Page 59 of Fembot
“You can go right in. You’re expected.”
Lucky nodded at her and swallowed down a bunch of nerves. He paused outside the door and took a breath to steady himself before opening the door and walking inside.
The first thing Lucky noticed was that there was a new face in the room. While Lucky might not have ever been in the office, he’d known what the old dean looked like. And this was not the severe-looking man he’d expected to come face to face with.
The new dean was much younger and appeared a lot friendlier upon first glance. He offered Lucky a warm smile and rose to his feet when he entered.
“Lucky, thanks for coming so quickly.” He stepped out from behind his desk and extended his hand. “I’m Chad Summers, and I’ll be taking over for Dean Hargrove.”
“Okay.” Lucky shook Chad’s hand. “Good to know.”
Chad motioned to a couple of comfortable-looking chairs over in the corner of the office. “Please, have a seat. There’s a few things we need to discuss.”
Lucky sat on the edge of one of the chairs and folded his hands in his lap. Despite Chad’s pleasant demeanor, he had a hard time shaking the feeling that he was in trouble somehow.
“What’s this about?” Lucky asked, though he had an inkling.
“Well, there’s been some developments in the past couple days. You see, we’d already been investigating Dean Hargrove for a number of things. Embezzlement. Bribery. Abuse of power. But it was your case that tipped the investigation in our favor.”
Chad stood and grabbed a folder off his desk and when he returned, he handed it to Lucky. “When we talked to Winston Lowe’s father, he filled us in on what was happening with your dad. The promise of graduation without earning a degree. But that was never the truth.”
“I’m failing all my classes. I assure you that’s a fact. I’ve seen my grades.”
“No, you haven’t.” Chad motioned to the folder. “Your father had been working with the dean and your professors. He paid them to fail you. I had all the work you handed in sent to a professor outside the university and re-evaluated. While you won’t graduate with any sort of honors, if you pass your finals, you should graduate with your peers. On your own merit.”
The world dropped out from under Lucky, and he flipped the folder open. They hadn’t needed to rob him of many points to sink his scores enough for him to fail, but knowing that he could still pull through on his own, he could still come out of this okay? That made everything seem a little less terrible.
“I don’t understand.”
Chad offered him a sympathetic smile. “Men do a lot of stupid things in the name of ego. Your father isn’t immune to doing dumb shit for no discernable reason other than he could.”
“He only ever tolerated me when I did what he wanted,” Lucky admitted to Chad— Dean Summers. “I never understood it myself. It was like the only reason he had a kid was to try and turn me into a miniature version of him.”
Lucky flipped the folder shut. “So what happens now?”
“Now you go back home and study for those exams. Let me worry about the rest. Oh, and Lucky, I wouldn’t worry about your dad for a while. He’s going to be busy answering a lot of questions about bribery and extortion.” Chad smiled at him.
“I’m really going to graduate?”
Chad nodded. “Pass your exams and you get that shiny degree all on your own merit, Lucky.”
All on his own merit. Meaning Lucky wasn’t the idiot who couldn’t seem to scrape together a passing grade to save his life. Meaning he’d been sabotaged this whole time. His father had meddled, bribed, lied, and tried to steal his future from him.
“Thank you.” Lucky got to his feet and shook Chad’s hand, though he was hard pressed not to hug the man. “Thank you for everything.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
Lucky nearly ran from the room, like if he lingered there too long Chad would take the folder back and tell Lucky he was just joking. He half expected his father to jump out of the hedges outside the front door of the building, but he didn’t.
Lucky made it halfway to the car before he pulled his phone out and blocked his dad’s number. A weight lifted off his chest, and he nearly let out a victorious shout. He had to quell the urge to run through campus shouting and cheering. Instead, he quickened his pace and practically threw himself behind the wheel of Winston’s car.
He couldn’t wait to tell Winston the good news. The only thing about the day that still truly sucked was that Calvin wasn’t there to celebrate with him.
Though he wanted to get home as soon as possible to see Winston and share the good news, Lucky made a pit stop at Winston’s favorite restaurant and ordered a couple of his favorite dishes. They could eat and celebrate and try to move on with their lives, even if they didn’t really want to sometimes. Even if it hurt.
It would never not hurt. Lucky knew this. But Calvin had loved them. He’d given himself up for their sakes, and Lucky owed it to him to make sure they lived their best lives.
Even when it hurt.
