Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 123212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
“Okay,” I say with a laugh. “Have you considered the fact that college costs money? Say some kind of miracle occurs and I do get in, what then? How am I supposed to pay for that? I’m sure as hell not going to take any more money out of my mother’s pocket, and I’ll be damned if I was to ask one of these rich pricks for a loan.”
“It’s called a job,” she says bluntly. “I worked at Hooters for four years, six nights a week while I studied through the day and look at me now. I have a great paying job, respect from my colleagues, and was able to purchase a home. It is possible, Ocean. It’s hard work but you don’t need to be another statistic. Make something of yourself. Be the one that got out.”
I lean back in my chair, looking at the woman who wants to tear down my complete belief system. “You really think I can do it?”
“I bet you grew up thinking it was impossible to get out of Breakers Flats and look at you now. You’ve already taken the first step, but now you need to make it count.”
Well, shit. Who the hell taught her all this motivational crap? It’s dangerous. It’s making me want things that a girl like me should never be brave enough to dream about.
“I don’t know,” I tell her honestly. “My plan was to just try to keep afloat out here and find a job after graduation. I could find somewhere cheap to rent and live, trying every day to not make the kinds of decisions that would see me back in Breakers Flats with the Black Widows.”
Her brow raises. “You have connections to the Black Widows?”
A strange tension settles in the air and something tells me to keep my mouth shut about my boys. I shake my head. “No, I just … I figured that’s where I’d end up.”
“Oh, I see,” she says. “My brother is a Wolf and would have a heart attack if he thought I was trying to help out a Widow.”
I laugh as I try to figure out who could possibly be her brother. “Oh, no. I’ve always tried to keep away from the gangs. I’ve already lost my father, I don't need to lose anything else.”
Her brows furrow and she leans forward to look over her papers. “Wait. Munroe?” she says, thoughtful. “What was your father's name?”
Unease settles into me but I can’t find a good excuse not to tell her. After all, she could probably just look it up. “His name was Louis.”
“Louis Munroe,” she says, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Your dad was Big Lou?”
I shake my head. “Umm, no … I think you’ve got him confused with someone else. It’s a very common name.”
“No,” she says. “He was good friends with my father. I remember him saying he had a daughter your age. Why didn’t you say you had connections to the Wolves? I would have had your college applications already filled out and sent off the day you arrived.”
My brows furrow. “Okay ... you’ve really got your wires crossed. I’m certainly not a Wolf and my father wasn’t affiliated with any gangs.”
Confusion twists her features. “Are you sure?”
“I’m certain.”
“Oh, sorry. I just … I guess I assumed.”
I shrug my shoulders and give her a small smile while I’m dying on the inside. I need to get to Nic and I need to ask what the hell he knows. There’s no way my father was a Wolf because that would make me one of them and that’s just not possible. If I was one of them then my boys … fuck. I need to work this out.
“Alright, enough of that,” she says, moving along. “Tell me what you’d like to do with yourself. Do you have any idea what field you’d like to move into or what you’d want to study if you get into college?”
“I, umm …” I try to bring my mind back to the present, but I'm stuck filtering through every last thing I know about my dad and I end up looking back up at her, feeling way out of my depth. “I actually have no idea,” I tell her. “I guess I’ve never actually had to think about it before.”
“Okay, that’s perfectly fine,” she says. “Why don’t you think about it over the next few days and come back to me when you’ve worked it out. Then we can start making a plan for your future. How does that sound?”
She gives me a warm smile and just like that, my whole world has been tipped upside down.
By the time I’m walking through the door after school I’m an absolute mess. I don’t know if I should be thinking about my future, my dad, my fucked up relationship with Colton, or if I should be calling Nic to ask what he knows. But then that’s probably just going to cause even more problems. What I should really be doing is sitting down with mom and asking her about it. If anyone around here is going to know what dad was into, it'd be her, right? She’s always tried to steer me clear of the Black Widows. Perhaps there’s more to it than just wanting me away from my crew.