Heart To Heal

XLIX.

Chapter Forty Nine.

"You go first." Zee urged.

"No, you go first." Xavia said back.

"How about we both go at the same time."

"Fine."

Xavia and Zealand sat in one of the designated study rooms that their school had, both of them having their laptops in front of them. They both received an email from Clark Atlanta University, regarding whether they got accepted in or not.

Xavia had only applied to three schools in total— CAU, PVAMU, and LSU. Meanwhile, Zee applied to seven— CAU, TXSU, GSU, UH, XULA, SBCC, and NYU. Eddie was always on his ass about his grades being up to par and going to college. That was one of the only things Zealand appreciated because after India died, he had no motivation to even try in school. Half of the time, he would skip class or be asleep. Maybe those ass whoopings weren't so bad in the end.

"Ready?" Xavia asked, and Zealand nodded.

"One...two...three."

They clicked on the emails at the same time. Scanning over the paragraph, both of their eyes widened as the word Accepted stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Oh snap, I got in!"

"Me too! Oh my God!" Xavia cheered as she excitedly bounced in her seat. They then hugged one another tightly.

"Man, I can't believe it! My first college acceptance of many." Zee said, staring at the screen in awe still.

"I'm proud of you, babe."

"I'm proud of you too, ma. I'm proud of both of us." He grabbed her hand and raised it up to his lips, kissing the back of it.

••

"Not too tight, now." Rose instructed as Xavia began to braid her grandmother's hair.

"Nana, I know what I'm doing." Xavi said, waving her off.

"Mhm. Anyways, how was school today?"

"It was good. Oh! Forgot to tell you, I was accepted into CAU."

"Congratulations, sweet pea! Honey, I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you! Zealand got in as well."

"Aww, isn't that cute. Y'all will be there together." Rose cooed.

"That's if we both decide to go there. Zealand applied to six other schools and I applied to two others."

"Clark Atlanta isn't your first pick?" Her grandmother inquired.

"I mean, I don't really have a first pick. I was leaning more towards Prairie View, though."

"Well, wherever you decide to go I'll be cheering you on. I'm so glad you changed your mind about college. I think it'll be a great experience for you, Xavi."

"Thank Nana, that means a lot. I told my parents earlier and they literally started screaming. Momma even cried a little bit."

"Of course she did. That damn Xena is so emotional." Rose shook her head.

"That's where I get it from." Xavi pointed out with a laugh, adding the first piece of braiding hair into Rose's feed in braid.

"Trust me, I know." Her grandmother chuckled. "Anywho, what does Arnecia have planned once she graduates and has the baby?"

"She said she wants to go to school for massage therapy."

"I can see her doing that. I'm happy that she's still interested in having a career path despite everything that has happened in her life within the past few months."