Page 116 of We Were Something
“I did. Because I left under medical withdrawal, they can grant me unconditional readmittance,” I say, repeating what the woman told me over the phone yesterday. “Which means I don’t have to prove myself with a probationary period or retake any entrance exams.”
“That’s awesome!” Penny exclaims. “So you’ll be able to settle back into the city for a month or so, then jump into classes once they start in January?”
I nod. “Yup.”
“Oh, I’m so happy for you. It’ll be great being back in the city.”
I nod again. “Sure.”
At my flat tone, my sister pins me with a look. “Cheer up, lady.”
“I’m cheery. I’m the cheeriest.”
Penny snorts. “Sure you are.”
We continue eating our dinner as my sister shares more about her new position at the Whitney. I try to listen. Really. I do hear the first few details about how much it pays and how she’ll finally feel like she’s not just withdrawing from her trust on a regular basis because she has real money coming in.
But at some point, I stop listening. Not because I don’t want to hear about her new job. I do want to hear about it. I love my sister, and this is important to her, so it’s important to me.
I stop listening because my mind thinks back to the conversation I had with Logan on the boat when he told me he didn’t understand why I don’t have a job or what I do with my free time.
I never explained to him that it had anything to do with the miscarriage and the cancer and the possibility that it might come back at some point. I never explained it to him, so maybe that’s the reason. Maybe that’s why he…
“Are you listening?”
Penny’s voice cuts into my thoughts.
I shake my head.“Not really.”
She sets her fork down on her plate and brings her hands together, her elbows plopped on the table in a way that would make my mother call her a barbarian.
“You thinking about Logan?”
I don’t answer her question, instead asking one of my own.
“Do you think I mooch off mom and dad?”
Penny’s eyebrows about fly off her face. “What?”
“By living here. Not having a job. Do you think I’m a mooch?”
My sister laughs and shakes her head. “Where is this coming from?”
I shrug a shoulder. “I don’t know, I just…I’ve been thinking about the fact that I’ve been living in this house for four years without getting a job or going back to school, and I just wonder if…”
“Okay, first of all, you had cancer,” Penny says, ticking that little known fact off on one finger. “Not a soul on this earth will say that someone who faces cancer doesn’t deserve to have some time off to recover and revel in that recovery.”
“Notfour yearsoff.”
She ignores me.
“Second, you might not have gotten paid, but youdidhave a job. How long did you work for Lucas, helping him get that contract to do club promotions?”
I think back, having forgotten about the time I helped my friend when he was trying to figure out what he could do outside of surfing since it didn’t take up all of his time.
“And did that not then turn into him opening up his own business with Wyatt and Otto?”
“Well, yeah, but I didn’t…”
