Through a strange series of encounters, a delinquent high schooler and upright university student find love. *****
No longer interested in clubbing, kissing girls, and committing petty crimes, 18-year-old Riley is trying to find meaning in his dull...
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"Riley, you're next," Ken Harris called. Riley's classmate huffed into his seat and bit his sandwich in half. "I got the counsellor," Ken answered his friends' questioning looks.
It was lunchtime and the entire class was forced to eat in the classroom as they were called individually to discuss their Future Plans forms with their homeroom teacher.
"Looks like Ms. Sharma saw through Kenny's bullshit," Jay remarked to Riley from a few desks away.
Ken, having clearly heard, gave Jay the finger. "Shut up, Stacks. Not everyone wants to take over their parent's business."
Jay nodded and shrugged with a smirk, "Yeah. Too bad for them." Riley's smart-mouthed friend caught the mandarin orange that was thrown at his head.
Riley entered Ms. Sharma's office and took it as a good sign that the counsellor was not there.
Ms. Sharma smiled as Riley sat down. "Riley, I'm glad we get to talk."
She probably says that to everyone, Riley thought cynically.
"Your other teachers and I were highly interested in what your form would look like. So your father came back over the break?"
Riley nodded, unsure of what to say. His teacher, the assistant principal, and the counsellor probably thought his address change meant his father had returned with enough money for a lifestyle change. "Yeah, but he left again."
The teacher's expression darkened. She caught herself and returned a sympathetic smile. "Of course, a lot of your classmates have parents away on business..." she trailed off before changing the subject. "So, tell me about these plans." The woman tapped the sheet of paper in the centre of the desk.
Riley explained that he wanted to be able to support himself and that with scholarships, little stood in the way of him taking the best route: getting a university degree. It was all completely true; he wanted to become someone who wouldn't burden Eran—someone more worthy of the successful Ph.D. student. Ms. Sharma seemed pleased and took his words as sincere.
"I am a bit concerned about your choice of university though—your grades were only average for some months. It's not about your intelligence. I just mean to say that your GPA would look a lot better if you had been serious about your studies before."
Riley wasn't surprised. Going to the same uni as Eran was somewhat of a dream. That was why his second choice was a more attainable institution.
"Luckily," she continued, "your chemistry teacher and I are willing to write you recommendations that will give you a pretty good boost. What do you think? How about it?"
"Why?" Riley asked skeptically. "Out of pity?"
His teacher scowled and leaned forward. "Of course not! You know we take the academics and efforts of our students very seriously and serve them with integrity." Riley was sure that was probably a direct quote from some teachers' pledge. "And you have made the effort and succeeded. We're all very proud when a student matures." Her smile returned. "You earned it." She leaned back and placed Riley's form face down on a stack of the others. She smiled silently for a while, probably giving Riley the opportunity for any questions or final comments.
