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“Okay.”
I looked down at the flier to give myself a chance to gather my courage to ask him if he’d consider giving them a recommendation for me. I opened my mouth to ask, but then quickly closed it. This didn’t seem like the best place to ask him about the recommendation. Maybe I should see how I did on the exam and then make an appointment with him to discuss a recommendation.
I decided it would be best to walk away from the table and go get my textbooks so we could get out of here.
“Thank you for the time, Professor Grant. Have a good rest of the weekend, and I’ll see you Monday in class,” I said and started to walk away from the table.
“Mr. Andris.” I stopped and turned around. He gestured for me to come back to the table. He held his hand out, silently asking for the internship flier. When I handed it to him, he flipped it over and picked up a USC logo pen. “The reason they want junior status students is because they will have had several more classes than freshman or even an aggressive sophomore. This is the title of the book where more than half of the exam’s questions are derived from.” He jotted down the title in his perfect penmanship. He stood upright and handed me the flier along with the USC pen.
“Thank you. I appreciate it. We’re on our way to the bookstore now, so I’ll pick it up.”
“And, Mr. Andris … the exam is written, not multiple choice.” I nodded. That wouldn’t be a problem. “Leave the messy penmanship at home,” he warned.
Ah, got it. It was his way of telling me that if they couldn’t read a part of my answers, I’d be docked. I nodded and thanked him again for the time and the information. As Nic and I walked to the bookstore, I replayed my interaction with Professor Grant in my head. I thought things went okay, but now I really had to focus on the new material and cram for the test next Saturday.
Nic carried the textbooks I put in his arms as we walked up and down the aisles of books. My stomach dropped when I saw how thick the book was that Professor Grant said half the questions would come from. Nic was shocked too.
“Dude, you have to know everything in that book by Saturday?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Man, I’d wait on the internship and take that class in the summer. You can’t learn all that shit in a week.”
“Nic, it’s a good opportunity. I need to try.” I winced when saw the ninety-five-dollar price tag on the back of the book. “After the exam, I’ll return the book.”
“I can cram this week and will start as soon as we get home,” I told Nic as we got on the bus to head back home.
“After lunch. I’m taking you to lunch, remember?”
I nodded and smiled at him. I was glad not only were my brother and I on talking terms, but that he actually wanted to spend time with me too. I’d had a good time this morning, even though it was gathering items for the new semester. But everything was fine, minus seeing that fucking asshole Preston Pohl and having to smell his gross cologne. I hadn’t even been too upset about seeing Lucas Grant … mainly because he kind of pointed me in the right direction with the book. The best part of the day was spotting the paid internship opportunity. I needed that. Desperately.
Chapter Three
JUSTIN
I rubbed my eyes and stared at the time on my cell phone as I heard Rami cry out. It was three thirty in the morning and it sounded like she was having more leg spasms. Nic started to get out of bed, but I stopped him.
“I’m up, Nic. I’ll take care of her.”
“You’re studying.”
“I know. But I need to stretch,” I mumbled as I trudged out into the hallway. I bumped into Dad as he was coming out of his room. “I got it, Dad.”
“You sure, Justin?”
“Yes,” I replied.
Once in the living room, where I saw how violently Rami’s legs were shaking, adrenaline kicked in and I snapped out of my state of exhaustion. I hurried over and, instead of doing what Dad always told us to do, I leaned down and she kicked me in the face. Fuck! For a quick moment, I held the back of my hand against my face, close to my eye where her foot had connected. That was my own fault for not using the method Dad had taught us.
“I hate myself! Leave me alone!” she screamed as she purposely tried to kick at me with her shaking legs.
Fuck. I hated when she got like this, but I knew there was nothing she could do to control it. Even though we tried to encourage positive attitudes, the doctors said the anger and aggression were common traits kids with Batten disease suffer. The older kids with this disease got, the more their personalities started to shift.
“Stop touching me! Leave me alone,” she yelled while I tried to wrap my arms around her legs to prevent them from kicking me.
“Rami, I’m trying to help,” I calmly said.
Rami’s yelling and crying continued at the same level of intensity, bringing Dad and Nic into the living room. When I took my eyes off Rami to beg them silently for assistance, Rami threw the remote control at my face.
