“That’s awesome, Emma,” she praised, holding up her hand for a high five. “I’m very proud of how far you’ve come since our first meeting. Now that you have the test scores, do you have a more solidified idea of where you want to go to college?”
“I think UNL is my top choice, but I’ll be applying to both there and UNO as a ‘just in case’ kind of scenario. The guys and I are filling out applications after school today.”
“Excellent! Now, have you considered applying for any scholarships?” At her question, my face scrunched up because it had slipped past me entirely. “I’m going to take that as a no. Do you think that’d be something you’d like to do?”
“It wouldn’t hurt,” I reasoned with a shrug. “My parents have money set aside for my college, but I’d love to not have to rely on them completely.”
With that, Ms. Rogers dug out a huge stack of brochures and packets. It took about a half hour for her to go through all the different ones I would potentially qualify for and how to apply. By the time I left her office, I felt more than ready to tackle the next step toward college.
Now to just fill out a ridiculous number of applications.
Oh, joy.
“Are we done yet?” I whined, slumping forward until my head hit the top of the desk with a thud. When I told Ms. Rogers that I would put in for scholarships, I had underestimated how much work would be required for not just those, but also for the college applications.
“Almost, Babydoll,” Kingston told me, his tone thick with laughter. “I think Jesse will probably be the only one who may have some applications to finish back at the house.”
“We’ll see. I’m almost done filing,” Jesse said from where he stood next to the filing cabinet, a pile of paper in his arms. Since it was Tuesday, it was Jesse’s day to volunteer at the Bell and Slate law office, and with applications needing to be filled out, we decided to congregate at the office with him. Thankfully, Kaleb and the firm’s partner, Brett Slate, hadn’t minded us hanging out.
“I really hope everything works out with UNL,” I murmured, sitting back up to eye the last application I needed to fill out.
“Me too, Babydoll.”
“Oh, don’t sound so down,” Reid cut in with an elbow nudge to my arm. “We’ll all get in, and then there won’t be any more bullshit assistant principals or asshole bullies to deal with.”
“There are assholes and bullies everywhere, dude,” Jesse countered dryly.
“Yes, but it’ll be easier to avoid them, for the most part anyway,” Reid explained.
“One can only hope,” I muttered, hunching back over to finish.
“Oh, good, you’re all still here,” Kaleb said as he walked back into the room. He had run to the small bakery and coffee shop next door to pick up some snacks for us and a coffee for himself.
“Of course we are, where would we have gone?” King smarted, laughing at the playful glare his dad gave him. Reid took the bag Kaleb held and started to pass out the bagels, scones, and muffins we’d each ordered.
“I didn’t mean it like that, son. I just got off the phone with Judge Tursen.”
I had just taken a bite of my chocolate chip muffin, but at the hint of steel threading his words, it turned to ash in my mouth. The boys must have caught on to the underlying tone as well because they looked to Kaleb, waiting for him to continue.
“And?” Kingston prompted when he didn’t talk. Whatever he was about to tell us, it wasn’t good news, so I braced myself the best I could.
“It turns out that the Warlands’ are getting money together to pay the exorbitant bail for their son,” Kaleb revealed with disdain.
“Wait… so Brad’s getting out of jail?” Reid asked sharply, his knuckles turning white with how hard he gripped his pencil.
“Trying to get out of jail,” Kaleb corrected, “since a week or two ago, apparently, yet for whatever reason Steve Corsian felt the need to keep it to himself.” His lips curled into a near snarl at the end of his statement, and normally that would have been scary coming from someone as nice as Kaleb, but I couldn’t fault him given the situation.
“Oh, god,” I muttered, my hand coming up to cover my mouth to keep from throwing up at the news.
“Shh, it’s all right, Babydoll,” Kingston reassured, rubbing soothing circles on my thigh. Jesse dropped the papers in his hand and moved behind me, his fingers trailing over my back in an attempt to give me some comfort.
Reid, on the other hand, got up and started to pace, his hands going to his curly hair and gripping tightly. As he paced, I realized there was more stressing him out than just Brad… Not that he isn’t a huge stressor, I noted with a scowl.
“There’s a no contact order and a restraining order in place if they do somehow manage to come up with the money. If he contacts you, even indirectly, or comes within a specific distance of you, he’ll be immediately sent back to jail until the trial,” Kaleb explained. “It’s a hard situation, but there are safeguards in place.”
“Psh, like those actually make a difference,” Reid muttered. “And knowing the Warland family, they’ll find a way to pay his bail.” No one responded to the venom in Reid’s statement, and when I saw the pity in their gazes, my internal alarm bells started to ring. Reid’s behavior was something I had only seen one or two times previously, and as much as I knew I should be concerned about myself…
I wasn’t.
“Reid, babe,” I said softly, getting up from the table. The more he paced his short path, the more I realized there was something going on that I didn’t understand. “Come here, let’s go outside for a bit.”
He stayed silent but nodded as he changed his path for the door. I snatched up my coat and darted after him as he practically stormed from the building. It was cold out, but not as bad as it had been the last few weeks, so I didn’t zip up my coat or put my hat and gloves on.
I didn’t say anything for a while, letting him work through whatever was going on in his mind. My sweet clown paced back and forth, his jaw clenching rhythmically, but after another few minutes, he slowed. When he finally looked at me, my heart twisted at the hurt, anger, and pain that swirled in his hazel eyes.
“I’m sorry, Cali girl,” Reid croaked. “I don’t tend to handle things like this very well, and I haven’t brought this up before because my parents and I don’t really like to think about it. It’s not because of you, like, at all. There’s just—” His voice broke, and he scrubbed his eyes on his sleeve. Stepping closer, I grabbed his free hand and squeezed gently.
“We don’t have to talk about this right now,” I murmured, trying and failing to catch his gaze since his eyes were glued to the cement. “I’ll always be here to talk. Now, in a month, in a year, all right?”
“I know, Cali girl. I just… you deserve to hear this because I’m sure it won’t be the last time I struggle like this until Brad’s firmly locked in prison for the rest of his life. Do you remember how I acted the night of the party after we left?”
I nodded, remembering his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel and harsh scowl after we got in the car that night.