Page 101 of Wright Kind of Trouble

“Fine. Explain,” Whitt said.

“I was going to tell everyone about Harvard tomorrow. I was accepted in January. I thought that was what I wanted to do. I spent a lot of time considering it and realized the only reason I was doing it was because it was what I’d always said I wanted. It was what all of you expected of me. I had this full-ride scholarship and a 4.0 at Tech. I should go do the thing.” I gestured off in the distance. “I realized it wasn’t what I wanted to do. Just what I thought I should want to do.”

West sighed. “Fuck.”

Whitt crossed his arms and pursed his lips. He was the guy who had the five-year plan. The one who always knew exactly what he wanted. This was anathema to his person.

“She’s allowed to change her mind,” Julian said.

“It’s a huge change,” Jordan said on a sigh. “I don’t want you to regret it.”

“I won’t,” I insisted.

“You don’t know that,” Whitt argued.

“I can reapply.”

“There’s no guarantee that you’ll get in again.”

I shrugged. “Then, I could go somewhere else. LSAT scores are valid for five years. So, I have five years to decide before I have to retake for new scores. That sounds like enough time to know whether or not I’ve made the right choice.”

“Five years,” Whitt said. “That’s a long time. What are you going to do in the meantime?”

I grinned then. “Well, I’m going to work with you.”

“Come again?” Whitt said.

“And you,” I said to Jordan.

“You’re going to get a job at Wright?” Julian asked in confusion.

“Correction: I already have a job with Wright.”

“No,” Jordan said. “I would have heard about it.”

I shrugged. “Not if I went to Morgan directly. I remembered what you’d said, Whitt, when we moved here, that it felt like this was the position you were meant for. Like it had been waiting for you.” I pointed at Julian. “The same thing happened for you too. Wright Construction is our namesake. Why should y’all get to claim it and not me?”

“It’s not about claiming anything,” Whitt insisted. “It’s about you being smarter than all the rest of us combined and not meeting your potential.”

I took a step back, my hand going to my heart. “Ouch.”

“I didn’t mean it…”

“I think you did,” I said back.

“What he means,” Jordan said, “is that we don’t want you to waste your time.”

“It’s not wasting my time. I’m going to be working in HR to help with a new inclusivity program. That’s what I want to be doing. Helping people and changing the world. One company at a time. I want to start with ours.”

West nodded his head. Julian nudged Jordan, as if to say, Let it be. Only Whitt still looked unconvinced.

“How exactly is Dad involved with all of this?” Whitt asked. “I thought you were no contact.”

“I was.” My eyes darted to the bedroom door again. How to explain this without Chase? Fuck. “It changed last summer. He was at Mom’s.”

“No,” West said. “She said they were over.”

“Well, they’re not. She…you know what? That’s her story. But I saw him, and he offered to pay for law school. If I got into Harvard, I told him that I’d let him. I…didn’t think that I would.”

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