With or Without You by Eric Smith

Author:Eric Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Published: 2023-09-13T19:34:56+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE:

CINDY

Tuesday, Five Days until Truck Off

Mom always likes to joke that I treat my phone like it’s burning a hole in my pocket since I take it out all the time, a quip that frequently annoys me.

But right now, I feel like I finally get it. I can’t stop looking at the Northeastern email. I keep sliding my phone in and out of my pocket as I walk home, like that email isn’t real. Like I dreamed it up, and I have to check to make sure it’s still there.

By the time I get to my house, my battery is practically drained. I look at the front door, and exhale, centering myself. I need to tell my parents, tell the producers, and tell Jordan. Keep it all under control.

I reach for the door just as it swings open, and I stumble into my own home, colliding into my mom. She wraps her arms around me, with an “oof” and laughs in my ear.

“Hey, sweetheart,” she says, steadying us both and pulling back. “You’re home early, is your dad still at the...whoa, whoa, whoa...what’s wrong?”

She’s staring at me intently, and that’s when I realize I’m crying. She wipes away a tear on my cheek.

“Darling? What is it?” she asks again, her voice sounding more urgent.

I laugh, palming the tears off my face.

“It’s okay, they’re good tears,” I say. “I got... I got into Northeastern. I’m off the wait list.”

There’s a pause as surprise washes over her face, and I watch as her expression shifts from shock to joy to joining me in crying. She pulls me in tight.

“I’m so proud of you,” she says, letting me go and stepping back. She nods her head toward the inside of the house. “Cameras are here, come on.”

Oh. Okay. Well, looks like I can maybe strike that second thing off the to-do sheet.

“We were just wrapping up one of those confessional videos, where I talk to the camera and all that?” Mom says, excitement bubbling off of her as we walk into the living room. “Can you believe it? Me. Doing those talks to the camera like...like I’m one of those Housewives we watch.”

She laughs giddily, and swipes at a tear under her eye, looking back at me with warmth.

I glance over at the camera crew.

They’re absolutely filming.

“So,” Mom starts, sitting on the couch and motioning for me to join. “What happened to your gap year? Your county college plans? Have you told—” She clearly stops herself before she says Jordan, thank God. “Have you mentioned anything to your friends?”

“Not yet, I thought...maybe it would be fun to break the news to them on our next recording, you know? Or maybe I will tonight. I don’t know.” I shake my head. This is good, sharing this with her, but I’m not sure this is the thing I wanted to get off my chest right now. I was hoping to get her advice on how I’m supposed to tell Jordan. His big plans for our road trip, and really, our relationship, are hanging in the balance there.

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