Chapter Thirty-Four
Candice
“It’s so good to see you again,” I said to Lily as we made our way back to my dorm room. I still had some time before my first class, and I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. We had linked arms and walked like giggling girls back to my room. Despite being nervous about the day ahead, it felt so good to be with her again.
“Your boyfriend is so cute,” she said as we walked inside. “Sitting there, on his bike, waving to you. No wonder you want to fight for him.”
I laughed. “He’s amazing. I’m very lucky.”
“And he’s lucky to have you.”
“Thank you, Lily. It’s so good to have you back. How was Japan? I feel like all I’ve done is talk about me lately.”
“Well, my life hasn’t exactly been very interesting compared to yours, let’s be honest. Japan . . . well, it was fine. It was nice to go back actually. My mom was happy. And it made her realize that she was happy here, so that was a good thing. She kept comparing things to America. My dad was busy with work stuff most of the time, so I didn’t spend much time with him. My mom and I had fun. I made them promise I could bring you along with me next time.”
“Really? That would be amazing. So, you didn’t meet any cute boys did you?”
She laughed. “No. Although they did like my new weird accent. I don’t even know what I sound like anymore. Half American. Half Japanese. It’s all messed up. But no, I’m hoping to meet a nice boy here thank you very much.”
I laughed. “Good. I don’t want you falling in love and going back there. I need you here.”
“I’m staying! So, how’s your father, by the way?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea. He’s been awfully quiet. I’m very worried that he’s going to stop paying for my classes. What am I going to do then? I don’t want to leave college. I need to get an education. And I like it here.”
“Maybe there’s something you can do. Like work on the side or something. Have you thought of talking to the counselor about it?”
“The counselor?”
“Oh yeah, Mrs. Richardson. You should go and talk to her. She’d be the best person to help you with this. Her room is next to Mr. Angel’s room. Know it?”
I nodded. “Oh yeah. I think I know who you’re talking about too. Small, pretty woman?”
“That’s the one. And she’s very nice too. She’s the best person for the job. If you’re really worried then you should go and talk to her later.”
“Do I need to make an appointment?” I asked.
“No. She lives by an open-door policy. If you see her door open, you can go in. If it’s closed, then she’s busy with someone else. So just go and take a look.”
“Good idea. Thanks, Lily.”
“No problem. So, listen, I better get going; I still have to rush and get my notebooks before class. I just had to come and say hello to you. It’s good to have you back. Meet you at lunchtime? Usual table? Oh, sorry, obviously you’ll want to see Dominic. I forgot!” she said.
I laughed. “No, I want to see you. Anyway, I want you to get to know him. He’ll probably be busy anyway. I’m not sure what’s going on with him and his football coach, but I have a feeling they are going to have a few words with one another. I’ll definitely see you at lunchtime. Same table,” I said and grinned at her.
Lily walked out, and I got ready for the day ahead. My mother had dropped some clothes off for me the night before, but they weren’t really things I would want to wear for college. Most of my clothes were at my dorm anyway, so I changed into something else and got my books ready for the day. I looked around at my dorm room. The room was smaller than the one I had at home, much smaller, and yet it felt more like home to me than my actual home did.
I was sad that so many things had gone wrong over the past few months, but I was also glad that I was finally standing on my own two feet. I had stood up to Derek and to my father, and I felt good because of it. I smiled around the room, glad to be back and ready to face any challenges ahead of me. Of course, the moment I closed the door, Derek appeared at my side. I got such a fright when I saw him because he seemed to come out of nowhere. I jumped. His eyes were big and wild, and he was looking at me with a sense of entitlement I hadn’t seen before.
“Derek! What the hell! You gave me such a fright,” I said.
“You’re back,” he said.
“Uh, yeah. Well, school has been on a break, remember? So, everyone is back,” I said warily and stepped back from him. I wasn’t sure why he was making me so uncomfortable. I think it had something to do with the way that he was looking at me. The look in his eyes made me feel nervous.
Suddenly, before I even knew what was happening, he reached out and grabbed my hand with force. I got such a fright, and my immediate reaction was not to run away or cry. Instead, I reached out and hit him square in the nose. I didn’t even know I had it in me to punch someone like that and I was surprised at how good it made me feel. I watched him stumble back in shock.
“Don’t you ever touch me again. I swear, Derek, don’t you ever lay a hand on me again,” I screamed. “I will make sure that you are arrested, do you hear me?” I was not putting up with this any longer. He did not have a right to me; he didn’t before, and he certainly didn’t any longer.
Thankfully, Derek didn’t get a chance to retaliate because before either of us had a chance to say anything else to each other a crowd had formed around us to see what was happening. Suddenly a security guard came running up to us to see if everything was okay. They saw Derek holding his face, and they looked at me.
“What’s going on? Are you okay? Did this man hurt you?”
“I’m fine. I’m fine. Thank you,” I said.
“Come on, I’ll walk you to class,” the man said, and I followed him away from the crowd. As we walked off, he looked at me again. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I nodded. “I’m fine. Thanks for coming and for walking me to class. I appreciate it. Sorry to have you running around like that on our first day back.”
He chuckled. “Looks like you did the job for me anyway. Between you and me, I’ve never liked that guy.”
I smiled at him. “It felt pretty good, I must admit.”
“I’m sure. But, do me a favor, just keep safe. Guys like that aren’t really worth the effort.”
I nodded. “You’re absolutely right.”
But, despite this, I couldn’t deny how good it had felt to have shown Derek that he wasn’t as big and mighty as he thought he was. And I was glad that other people had been around to witness it all.
My first class went by without a hitch. Thankfully, it was still early for anyone to have discovered what happened with Derek, although I knew it wouldn’t take long for the whole school to talk about it. Between that and Dominic going to jail, I was going to be the topic of conversation for a long time. For someone that had just wanted to blend in, I was sure doing a terrible job at it. But I didn’t mind too much. Blending in meant that I was just accepting my fate, whether I agreed with it or not.
After class, I decided to go and find the counselor's office. I was glad to see that her door was wide open when I arrived, and I quickly knocked and waited for her to tell me to come in. Mrs. Richardson beamed at me when I walked through the door. She had one of those friendly faces that made you want to tell your life story to. Lily was right; she really was perfect for her job.
“Uh, hi,” I said shyly. “Would it be an okay time to talk?”
“Of course. Come in,” she said. She stood up to shake my hand. “I’m Mrs. Richardson.”
“I’m Candice.”
“Of course. I know who you are. Let me close the door so we get some of privacy. Take a seat in the meantime.”
I took a seat and wondered how she knew who I was. Was it because of Derek? Or Dominic? Or my father? I wondered what she thought of me.
“I’m sure you’ve heard some terrible stories about me,” I said. “But I’m not a bad person.”
She laughed. “Terrible stories? No. Not at all. I’ve heard great stories about you. You joined the school in the middle of term, and you’ve already worked harder than most of the other students. Professor Jackson has a particular soft spot for you. No, Candice, I haven’t heard anything bad about you. And even if I had, well, I don’t listen to stories until I’ve heard them directly from the person’s mouth. This college loves nothing more than rumors, but I’m not a big fan of them, to be honest.”
I chuckled. I was warming to this woman. “Neither am I,” I said.
“Good. Then you and I will get along just fine. Now, what is it that I can help you with today?”
I took a deep breath and told her a little about my father and Dominic. I didn’t want to get into too much detail, so I tried to explain without revealing it all. It wasn’t easy though, and by the time I got through it, I had practically told her my whole life. But it felt good to talk it out with someone, and I had a feeling she wasn’t going to judge me for it.
“So, I basically want to know if there are any options for me to stay at this school if my father stops paying. I’m very happy here, and I don’t want to give up on my education. But, at the same time, I don’t want to beg him for money if he’s not willing to give it to me. Is there anything that I can do to still make this work?”
She smiled. “I’m glad to hear that you want to stay. It’s a good school to be in. And yes, there are always options if you’re willing to work for them.”
The two of us sat for the next twenty minutes detailing different options for me. They were all reasonable and obtainable, and by the time we were finished, I was starting to feel better about everything. Now, at least if my father decided to stop paying, I was going to have something to fall back on. And, even better, I was going to do it all by myself. Mrs. Richardson made me promise to come and talk to her whenever I needed to and to keep me posted on the situation.
“You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, Candice. I have no doubt that you’re going to find a way to make this work. And, for what it’s worth, I happen to think very highly of Dominic Aarons.”
I smiled. “Yeah, so do I, Mrs. Richardson. So do I.”