“Yeah, I know…”
They glanced at each other, and I knew I was about to be hit with nothing I wanted to be hit with. “Noah Matthews came over to see us last night. He said Marnie’s requested to stay in school. She asked him to sign her note rescinding her acceptance to M.I.T. She’s decided she wants to go to CalTech instead.”
My brows dropped down so low, a headache almost instantly appeared. “What? No way, that’s not possible.”
My dad cleared his throat. “You didn’t know about this? Noah seemed to think this could be coming from you, which is why we wanted to have a talk.”
“What? No! Marnie wouldn’t do this without telling me, and she wouldn’t do it, period, he’s lying. Marnie and I made a pact for when she goes to college and I’m drafted.”
Mom rolled her lips together, and I could tell she wasn’t convinced. “He seemed pretty sure. He said she’d told him the courses were better at CalTech. He wasn’t happy; she’s his little girl and he thinks she’s throwing her future away.”
“Guys, I’m telling you, Marnie wouldn’t do this.” My jaw ground hard. “I wouldn’t let her either, that’s why we made a pact. She’s going to Boston, and we’ll see each other as often as we can.”
But they carried on as though I hadn’t spoken. “The draft is in a few days, Jupiter, and it’s going to be full-on. You’ll barely have time to come home, let alone travel to Boston. We’ll support you either way, but it’s not just your life we’re talking about. Marnie’s not seventeen yet.”
“Mom, she’s seventeen in a few weeks,” I snapped. “We’ll figure it out. But I’m telling you, Noah Matthews is full of shit. Marnie is going to M.I.T.”
“Okay, we just wanted to check,” she conceded, and then she smiled. “Let’s grill tonight, ask Marnie over.”
I stood up, needing to move; needing to think. Needing to get away from this conversation, I thumbed behind me. “You guys done? I’m going to my room.”
I took off before they could reply, sprinting up the stairs two at a time, and slammed my door behind me.
What the fuck?
We’d talked about a pact.
I walked over to the window, then fell onto the bed.
Where had this come from?
When we first got together she would talk about M.I.T. all the time; her courses, what the campus was like, the library… but if Ireally thought about it, she hadn’t mentioned it for a few weeks. Not since that brief conversation we’d had about CalTech.
And the last time I’d talked about visiting Boston, she’d changed the subject.
A dull gnawing started up in my belly. Ten minutes ago, I’d been so certain Noah Matthews was lying, but it was possible there was a shred of truth.
I jumped up from my bed; lying down wasn’t doing it. Thinking would be easier if I was standing.
“EMERSON!”
My bedroom door flew open; it wasn’t a lucky guess she’d been walking past, I’d heard the floorboard creek outside my room. She was either listening or passing by weirdly close to the wall.
“You bellowed?”
I gestured to the bed. “Sit.”
She was too nosy not to be a little inquisitive about what I wanted from her. I linked my arms behind my head as I tried to figure out what to do, and how I could do it.
If I asked Marnie straight out, she’d want to know where the information came from. She’d blow up at her dad, who in turn would hate me even more than he already did.
Alternatively, she’d blow up at me, and I didn’t want that either.
If I could figure a way to find out whether it was the lie I hoped it was without Marnie knowing, then I wouldn’t cause any unnecessary distress. Then we could all go about our lives as planned.
Dodgers and M.I.T.
“Jupe, can you stop pacing and tell me what you called me in for? I’m meeting Mallory at the mall and I don’t have all day!”
