His private dorm was at the end of the long hall, last one on the right, and I rapped on it twice fast, waited a moment, and then repeated the pattern that we used for each other. I’d been able to fool myself into a sense of freedom, but the cell door was about to smash shut on every dream I’d let myself have these past few months. I wanted to bottle up every one of his expectations and throw the blasted thing out at an angry sea to swallow up and tear apart instead. Screw the life he’d set out for me, the one I was destined to live and hate with every fiber of my being. As a cold sweat of panic seized me, I balled the letter tighter in my fist and chucked it into one of the trash bins as I passed. The private plane would arrive in a handful of hours, giving me just enough time to pack my things, but there was no way I could leave without a goodbye.

My feet seemed to move of their own accord, the countdown to my utter devastation causing me to pick up the pace. So there wouldn’t be anyone around to see me sneak down the hall to where I knew I shouldn’t be going but couldn’t help myself. John’s dormitory were silent when I entered, all the students down at the mess hall for dinner, followed by the final bonfire of the year. Although it would’ve only been the whispers over the last few months that piqued his interest, only the last eight that he would’ve had any reason to give me a second thought.Īnd that reason wasn’t a what-it was a who. My father hadn’t gotten to where he was by being stupid or blind, and I’d seriously underestimated how many eyes and ears had been watching me during my four years. That was the only explanation for the letter in my hand, for the abrupt dismissal this late in the evening and this close to the end of the school year. Skipping out on graduation and the pomp and circumstance and recognition that came with it? Out of the question. I’d done him proud, rising to the top of my class, and I’d been practicing my salutatorian speech for days.

My father had been adamant I receive the best education his money afforded, choosing to ship me down to south Georgia to attend the most prestigious all-boys academy in the country. There was only one reason he would’ve demanded I leave South Haven before the end of classes next week. Immediately…immediately… With every echo of that word through my mind, my heart battered my chest, the ache to rip itself free of my body a plea I was helpless to honor. Your father is quite…insistent you return to Connecticut immediately.” WITH THE NOTE from Principal Stewart crumpled in my fist, I stalked away from his office, away from the words I knew would haunt me forever.

A Little Bit Like Love by Brooke Blaine