SWNOVELS The Forbidden Freshman: Chapter 47
“Hey, Mom.” I try to keep my voice light as I slow to a stop in front of her.
She narrows her glare on me, a laser-focused look that fries my insides. Her nostrils are flaring too—never a good sign.
“What are you doing here?” I run a hand down my ponytail, wondering what she’s most annoyed about.
Was it the fact that I was playing tongue twister in public with Ethan? Or maybe it’s because I’m hanging with a bunch of guys—something she’s always hated me doing. Apparently, ladies don’t hang out with a bunch of sweaty men. It’s improper.
Yeah, we’re in the 2020s and my mother is still using words like improper.
I’m pretty sure if she had her way, she’d be strapping me into a corset and making sure my ankles were covered.
“Who is that?”
“Um…” I glance over my shoulder and cringe at Ethan before turning back to just say it. “That’s my boyfriend.”
“Hm.” She lifts her chin. “You’ve never mentioned him.”
“Yeah, it’s kinda new.”
“It doesn’t look new.” Her steely voice and unimpressed glare have my gaze dropping to the concrete. “Does he have anything to do with your abhorrent behavior last night?”
I flush, biting my lips together and giving her an ambiguous shoulder hitch. Of course Aimee called her daddy, no doubt ranting about my rudely worded exit from the sorority house, and of course my mother found out and jumped in his chauffeur-driven car to come and “talk some sense into me.”
“You signed a contract.” Her French-manicured nails click together when she holds her thumb and fingers up like she’s pinching thin air. “Does that mean nothing to you? You told me you were trying. You said you were giving it your best.”
I tip to the edges of my sneakers, not sure when to jump in with my myriad of justifications. She must be pretty damn pissed if she drove all the way out here. Obviously, this kind of tongue-lashing can’t be done over the phone. Bummer for me.
I wrinkle my nose, trying to figure out where to start. “So, yeah, I, uh… I don’t belong in that place, and they were asking too much.”
“Not too much.” She spits out the words. “Loyalty. Commitment. Getting your priorities straight! They welcomed you in, and you walked out the door. You didn’t even try!”
“I did.” I throw my hands wide. “I learned all the sorority history, I sang their stupid song, I cleaned toilets with a toothbrush, I made breakfast for everybody. There was only one thing I wasn’t willing to do, and I—”
“Do you have any idea how humiliated I am right now?” Her blue eyes glisten, her voice breaking with emotion. “Jarrod is furious. I can’t believe you told his daughter to go… screw herself.”
“I actually told her to—doesn’t matter.” I shake my head. “In fairness to me, she was being a bit—”
“Don’t you dare try and justify your shameful behavior.” She wags her finger at me. Her painted lips dip into a disgusted frown before she starts blinking at tears. “No matter how hard I try, I just can’t help you. You won’t let me.”
“Help me?”
“You’re just like him, you know.” Her disappointment and repulsion make my head jolt back. “Your father was always so stubborn and set in his ways. He didn’t care what anyone else thought. He just did what he wanted.” Her hand flicks in the air, light glinting off the mammoth rock adorning her fourth finger. “And I tried. I didn’t want you turning out like him, but you just refuse to bend. No matter what I do. No matter what I give.”
I cross my arms, anger coursing through me. “I’m an adult now. You don’t have to try anymore.”
“Oh really? So you have the money to attend this prestigious school, do you?”
Her mockery deflates me, and I curl in on myself, crossing my arms and pinching my sweaty biceps.
“I didn’t think so.” Her voice stops quaking, replaced with a steely edge that makes me squirm. “You need me. You need Jarrod.”
I grit my teeth.
“So, you will apologize to him, then to Aimee. You will grovel, and you will do whatever it takes to get back into that Sig Be house.” She glances over my shoulder, her eyes narrowing with disgust at the Hockey House guys. “Whatever it takes.”
I’m already shaking my head.
“Yes. Yes, you will. Because you have embarrassed me for the last time. Jarrod very generously offered to fund your education and all he asked—all we asked—in return, is that you followed a few small conditions that would be helpful to you.”
Helpful, my ass!
My nostrils flare and I open my mouth to protest, but she keeps ranting before I can.
“And you signed that contract. That was your choice, Mikayla. And right now, you are in breach. You need to fix this. If you don’t, you won’t be getting one more dime from Jarrod. Is that clear?”
I work my jaw to the side.
“Is that clear, Mikayla?” Mom practically shouts the question.
I sniff and look away from her, my insides writhing. “It’s clear. It’s fucking bullshit, but it’s clear!”
“Don’t you use that language with me. You’re lucky he’s even willing to give you a second chance after the way you treated Aimee.”
“It’s not fair,” I bite back. “Does no one care how she treated me?”
Mom rolls her eyes. “I’m sure she wasn’t that bad.”
“But I am?”
Her unimpressed scowl speaks volumes. Clenching my fists, I resist the urge to stamp my foot like a petulant child. But come on!
“You’re supposed to stand up for me. I’m your daughter. But you side with him every time. Who the hell makes their child join a sorority? Who the hell forces their child to go to a particular school?”
“Oh, stop being so dramatic. It was your choice.”
“It wasn’t my choice! You forced my hand. There’s no way Jarrod would have given me money toward any other college, and you made it abundantly clear that I would be the world’s worst daughter if I didn’t do what you wanted me to. I tried! For you.” I point at her. “But this isn’t who I am. I can’t be a Sig Be girl. I’m not like Megan.”
“You’re definitely not like Megan,” she mutters.
Her derogatory tone is poison ivy, and it’s an effort to keep the hurt from showing. “So you’re just giving up on me, then?”
Her nostrils flare as she looks away, her lips pinching into a thin line. “I’ve been trying to help you. Give you the best chances life can offer. But you’re so damn stubborn. Jarrod has been nothing but good to you, and all you’ve done is—”
“I don’t give a shit about Jarrod.” My anger spikes hard and fast. “I don’t care what he thinks. He’s not my dad!”
She whips back around to look at me, her eyes flashing. “No, your dad left you. He walked out the door, and he didn’t look back. You think he’d be willing to pay for your education?” She scoffs like that’s the most ludicrous thought in the world. “Jarrod’s not even blood, and he’s bending over backward to accommodate you.”
“Oh really? So why can’t he just pay for me to go to school, then? Why do I have to join this stupid sorority?”
“The sorority was to help you,” she snaps. “And I knew that if he didn’t put it in the contract you’d back out and ruin this opportunity for yourself. You’d fall into your old habits of hanging out with a bunch of loser guys who are going to do nothing but mess up your future. I want you to become somebody, not waste your life!”
“I’m not wasting my life. I know exactly where I’m going and—”
“I don’t want to hear it! All I know is that we can’t be a part of whatever it is you’re trying to achieve here. We won’t support you in throwing your life away.” She points to the shiny black car waiting on the curb. “Now, you will get in that car. We’re going to clean you up, and I’ll drive you to the Sig Be house myself.”
I stare at her for a long, thick beat. She’s standing there puffing after all that shouting and I’m reeling in disbelief. How can she not see me? Why is she so hell bent on turning me into something I’m not?
I can’t do it.
I can’t give into her demands this time.
“No.” I step back from her.
“No?” Mom’s mouth drops open. “Have you not heard anything I just said?”
“I heard every word.” My voice shakes, and I fight to keep it strong and even. “Now, you listen to me. I am not apologizing, because I am not sorry for leaving that house. I don’t belong there. And I don’t give two shits if Jarrod’s annoyed with me, or you think I’m throwing my life away. I don’t even want to be part of this dumb, blended family if I’m not allowed to be myself. So, you can take that contract and shove it up each other’s asses for all I care!”
Mom’s eyes flash as she sucks in a breath.
And then she cracks me across the face with her ring-clad hand.
She’s never slapped me before, and I’m tipped sideways by the unexpected blow.
“Hey!” Ethan roars from behind me. “Get away from her!”
I glance over my shoulder to see him charging. His face is mottled with this mix of horror and indignant rage.
Mom takes a quick step back from me, her eyes jumping to Ethan, before looking at me like she doesn’t even know who I am.
“You don’t want to be part of this family?” Her voice trembles, the tears on her lashes finally spilling over. “Fine. Then don’t be.” Shaking her head, she walks away from me just as Ethan jerks to a stop by my side.
“Are you okay?” His voice is kind of urgent, his eyes etched with worry as he studies my face.
I clench my jaw, watching my mother clip to the car, not even bothering to look back once.
The other guys shuffle around me, all glaring at the shiny SUV as it takes off down the road.
“Seriously, Mick. Are you okay?” Ethan asks again.
“No.” My voice quakes, and I swear if I cry right now, in front of all these guys, I’m gonna end myself.
Snatching the basketball off Asher, I throw it down with a loud roar. It hits the concrete with a sharp slap, then bounces high, swooping over my head as I walk away from the guys.
“Mikayla,” Ethan tries to call me back, but I shake my head, raising my hand to stop him when he walks after me.
“Give me a second.” I spin to face him, walking backward and shaking my head. “Just… please.” And then I take off before he can reach me. Sprinting off the court, I turn left, not even sure where this path leads.
I just need to find somewhere private.
The tears are building, ugly sobs making my stomach convulse as I try to keep them in.
Mom’s words ring inside my head, a deafening gong that reverberates through my body.
She doesn’t care if I’m not part of her family anymore.
She’s putting her stupid fiancé before her own flesh and blood… which means my time at Nolan U is about to expire.
And once again life proves me right—good things never last for me. And it’s all thanks to the people who are supposed to love me in spite of everything. Why are they the ones who are always the first to walk away?