Page 5 of Fortuity
Her hazel eyes gleamed with determination. “Listening and hearing are two completely different things, and I really need you to hearmenow.”
“Okay.” I shifted on the bed, twisting so it was easier to hold her gaze. “You have my fullattention.”
“You qualify for a full waiver of tuition and fees if you attend a state school.” My jaw dropped, and the good news kept coming. “And I’m almost positive I can get you additional financial support through the Postsecondary Education Services and Supportprogram.”
“What kind ofsupport?”
Her lips tipped up in a grin. “The kind that will cover the majority of your living expenses while you’re incollege.”
“How much is amajority?”
Her grin turned into a huge smile. “Twelve hundred and fifty-six dollars amonth.”
“Holy shit!” I fell back on the mattress and stared up at the ceiling, tears filling my eyes and making the view hazy. Free tuition. Enough money to cover my living expenses each month if I was careful. It was more than I could have hoped for, but the pessimistic side of me just had to ask, “What’s thecatch?”
“Don’t age out of the system. Stay in extended foster care until you turn twenty-one. Get continued case management services and judicial review every sixmonths.”
I turned my head and blinked at her. “That’sit?”
“That’sit.”
“Would I be able to keep you as my caseworker?” She nodded, and I swiped at my cheeks as my heart started to fill with hope. “Then that’s a downside I could live with.” In my situation, it sounded more like a godsend because I was nowhere ready to stand on my own two feet...even if it meant I’d have to go to anotherfosterhome.
She reached out and squeezed my hand. “Since it’d only be short-term until you moved into the dorms, I might even be able to get you back into the last foster home you were in before you needed to be admitted to thehospital.”
It was like she’d read my mind and already found a solution that more than worked for me. “That would beamazing.”
“I can’t make any promises, but I’ll do my best,” she swore. “And if it doesn’t work out, I swear to you that I’ll find you a good placement. Somewhere you’llbesafe.”
“Hey,” I whispered, reaching out to squeeze her hand like she’d just done with mine. “What happened to me wasn’t yourfault.”
“Sometimes it feels like it is,” she admittedsoftly.
“You came when I called, no questionsasked.”
“But—”
“And you made sure the rest of the kids were moved to better homes. Right away,” Iremindedher.
“Ijust—”
“Nope.” I shook my head and leaned back against my pillows. “No more looking back and thinking ‘what if?’ because it won’t do either of us any good. What happened is already done, and I’ve been given a second chance. Let’s focus on making the mostofit.”
She heaved a deep sigh before nodding. “The best way to do that is to get you enrolled incollege.”
“Is two weeks enough time? What all do I need to do to apply?” I’d sat through the usual presentations and talks in high school about college, but I’d never paid much attention because I didn’t think it was even a remote possibilityforme.
She grabbed the laptop the hospital had been letting me use off the rolling, over-the-bed table and handed it to me. “Figure out which state schools you’d like to attend, go to their websites, and fill out the online applications. I’ve talked to your guidance counselor who assured me she’d have your transcript ready to send out as soon as you let her know where you’reapplying.”
She bent down, pulled an envelope out of her bag, and held it out to me. “And I wrote a letter of recommendation in case youneedone.”
Reading it in front of her would have been way too awkward, but I was dying to know what she’d written about me. “What doesitsay?”
“I told them about your childhood and how you rose above circumstances which would crush some adults. How you’ve become an amazing young woman despite odds that were stacked against you. And that they would be lucky to have you as a student there because I have no doubt you will find a way to accomplish anything you set your mind todoing.”
“You left out the part where I can leap tall buildings in a single bound?” I joked, feeling a little uncomfortable with being the recipient of so manycompliments.
She reached out and pretended she was going to take the letter back from me. “I can always add it in if you think it’d improveyourodds.”
