Mask of Celibacy

Chapter 22

My gift arrived in the mail on Saturday before my birthday party, addressed to me from Holy Cross. When I tore open the letter, there it stood in black and white.

"Oh, my God!" I cried.

Mom rushed over to me, not even bothering to correct my language. "What is it? What happened? Did you get in?" she asked in quick succession.

"No, not yet," I admitted, "but they invited me for an overnight stay."

"They changed their minds?" she asked, almost more excited than me.

"Yes!"

"Maybe someone canceled at the last minute," said Grandad.

He gave me a shoulder squeeze while Mom and I hugged each other. For once, I didn't even feel self-conscious.

"I told you, dear," said Mom, "the Lord acts in mysterious ways."

Indeed.

"Now who are you going to be staying with?" She screened the invitation like a hawk. "Who is this Helen Delaney?"

"Mom!"

"Remember what we discussed earlier, Carm?" asked Grandad in a gruff tone.

Mom gave me a kind smile. "I'm just making sure you'll be safe."

"She's one of the people who gives tours all the time," I replied. "You can even give her a call--"

Grandad and Mom exchanged a glance that fought an entire argument. One where he told her to stop fussing or she'd drive me away and she told him that she'd die if Helen Delaney killed me and dumped me in an alleyway.

He won.

Mom held her head high. "If she does these things all the time, I don't see the harm."

My eyes bulged. "Really? I can go?"

"You're eighteen now, Jess." Grandad looked at me from over the rims of his glasses. "Of course you can go."

I squealed and gave Mom such an effusive hug that I almost knocked the poor woman over. "Oh, my gosh! This is going to be so amazing."

"My brother was one of the Jesuits, you know."

How could I ever forget? You mention it every five seconds.

"He was such a bright young man. Skipped two grades." Mom draped her shoulder around me. "They'll give you such a great education. I'd be proud if you decided to go there."

Oh, brother! I'll look like such a dumb-ass if I don't get accepted.

I gave her a wary look. "Well, it's a tough school to get into."

"God will provide."

"You'll make it," added Grandad with a determined gruffness. "I believe in you."

I gave them a grateful smile. "Mind if I go on the computer to check my email? I want to make sure Care will be able to make it to the party."

"All right, but only for half an hour." Mom gave me that stern look that told me I couldn't stay even a moment longer. "This is a family day."

"Of course, but Care is family."

"That she is, dear. Go ahead."

Running down into the basement, I booted the computer and hopped online. Both Eric and Care had already signed in. I didn't even get a chance to write her a message before my computer dinged.

Little_Linguist: heyyyyy Jess! Happy birthday again! :D

CelibateForLife: hey! you coming today?