Where Life Takes Us

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Two

A V E R Y

Up until recently, everything in my life was planned out carefully by my parents. They decided what I wore, how I styled myself, and which people were allowed to influence me. They believed that they should control over what classes I took, what grades I received in school, what college I would be attending, what career I would work towards, and what my future would eventually be.

When I finally confessed that I didn't want to go into accounting like they had planned, it was hard to ignore the look of pure disappointment flush over their faces with angry eyebrows and downturned lips. It was even worse hearing them yell harsher words at me than usual that made me question my place in our family and my worth as a person.

For a few days, I struggled in finding the energy to get out of bed, eat, dress up, and go to school. But even without the support of my parents, I surprisingly didn't feel as alone as I thought I would be.

        I had Noah, who was there for me as we ranted about our parents while I helped him with his schoolwork. I had Willow and Ellie, who distracted me from stressing too much about school by having trips to the mall and eating out. I had Mel, who frequently had video chats with me as we updated the other on what we had been up to.

Most of all, I had Wade. A part of me was scared that he would see how much I struggled to stay afloat with my parents' disapproval in my choices. But instead, he gave me even more reasons to fall in love with him.

        Whenever he picked me up for school, we had a five minute check-in where he would ask if I had a hard time getting out of bed, if I ate anything, and how I was feeling. He never left my side when I did my work in the school library and always reminded me to text or call him if things ever felt like too much.

        Sometimes I wondered why he didn't leave knowing that I felt too dependent on everyone, but I was grateful every time he chose to stay.

       "You got enough papers there?" Noah pointed out, as he placed his laptop on the dining table and sat across from me.

        I had been sitting there for nearly two hours, sorting through all the papers with information about financial bursaries. My computer had at least ten different tabs open where I alternated my time between working on an English assignment and studying for an upcoming sociology test. My agenda was filled with notes and highlighter marks to represent due dates for projects, deadlines for financial scholarships, dates of shifts for the local fast food place that I was now working part-time at, and tutoring sessions for students at school that I came up with to earn extra money.

        "This isn't even half of it," I sheepishly laughed, sifting through the papers and separating them into their own piles.

        By the amused look on his face, Noah was about to respond with a witty remark. But then our heads turned to the staircase where our parents made their way down from upstairs.

        It was an early Saturday morning but as usual, my parents were going in to the office to work. It was never out of the ordinary to see them with their wrinkle-free business attire and their hair styled perfectly into place without a flyaway in sight.

"Noah, we already discussed you would leave your unit test last night for your mother and I to see. Where is it?" Our father sternly reminded him, as he adjusted his shirt's cuff sleeves.

"Sorry, I forgot," Noah answered, looking over his shoulder with a guilty expression. Then he turned back to me, rolled his eyes, and unapologetically mouthed, Not sorry. "I'll leave it on the table later."