“Glad to hear that.”
I shrugged. “After my exam tomorrow and my meeting with the math chair, I’ll have to figure out what my future will be.” But it would have Josh in it, so that was one certainty.
Madeline coached me on what I should or shouldn’t say in my meeting while I ate my dinner. She didn’t admit it, but I think she’d been through something similar in her own life. Then I went to my room, determined to study no matter how much my brain wanted to wander.
I rewarded myself for getting through the material by texting Josh. And finally, I slept.
I sat on my bed, staring at my phone. It was a good thing my exam was over, because my head was spinning.
I hadn’t aced the exam, but I thought I’d done okay. I’d had a hard time focusing since I was meeting the math chair after it, and that meeting had me worried.
For nothing. The woman had understood my issues and knew the prof in question had problems. He was more worried about his own publishing than the career of his students, and his attitude toward women was something the chair had dealt with herself. If he hadn’t had tenure, I wasn’t sure he’d still be there.
After the holiday break, I was being switched to a new advisor and the chair promised it would be someone I could work with.
That had been an incredible relief. I’d thanked her profusely. And with that hindrance out of the way, I knew I was going to stay in the program. I did want this. And fuck what the purists and applied maths people thought—I was going to teach. To share what I loved about math with others and help the ones who didn’t deal with traditional learning to love it too.
I was ready to take on anything, even Mrs. Middleton.
Chapter 32
A Place for You in Hockey
Katie
I’d messaged Josh all day long, keeping him posted on what happened while he told me what was going on at his end. I was going to the hospital to see him, but first there was something I needed to do.
He’d stood up to his mother, and now I needed to let my parents know what was happening.
I let out a breath and called.
“Katie! How was your exam? We’re looking forward to seeing you next week.”
“Is Dad there?”
Her voice was wary. “I can get him.”
“Please do.”
Once Dad was on the phone, I started with the good stuff. “My exams went well. I didn’t tell you I’d been having a problem with my advisor. I just spoke to the chair of the department today, and I’ll have someone new next semester.”
“Oh Katie, that’s terrible. Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I didn’t want you to worry.”
“We worry anyway. We want to know what’s going on with you. Not just the good stuff.”
“I know, I should have told you. There was a lot at stake. When I finally reached out to the chair, I was afraid I might be shooting my academic future in the foot. And that would upset you.”
Two gasps. “Are you sure you should have done that? What if he found out?”
“There’s a process for dealing with this. I didn’t think I’d get through the program with my old advisor anyway, so I reached out to the chair with my concerns, and it paid off.”
They didn’t respond to that right away. My parents weren’t big on risks.
“There’s something else. I’m dating Josh.”
I heard the indrawn breaths again. Then a long pause. “That doesn’t seem like a good idea. What with everything you have going on with school?—”
