“Look,” I said. “Maybe I’m not as enthusiastic about the plan as I was when I was thirteen, but I’ve spent the past four years of my life working toward this.”
Alec shrugged. “So what? Plans change. You have to learn to adapt.”
Was he being serious right now? “Alec, I can’tnotgo to Stanford.”
“Sure you can,” he replied. “Your problem isn’t that youhaveto go. It’s that you’re afraid of not knowing what you’ll do if you don’t.”
“That’s not true, and even if it were, I think it’s a reasonable concern. Boomer’s known he’s going to be an engineer all his life, and ever since Asha’s blog blew up, she’s wanted to be a digital communications major. What would I do? I don’t have any interests like that.”
“Yeah you do,” Alec said. “You’re artistic. What about your jewelry?”
“But where’s the career in that? I need to be able to support myself when I graduate.”
Even though I was no longer focused on studying, I turned over the card.
The correct answer is:
Potential Energy
Alec pursed his lips. “I don’t see the point in pursuing a career that doesn’t inspire you. If you don’t know what that career is yet, so what? Isn’t that the point of college—to figure things out? Felicity, you’ll never be happy if you’re busy chasing someone else’s success.”
I turned away from Alec.
I knew he meant well, and that he was only trying to help me, but he didn’t get it. And he never would. He hadn’t grown up in a household that struggled to make ends meet. Even before Alec Williams became a multi-platinum-selling musician, his family had been loaded because of his dad’s business. He could afford to chase his dreams. I wasn’t so fortunate.
“Maybe you’re right,” I said at last. “But not everyone can enjoy that luxury.”
***
Theoretically, we should’ve made the drive from San Francisco to Seattle in one day, but a never-ending traffic jam put us way behind schedule. I could tell Alec was struggling to stay awake, and at seven o’clock, he stopped at one of the interstate rest areas so we could discuss our options.
“How much longer do you think?” I asked as Alec found a parking spot.
The lot was empty with the exception of a family and their minivan. The dad was in the process of repacking the rooftop cargo carrier, while the mom tried to wrangle all five kids back into the car. Watching them was stressful.
Alec dropped his hands from the wheel and stretched. “We still have four hours to go.”
With a yawn, Boomer leaned up between the front seats. “There’s a vending machine over there. If I grab a soda, I can probably handle another shift.”
“I have my license, you know,” Asha said. “Why don’t you let me take over? I can make it the rest of the way.” She sounded as enthused at the prospect as I felt about being stuck in the car for another two hundred and fifty miles.
“Maybe we should stop for the night,” I suggested.
“Where?” Asha asked, but what she meant washow. We’d gotten lucky that Kelsey was nice enough to let us stay at her house, because none of us could afford a hotel. Well, not including Alec. But I didn’t expect him to pay for our rooms. He was already doing so much for me. I couldn’t ask for anything more.
“Actually,” Alec said, perking up in his seat. “I know a place we can stay. Hold on a sec.” He plucked his cell out of the cup holder and climbed out of the car. Whoever he was calling answered right away, because Alec saidheybefore moving out of earshot.
“Who do you think he’s talking to?” Asha asked.
I shrugged off her question, although I was curious too. It wasstrange that Alec needed to make his call in private, especially considering he’d had a heated conversation with King over the phone in my presence. I hadn’t learned anything about the mysterious Double O Seven person who’d texted him earlier or what Safe House was.
Why was Alec being so secretive?
The conversation only lasted a minute. “All right,” said Alec as he slipped back into the car. “We’re good to go.”
“And where exactly is that?”
His smile grew crooked. “You’ll see.”
