I’ll get back to you about what I have.
I texted my roommate, Big Tad, since he was around for break, about letting me know how much I had there. Yeah, I’d sell Clegg what I had at the house, give Grace what I had at the lab, and all my notes, then get out of the business.
My phone rang again, and my heart skipped a beat. It wasn’t Mom calling. It was one I’d been waiting for.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hi there. This is Deidre from Briar University. I just wanted to give you a call to respond to all your inquiries, and make sure we can get everything settled before the new semester starts,” she replied in a thick, cheerful, Southern twang.
Hope bloomed inside me. Student Services was finally back at work. Thank goodness. There was only so much my professors and advisor could do without them.
“Thank you. What else do you still need?” I asked, taking another sip of coffee.
“Congrats on your mating. I see your bond status has been updated. Thank you for doing that. I can’t tell you how many people we have to remind. We can’t do anything for mated students if there’s no proof you’re mated,” she replied with a happy little chuckle.
“Great, so you can put that in my academic file?” I asked.
“Yes, we’ve got all that set up. You’ve got a requirement swap and a hybrid exemption pending?” she added.
“Yes, ma’am.” I’d been doing a lot of work with my advisor and mentor, trying to get everything figured out. Also, I’d filled out more PhD applications, adding a compelling essay about having a pack, and trying to support everyone’s dreams, while not letting mine fall by the wayside.
That essay had been entirely Verity’s idea.
“Everything should go through just fine. Do you need family and pack housing?” she asked. “Right now, there’s a waitlist, but I can see what I can do.”
“Not unless it’s free.” Was it?
She laughed. “Oh, Hun, I wish it was.”
“I’ll be living off campus. Oh, I need to update all my emergency contacts and everything, but I’ll just do that online.” I opened the portal while I was talking to her. I’ve been meaning to do it and I haven't.
“I’ll send you the link of the extra support services we offer for our mated students,” she added.
I logged into my student portal. Shit. My parking pass was due. So were lab fees. Well, Grace had sent me back-to-school money and those were back-to-school expenses.
The helpful lady went over a bunch of stuff. As she talked, I updated my emergency contact information and various permissions. I didn’t need my dad on there anymore.
We finished our conversation and when I went into my academic portal, I saw that I now had the buttons to request going hybrid and the swap.
Nice.
If all these things went through, and I was able to do my research here, I think I could get away with being on campus two days most weeks.
Which meant keeping my place in Research Circle. How would I afford two rents without working? Maybe I could get away with sleeping in the hidden lab? Or someplace else? I did know the bestplaces to hide, given how many years I’d spent exploring there as a kid.
When I finished with her, I filled everything out and emailed my advisor and mentor updates.
My phone rang again. Not the prison. Still, my stomach sank. London was calling. Or more specifically, my omega dad. I’d been avoiding him, too.
“Hi, Dad, is everything okay?” I answered.
“Since when do I have to call you only because something’s wrong? I miss talking to you. I know it’s winter break, but I wouldn’t mind an update on things–like PhD applications or what you did over Christmas?” Worry tinged his voice.
“I went to Switzerland with my friends, to go skiing and to a music festival for free,” I replied.
“If we’d known you were in Europe we’d have tried to see you. You know, I had a really interesting conversation with your little brother Chance…”
Yep. I knew where this was going.
