Southern Secrets Society: The Grooming | #Suspense | RomePi™

͋ 12 ͋ Wednesday, May 26, 1993 (BWWM)

3 MORE DAYS

It was official. In three more days, Jolie would no longer be a child.

Legally, she would become an adult and no one would be able to stop her from doing what she wanted to do. She laughed to herself as she considered the fact that she already lived her life like an adult for a long time now.

With a job, a high school diploma, and a scholarship to attend the University of California at Berkeley, she was way ahead of the game.

Most people only noticed her accomplishments in the Arts because of the positive attention it brought to the school.

The average person had no idea that Jolie was number three in her senior graduating class. She had a 3.98 GPA and she was nominated for numerous academic awards. Art was like water to her. It never required her to study or do anything special to prepare to produce artistic works.

When she woke up every morning, the first part of her day was spent making notes and quick sketching ideas for different painting projects.

Scientists state that humans need air, food, and water to survive. Jolie needed art, air, water, and food in that order. If she wasn't able to create something, her life would become a gray miserable existence. Even the yards she cleaned provided her with living canvases on which to create something extraordinary.

Jolie continued working for many of her customers because it gave her the positive outlet she needed to see her ideas come to life and it provided her with the freedom to work on her own terms.

At the ripe old age of seventeen, she was her own boss and after two years of working nonstop and saving nearly all of the money she made, Jolie had enough in her bank account to live comfortably on campus with the help of a part-time job if she chose to get one.

Because the party raised quite a bit of money, Darcy, Jolie, and Leon would be able to safely take care of two years worth of college living expenses. It also opened the door to multiple scholarships and other offers from organizations affiliated with many of the leaders in the town who supported them.

Their educational finances were set. The only way they could fail was if they didn't properly utilize all the help that had been donated to them.

Everything had come together nicely and that was part of the reason Jolie wasn't worried about moving nearly two thousand miles away from her family.

During the big school breaks, she planned to come home to visit everyone.

With such great opportunities for the adventure of a lifetime, Jolie was ready to prove that she could find her success out in the big world.

In a few more months, Jolie would head to Berkeley, California. The thought of leaving her home was exciting and she was ready for the challenge. But, a deep depression threatened her happiness. She wasn't sure why it was wearing down her heart. It started as a dull rumble, but lately, it screamed so loud there was no way to ignore it.

Ben.

As much as she wanted to ignore her feelings, for once in her life she was unsuccessful at something. It was difficult to ignore her feelings for him. For two weeks she succeeded in not seeing or talking to him, but she only hurt herself more by doing that.

The energy that made her life fascinating dulled to a listless gray. At first, she believed all the excitement of graduation, growing up, and becoming an adult was the culprit of her energetic short circuit. In truth, she knew it was him. In her dreams, they were together every day but as soon as she opened her eyes, like a figment of her imagination, he was gone.