Chapter 5
On the last day of the two-week paperwork period, I carried my phone everywhere.
Dad had given it to me so Dr. Ellis could reach us if a place opened. I checked it between classes and nearly dropped it during lunch.
Nothing came.
At three o’clock, Ms. Harris found me by my locker.
“No news yet?” she asked.
I shook my head.
“The office closes at five,” she said. “I’ll stay nearby if you need me.”
I knew she meant that I could come to her if I was disappointed. I appreciated it, but I wanted to be alone when I found out.
At home, Dad was making dinner. Ava sat at the table cutting paper stars for a school project. Caleb was showing her how to fold the corners.
“Any call?” Dad asked.
“Not yet.”
I tried to help Ava, but my stars came out crooked.
At 4:52, the phone rang.
Dad turned off the stove. I answered and put the call on speaker.
“Nia? It’s Dr. Ellis.”
“I’m here.”
“A family let us know this morning that their daughter can’t attend. I waited until their place was formally released before calling.”
I looked at Dad. His hand covered his mouth.
“If you still want to join us,” Dr. Ellis said, “the scholarship is yours.”
“Yes,” I said so quickly Ava laughed. “Yes, I want to go.”
Dr. Ellis explained what we needed to send and when. Dad wrote everything down. Before we hung up, she asked to speak to me alone.
I took the phone into the hallway.
“I know the wait was difficult,” she said. “I wanted you to hear this from me. Your work earned your place here.”
“Thank you for calling.”
“I’ll see you in June.”
I walked back into the kitchen. Dad hugged me so tightly I had to remind him I needed air. Ava danced around us. Caleb lifted me off the floor for one second, even though I told him I was too old for that.
Then the front doorbell rang.
Vanessa stood outside. She had come to take Ava and Caleb for their scheduled dinner.
Ava rushed to tell her. “Nia got in!”
Vanessa looked at me. “That’s good news.”
I waited for more. She asked Ava to get her jacket.
Dad stepped onto the porch with her while Caleb followed Ava upstairs. I went to the sink for water and could hear their voices through the open kitchen window.
“I’m glad she got the place,” Vanessa said.
“I hope you can tell her that yourself.”
“I just did.”
“She needs to know she can trust what you say.”
There was a pause.
“I was wrong to keep the letter,” Vanessa said. “I’ve admitted it.”
“You told her I didn’t care about her award.”
“I know.”
“I need you to understand what that did to her.”
I moved away from the window. I didn’t want to hear Dad ask her to care.
Ava and Caleb came downstairs. I hugged them before they left. Ava whispered that she would make me six paper stars, one for every week I’d be away.
After the door closed, Dad found me in the kitchen.
“I heard some of it,” I said.
He pulled out a chair. “How do you feel about going?”
“Excited.” I sat down. “Scared.”
“What scares you?”
“Being away. Maybe they’ll all know more than I do.”
“They chose you after reading your work.”
“I know. I want to remember it when I get there.”
He smiled. “We can write it on a card and put it in your bag.”
I thought about the envelope that had sat beneath the mail. I wanted to keep the new papers where I could see them. Dad spread them on the table, and we made a list together.
Over the next month, I filled out forms, met another student online through the program, and kept working on the creek project. Dad drove me to buy shoes I could walk in all day. Ava drew a map from our house to the university, placing a heart at each end. Caleb taught me how to use his camera and said I could borrow it.
Three nights before I left, Vanessa asked if she could speak to me. Dad said I could choose. I agreed to meet her at the café, with him nearby.
She arrived carrying a small travel case.
“It’s for your pencils,” she said. “Caleb told me you’ve been drawing again.”
I took it. “Thank you.”
“I owe you an apology, Nia. I should have given you that letter. I shouldn’t have told you your father didn’t care about the ceremony.”
I looked at the case in my hands.
“Why did you do it?”
Vanessa took a breath. “I felt that everything in this house happened around your father’s plans. When the scholarship came, I thought about how it would change the summer for all of us. I decided I knew best.”
“You could have told me you were worried.”
“I could have. I chose to hide it.”
That was the first time she had said it plainly to me.
“I’m glad you told me,” I said. “I’m still hurt.”
May you like
“I understand.”
I didn’t know whether she did. I wanted her to keep trying.
