sentence. She clicked send and it was uploaded to her story without giving it a second thought.

"She told me to send you in," Wren said. Her bright brown eyes bored into my own, though her cheeks were crinkled with what would be laugh lines when we got older. She couldn't contain her excitement; all the while, I still had butterflies in my stomach as to why exactly I'd been called down to speak with our councilor the day after final exams.

It wasn't like I'd studied, after all. I'd had Zane to worry about all weekend. My now ex-boyfriend had insisted I drive him to the airport to see him off, leaving him an entire hour to beg me to take him back on the way down. I couldn't help but to admit that I missed having him beside me, but in the end, things had turned out exactly as I thought they would. To this second, I hadn't actually miss Zane Mirada once.

"Wish me luck?" My words were hollow as I stood up from the rather comfy grey sued couch. It was an impressive contrast to that of the yellow walls and the blood red carpet that had been strewn out in the middle of the room. The tan side tables on either side of the couch have a bit more order to the waiting area, though they couldn't count for much. The place had a messy vibe that gave you comfort in the strangest of ways. I had always attributed it to the vast amount of sunlight that spilled through the large windows near the double doors leading inside.

I glanced back to watch as Wren's red painted fingernails scratched away the imprint I'd left behind by sitting so long. She then waved her hand dismissively in my direction, "you don't need it. We'll be in med school before you know it. My mom was even talking about getting us matching scrubs for when we're doing our residencies back in Virginia."

I nodded, taking her affirmation as a small win despite the ever growing feeling of uneasiness that was accumulating in my stomach. Ever since receiving the email from Ms. Winters this morning, I couldn't shake the nerves from my system. With Wren's positivity, I'd thought I'd be able to work through it before my meeting.

I guess I was wrong.

"I'll be here until you get out, but then I have to get on the road. I'm going to have to haul ass to make it to the motel before nightfall."

Wren have me another reassuring smile. It was one that I would miss over the summer; and had been one that I had taken for granted during our last year in school. Every June, Wren drove back to our hometown in Virginia to spend the summer with her seven brothers and two little sisters, along with both her parents. The family was as tight knit as they could be seeing as there were normally twelve people and counting under one roof.

It was what drew me in when first meeting Wren. Being an only child, I'd  always craved a sibling relationship. Now I basically had ten to account for.

Feeling the cool air fill my lungs with every breath, I took each step towards the small office in stride. My bright blue heels clicked against the pale white tiles below until I crossed the threshold and into Ms. Winters' office.

"You can close the door, Scarlett." She said absentmindedly as she continued to jot down her notes in her rather large notebook. Tiffany Winters had always been a busybody if nothing else, never taking even a moment to slow down. The thirty-year-old had graduated just over eight years ago, and judging by the staff directory we all received at student orientation three years prior, she's worked at her almamoter ever since.

"You seem busy." I commented, taking a seat in one of the two purple plush chairs in front of her hectic and disorganized desk. The faux-fur material of either chair reminded me of something a child would decorate their room with, but it was just as comfy as the couch I'd left Wren on.

Ms. Winters nodded, her eyes never leaving her notebook, "you can say that again."

She reached up and pushed her black rimmed glasses further up the bridge of her nose. Her gorgeous platinum blonde hair had been pulled back into a tight bun resting low on her head. I'd always like the small tattoo that made itself known anytime she pulled her hair back. 'Be the change you wish to see in the world' was written in tiny cursive lettering over the back of her neck. You could barely see it from where I was sitting, but it was there.

She tugged the green knitted vest off her shoulders and laid it neatly over the back of her chair before turning her attention to me; the article of clothing reminded me of something Wren had worn to Coachella a few months back. "How are you today, Scarlett?" She started with a cheeky grin.

I mirrored her expression, fumbling with the small ring on my right thumb that my father had sent me for high school graduation. "I'm fine. How are you?"

Ms. Winters pursed her pink lips into a thin line with my response. "I'm doing well, busy as ever, but well. I do have something I wanted to discuss with you today."

My heart dropped into my stomach. In the back of my mind I had known my meeting wouldn't go as well as Wren's has.

With my best friend growing up in such a large family, she's taken to the medical practice, handing out bandaids and antibacterial creme like Halloween candy. As for me, anything having to do with the word doctor sent my head spinning; and though Wren and I were only aiming to practice as nurses, I didn't have the same love for it as she did.

"I failed." My words were so rushed that I needed to suck in another breath to sooth my aching chest. Having had an anxiety attack before coming in had left me feeling shaky and out of breath in a rather unsettling way.

Her slow nod was all I needed to see, "you're passing grades from the last semester have been nullified in light of the final. I knew you were having trouble grasping a few concepts but..."

The way she trailed off only made me more worried.

"We've had to contact your mother about the issue. I realize the two of you didn't part on the best terms before you decided to go to school here, but I feel you need a good parental figure in your life when making a decision such as this one," she paused to remove her glasses. "She's said that though taking summer classes would be a great way for you to make up what you've not grasped over the last few months, that you may need to reevaluate what you're looking to accomplish with further schooling."

I couldn't force myself to say a word. I knew that I needed to hear her out.

She took my silence as her cue, "Angel wants you to return home for the summer. I believe she called this morning?"

I nodded once more, "and texted. Wren's heading home too, but-"

"That's wonderful!" Ms. Winters smiled. "You two can make a road trip of it. I do think having the summer off will help you to figure out what exactly you want to study, and after, what you'll want to do once graduating."

The only thing I could compare this to was being fired; I was being fired from med-school, and I wasn't even in med school.

"You don't think I should continue trying to become a nurse?"

"No," Ms. Winters said grimly. "I don't mean to be harsh, but I do wonder if you've been thinking the same thing. Since completing your general education classes last spring, your grades have gone down quite considerably. I just don't think you love it-"

"As much as Wren does," I finished for her.

"Your mother relayed that you may have been influenced to follow her here in your lack of knowing what to study. That you may have made the decision to go into pre-medical simply because Ms. Manny wanted to?"

My brain was having a hard time comprehending everything she was telling me, but I knew what she was saying was true. I had followed Wren to Los Angeles, but to be fair, the only reason Wren had chosen UCLA was because her father had attended the school.

It wasn't reason enough to pin this whole thing on her, though. This was my fault, and I needed to own up to it.

"I guess I'm heading home for the summer," I breathed. I could feel a weight beginning to steady itself on my chest as the realization struck me. As Ms. Winters said, my mother and I didn't part on the best of, if any, terms when I'd decided to move to LA. Knowing my father lived near by had left her wondering where my so-called loyalties lied. She hadn't the slightest idea that I would always choose her though; and despite my best efforts in telling her that, she'd basically cut me off three years ago.

We'd only spoken briefly on holidays over the last two years. That had been it, and I'd been okay with that.

"I think it's a good start," Ms Winters cut through my train of thought.

She stood up abruptly from her onyx office chair and danced her way through the stacks of papers laying on either side of her desk. On the wall to my left was where she hung nearly twenty-plus pamphlets about what to do before, during and after college.

"These should help you some," her tone was soft as she focused in on exactly what I would need during the summer. Once she had five pamphlets in her hands, she spun around on the heels of her tribal black booties to face me. "I'll be checking in with you throughout the summer to see if anything has caught your interest. If at any time you want to switch your major, or simply hold schooling all together, feel free to email me."

I smiled lamely up at her, taking the pamphlets into my sweaty hands. My nerves had subsided substantially, but I couldn't get a few of my nervous ticks to die down. "I'll be sure to do that."

"Oh!" Her change of mood startled me back into my seat so I could watch as she dashed back to her computer. Her eyes narrowed in on the screen as it illuminated her utterly flawless smokey eye-makeup that highlighted her features. "Your mother also let me know that her fiancé wants you to come intern with him at his law-firm."

"Fiancé?" The word left a bad taste in my mouth.

Ms. Winters nodded, "Elias Pennington. You'll be staying at his estate over the summer with his two boys and your mother. I think the internship will be great for you, Scarlett."

I bit my lip in an attempt to keep my words to myself. I hadn't the slightest idea that my mother was even dating anyone, let alone the fact that she was now engaged. Though I could feel a stabbing pain in my chest, Ms. Winters didn't deserve any retaliation for simply being the messenger.

Angel Blaine needed to hear a word or two from me.

"I hope you have a great summer, Ms. Winters," I issued as I rose from my seat. I quickly waved to her and rushed my way out of her cramped office. Shutting her door behind me, not waiting to get a 'have a great summer too!' back from her, I pulled my phone from my pocket to finally look over the many messages from my mother.

Scarlett - please do call me back! I would like to talk with you about your grades.

Sweetheart, is your phone off? There's a few things I need to speak with you about.

Scarlett Magnolia Blaine answer you phone!

I have a surprise for you. I do hope you'll accompany Wren on her way back from Los Angeles. I'll send you the address just in case. Please call me, darling.

I shivered at the mention of a surprise. Not once since her and my father's divorce did I expect her to remarry. The two were more in love than I could ever imagine; it was only his travels for work and long hours without hearing back from him that ended up pulling the two apart. Since then, she had never shown any interest in finding another man.

Until now. A lawyer by the name of Elias Pennington would be entering my life for the foreseeable future.

Well, him, and his two sons.

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Chapters 4+5 will be up on Friday - I'll see you guys then!

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