Chapter Twenty Eight
Taylor
I rehearsed my argument one more time. Well, not an argument, but a presentation to my parents. I had the benefits and drawbacks of being a nurse. I had my list of colleges ready.
Dylan had offered to be there when I did it for moral support, but I declined. I had to do this on my own. I had to stand on my own two feet or my parents would never take what I had to say seriously.
I told them at dinner that I needed to talk to them. They told me that they’d be available for whatever I needed. Butterflies danced in my stomach as I knew they were waiting for me in the dining room. My father had probably opened a bottle of wine for them.
I could probably use a drink right now, but that would be bad.
I opened my door to Dylan, who was about to knock. I smiled.
“You ready?” he asked.
“As I’m ever going to be. I might throw up first.”
He hugged me. “You can do this, Taylor. It’s the right thing and they’ll see that.”
“Thanks, Dylan.”
“You can change your mind. I can be in the room.”
“No. I need to do this on my own. It will make them think more about what I’m saying,” I said.
He nodded and let me go. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
I took a deep breath and walked downstairs, my brain full of answers to any argument they might have.
They sat at the table, both on one side of it. They had glasses of wine in front of them and they held hands. It was nice to see them when they were like this. I watched them for a moment as they talked quietly.
My mother looked up and saw me. She smiled. “Taylor?”
I strode into the room.
“You look nervous, kitten. Is everything okay?” my father said.
“I hope so.” I took a deep breath then let it out. “I’ve been thinking. About college.”
“That can’t be bad, Taylor,” my father said.
“First, I don’t want to be an engineer. I don’t like math and I’m not good at it,” I said. I paused to let that sink in.
“Your grade this quarter was much better,” my mother said.
“That was only because Dylan helped me so much,” I said.
The two exchanged a look, but I couldn’t read it.
“Go on, kitten.”
I took another deep breath before I went on. “But I have decided I want to go to a four year college and what I want to major in.”
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense, Taylor,” my mother prompted. “Enough of the drama.”
I frowned. “I want to be a nurse. I want to get my Bachelor’s Degree in nursing.”
I waited. My mother blinked. My father smiled, but he always did that before he made a decision. The two looked at each other.
“Nursing?” my mother said.
“Yes, nursing,” I said. I wasn’t backing down. I wanted this. I could do this.
“Well,” my father began.
“Listen a minute,” I said. “I can get a job in nursing.”
“Awful hours.”
I shrugged. “Not a concern at this point. I’ll deal with that. With a BSN, I can do more than hospital nursing. I can be in a doctor’s office. I can be a supervisor eventually,” I said.
I was doing to sell them on this if it killed me. “If I marry someone who has to move, I can move with him since there are nurses everywhere. You always said I need to do something that puts food on the table and roof over my head. Nursing does that.”
“Okay, Taylor. I get that you’re passionate about this,” my mother said. “What made you think of nursing?”
“Because when I do community service with the cheerleaders, I really enjoyed it. I like helping people.”
“Nursing and a few hours of helping people are different,” my mother said.
“I know that, mom. If you want, I can shadow a nurse. My guidance counselor will set it up. I’ll see if I can handle it all.”
“You’ve clearly thought about this, kitten. I’m proud of that.”
“Proud of her being a nurse? When she could be so much more?” my mother objected.
“But what if I’m happy? What if I can make a living and it makes me happy?” I said.
My father might listen to that, but my mother might not. She was only just now pursuing what she wanted as a career. She had no sympathy for having to give up your dreams.
“That’s a good point. Mallory, we need to think about this, for Taylor’s sake. If she really wants this, let’s listen and try to support.”
My mother crossed her arms. She was done. She didn’t want to listen.
“I’ve picked a few schools that I’d like to go see,” I said, ignoring my mother.
“Have you set up dates to visit?” my father said.
“No because I wanted to coordinate with you before I did.”
“Okay, yeah. I have some trips coming up, so let’s sit down and do that. Let’s look at weekends we can go.”
At least my father was supporting me. My mother clearly didn’t want to. Couldn’t she just let me be happy? She was going to make a bigger stink about Dylan than my father would.
“I don’t like this, Taylor.”
“Mom, it’s what I want.”
She frowned. “It’s a hard job. You’ve never worked in your life.”
“Then, I guess I’ll figure that out, won’t I?” I wasn’t afraid of hard work.
“Okay, fine.” She left the room in a huff.
“She’ll come around, kitten,” my father said. “It seems like you did your homework.”
“I did, Daddy. I really want this.”
“I’m proud of you. Just give your mother time. She will see the light. Now. We have to schedule those visits. Your computer or mine?”
Chapter Twenty Nine
Dylan
I was packed and ready for my weekend visit to Penn State. Mr. Dean lent me a suitcase and it was only half full, but I thought I had anything I would need.
Taylor was in her room. She wasn’t looking forward to the weekend without me, but I had to do this. Mr. Dean’s co-worker had a son who was hosting me. I’d texted him a few times and now I was on my way there with Mr. Dean.
The drive would take two hours – a lot of time to fill. Hopefully, he wouldn’t feel the need to ask me about any girls I might be interested in. I couldn’t tell him that I did it with his daughter.
I kissed Taylor goodbye, then found Mr. Dean waiting for me in the kitchen. “You ready?”
“I’m ready.”
“This is pretty exciting.”
“It is,” I agreed.
The drive went quickly. We talked about everything else, but girls. Mr. Dean saw me to the dorm and left me with Chuck, my host.
He was a nerdy guy, which was cool. I didn’t want to party.
“Why don’t we take a tour of the campus,” Chuck said.
“Sure.”
He lived in West Halls. “There are a few buildings further west than we are, but just the meteorology building and the IST building, which spans the road. It’s pretty cool to stand there and see the traffic go under you.”
“Wherever you think I should see.”
“The Berkey Creamery. We’ll get some ice cream, and we’ll get you a sweatshirt. Can’t go home without some blue and white,” Chuck said.
I was lucky. Chuck was a computer science major. He could give me the rundown on what it was like.
“Where are most of your classes?”
“They are actually in the labs. There’s a cluster of science buildings in the middle of campus. That’s mainly where my courses are.”
I nodded as we walked among trees. It was a pretty place to be. Cold and gray, but it was the middle of March. I guess I had hoped it would be warmer. That didn’t deter me from liking the school, though.
“I got us tickets to the girls’ volleyball game later today.”
“Okay.”
“It’s good to see the school spirit we have here.”
“What about the classes? Are they big or small?” I said.
Mr. Dean had given me a list of questions to ask. This was one of them.
“The ones you take the first two years are larger. General Education credits. Everyone needs to fulfill those. English and such. Once you get into computer science, the classes are smaller.”
“Okay.”
The tour of the campus took more than an hour, but we finished up with ice cream. I couldn’t turn that down. It was the best ice cream I’d ever had. If I were to choose a college based on food, this would be it.
I liked it here and could see being here for four years. I didn’t know if my SAT scores were good enough, but I’d have to see. I thought I could take them one more time.
“You have anything you’d like to see?”
“Other than college girls?” I said.
Chuck laughed. “Yeah, well, I’m not the one to show you them. I’m a computer geek, but let me show you what we’re working on.”
When he showed me I gasped. “A satellite?”
“For NASA.”
“Pretty cool.”
“Yeah, I thought you’d like that,” he said.
The volleyball game was exciting. The energy in the place was amazing. I really could see myself f here. Hopefully, I could get some aid.
Mr. Dean picked me up on Sunday. “How was it?”
“Pretty awesome, Mr. Dean.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so excited about anything.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited about anything before. I really had a good time. I want to go away to college.”
“Good. Now, we have to look at some of the others. Won’t be the same experience as spending a weekend there, but you’ll get the idea.”
“Yep.”
I couldn’t wait to tell Taylor. I hoped she could be excited for me – especially, since she was going to go away, too.
“Did Chuck take you to all of the sights?”
“Yes. I even have a Penn State sweatshirt now.”
“That makes all the difference, then,” Mr. Dean said. “You pretty set on computer science as your major?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Okay. Good field. You’ll get a job doing that.”
“For the first time ever, I feel like I have a future beyond high school.”
He smiled. “Good.”
“I have to thank you, Mr. Dean. You’ve really changed my life.”
“I guess you picked the right car to steal,” he said with a laugh.
I was still a little embarrassed by how we met. “Have you ever told Mrs. Dean how you met me?”
“Nope. It’s our little secret. I never told Taylor, either.”
“That’s good. They both might think less of me.”
“You can’t worry about that, but I figure it’s our secret. No need to talk about it now. I really feel you’ve turned yourself around since , Dylan. I’m very proud of you.”
Whenever he said that, I felt guilty about Taylor. The man would be so disappointed in me. It wasn’t as if I just had sex – I really care about Taylor. I thought she cares about me, too.
Mr. Dean’s phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Hi, honey. Just wanted to check in and see when you’ll be home,” Mrs. Dean said on the other end.
“We’ll be there in forty five minutes, according to the navigation system.”
“Okay. Dylan? Will you need food? Or is that a stupid question?” she said.
“I’ll need food,” I said.
“Okay. I’ll have some dinner ready.” She hung up.
“She seemed chipper,” I observed.
Mr. Dean just laughed. Guess they’d had a good weekend, too. Not that I really wanted to think about my adoptive parents having sex. I tried not to shudder.