Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 24693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 99(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 99(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
“No, you fucking killed it.” She smiles. “So much so that I’m going to change my audition request to a minor role instead of a lead.”
“If I was so good, why was everyone so quiet?”
“Because you literally stole the oxygen out of the room,” she says. “With both parts. I think the judges chose you after two sentences.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“I’ll believe it for you.” She laughs. “See you back on campus later. Drinks on me, okay?”
She rushes back into the auditorium before I can answer.
I pull out my phone and scroll through my contacts, wanting to share the news with someone, but Jameson is the only person who comes to mind.
Ugh…
“Scarlett?” A familiar high-pitched voice calls out to me from behind. “Is that you?”
“Mom?” I turn around, and my stomach immediately drops to the floor. My heart resumes its breakout plan.
Looking like every bit of a wealthy woman with no worries, she’s picture perfect in a cream-colored pea coat and nude stilettos. Flipping her sleek brown hair over her shoulders, she strolls towards me with pursed lips.
“Um, hi.” I stammer. “What are you doing here?”
“I should be asking you the same thing.” She looks me up and down. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m just supporting a friend,” I say. “It’s audition day for her.”
“For her?” She narrows her eyes. “I could’ve sworn it was you stepping off that stage minutes ago.”
I swallow.
I don’t have a rebuttal for that; I don’t have any cards to play for when my house of lies collapses.
But it’s not supposed to be this soon…
“So?” She tilts her head. “Do you think you’ll get this part?”
“No, I…” I refuse to believe this is happening. “I was just supporting a friend. They let strangers audition as well, and I was just up there for fun, and—”
“Cut the shit, Scarlett.” She cuts me off. “How stupid do you think I am?”
Silence.
“I called your dorm at Harvard this morning to confirm that you’d received a birthday care package,” she says. “So imagine my surprise when they said you’d dropped out months ago and chose to pursue a different path elsewhere—a path that has nothing to do with the business major that you’ve been telling your father about.”
“And not only that—” She leans forward and presses a finger against my chest. “But you left behind a friend in the library who reroutes your phone calls whenever your father and I call your room phone.”
“I can explain.”
“I doubt it.” Her face is red. “You can’t even admit to the real reason why you’re here in New York, in this very theater.”
“Good job in there, Scarlett!” “Yeah, you killed it today!” Two actors pass us by, smiling and waving, but I don’t dare to move a muscle.
“I guess you did very well today then.” My mother glares at me. “Should I be proud of something like that?”
I wish you were…
I struggle to suck in a slow, unsteady breath—to prevent myself from passing out.
Then again, maybe that’s not a terrible idea.
“Do you have any idea what your father would do if he found out about what you’ve been doing?” Her eyes are locked on mine. “Any fucking clue?”
“You haven’t told him?”
“Of course not.” She scoffs. “And I’m never going to, because it’s already been fixed.”
“What do you mean?”
“I called in a favor,” she says, her tone ice cold. “You will return to Harvard in January for the spring semester, and you will finish the degree. You will spend the final weeks of this year, packing up your things and enjoying the last bit of freedom you will ever have before I’m forced to visit you twice a week on campus.”
“Mom—”
“Don’t interrupt me when I’m talking.” She glares at me. “Should your father catch wind of you being away from campus, Harvard has agreed to play along about you being here on an extended field study.”
“What?”
“Yes, you’re welcome,” she says. “All it took was a very generous donation and me pre-paying the remainder of your tuition in full. Now, say thank you, mother.”
“I don’t want to go back to Harvard,” is all I can say.
“Did you hear me ask what you wanted to do?” She shrugs. “I’ve made the plan, you’ll follow it, and you’ll also follow me out of here and to the car.”
“Now that I know how much time you’ve been wasting, you can come to The Hamptons early and help me prepare for your father’s party.”
“I’m not going back to Harvard.” I try to keep my voice firm, but polite. “There’s nothing for me there.”
“There’s plenty there.” She serves me a fake smile. “You don’t have to like it. You just have to pass the classes and commit to doing what’s best for you.”
“If you really want what’s best for me, you’ll let me find my own way,” I say. “You and my brothers might like what he has planned for your lives, but—”