“Now, come.” She placed her hands on my shoulders, ushering me toward a door. “The limo is waiting. We will discuss your questionable life decisions when we get home.”
Of course.I’d caused enough embarrassment for one evening. Now, they wanted to keep me quiet, keep me hidden. Smother any hint of scandal.
I wanted to run, but I knew this was something that couldn’t be avoided. I’d put off this conversation long enough, and now it was time to face the consequences of my decisions.
The drive home started off in tense silence. Hunter was texting with someone, angling his screen away from me so I wouldn’t see. His date had left with someone else—judging from the fact that she wasn’t riding back with us—but he didn’t seem to care. Dad was immersed in his phone, and Mom was busy reapplying her lipstick.
Dread swirled in my gut, but I tried to steel myself. I tried to remind myself that I was brave, confident, smart, talented. I hadn’t made this decision on a whim. And even if I had, it was my decision to make.
I finally cracked. “Can we just get this over with?”
Dad stared at his phone a moment longer before switching it off and lifting his head. “I spoke with Larry, and he’s willing to attribute your absence to medical reasons. Now that you have recovered, you will rededicate yourself to your premed studies at UCLA.”
I stared at him.Hard.Had he not been listening to a word I’d said earlier? Had I been speaking a foreign language?
It was now or never. I hadn’t come this far to give up. It was time to be brave. To be bold. To embrace my decisions and my dreams. To be the woman Xander thought I was, the woman I wanted to be.
“No.” That one word echoed off the walls of the limo, ricocheting. I didn’t look away, didn’t flinch.
“What do you mean, no?” Dad asked at the same time Mom said, “Katherine Grace, what on earth has gotten into you?”
“I’m not going back, and I’m not dropping out of LA CAD.” I took a deep breath and straightened. I could do this. Iwoulddo this.
Dad’s face was turning a deep shade of red, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him this angry. “You will return to classes at UCLA on Monday, or you will be cut off.”
Hunter crossed his arms over his chest, his legs crossed at the ankle. “Seeing as she receives distributions from a trust fund, I don’t think you can make such claims.”
I wanted to hug him. Even though I knew he was hurt I hadn’t told him what was going on, he was still there for me, still defending me. He always had, and I knew he always would. Which made me feel even worse for not telling him.
“I can, and I will. Katherine has not fulfilled her end of the bargain—art is not an approved major under the terms of the trust.”
Unbelievable.
While that may be true, I knew it didn’t matter. My parents would never take me and my career choice seriously. It wasn’t a business degree like my brother’s, or the law like Lily’s. It was art. It was unworthy.Iwas unworthy.
Hunter leaned forward, getting in Dad’s face. I tugged on his arm, tired of the fight. I just wanted the evening to be over.
“Hunter, it’s fine.” I turned to my parents. “You’ve never been supportive of my art, so I don’t know why I expected this to be any different. And while I’m sorry for lying, sorry for not owning up to what I wanted earlier, I will never apologize for following my dreams.”
Dad lifted his chin and turned to glance out the window. “Stop being so emotional.”
“Emotional?” I leaned forward, unable to hold back anymore. “Thisis not emotional. This is me standing up for what I want, what I believe. If I were a man—if I were Hunter—you’d applaud me for being assertive. But since I’m a woman, you attack me for being ‘emotional.’ But yeah, maybe I’m emotional because this is my passion.”
My hands were shaking, and I couldn’t believe I’d actually said those words.
The limo pulled up to my parents’ house, and Dad pushed open the door before the vehicle came to a full stop. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him so mad. But I was just as angry, and I followed him out of the limo, fuming.
He couldn’t ignore me and hope this would go away. For once, I wasn’t just going to fall in line and do what he wanted.
“Dad, stop.” I grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at me, to acknowledge me and my words.
His eyes were hard when he stared down at where I was touching him. The anger was gone, replaced by cool indifference. “I think we should table this discussion until you’ve had time to calm down.”
I dropped my hand and took a step back, feeling as if I were seeing my dad for the first time. And I didn’t like the man before me. Even though Xander had been hurt by my actions, disappointed even, I knew he still supported me. Just like my brother. My dad, on the other hand… Hunter wrapped his arm around my shoulders, perhaps sensing the crushing weight of my disappointment.
“I’ll always be too young, too emotional, too…something, won’t I?”
I didn’t hear Dad’s answer, my skirt swishing behind me as I turned. And for the first time in my life, I didn’t care.
