The Babysitter » styles

XXXIII

My phone buzzed loudly, waking me from my slumber. I reached for it, my hand slapping the table a couple of times before I grabbed it, accepted the call, and put it to my ear.

"Hello?" I answered, aware of how groggy I sounded.

"May I speak with Clara Elliot?" the voice on the other line asked. They had an accent and they were a male.

"Speaking." I slowly got up from the couch, untangling myself from the sleeping Harry. His mouth was slightly agape and his hair was even more unruly than usual. I smiled fondly before stepping into the kitchen so as not to wake him.

"Hello, Clara," the man said. "It's Tom from NYU, I'm just calling to confirm your registration to our journalism program."

I blinked. My what?

"Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about," I said slowly.

"No?" Tom sounded genuinely compassionate, I guess is the word I could use, as opposed to being annoyed that I was wasting his time.

"May I ask to learn more about my, uh, registration?" I leaned against the counter, one arm crossed across myself. How did I get registered to an amazing university for the program that I dreamed of, without me knowing? Was this some sort of prank?

"Yes, of course." I heard the clicking of a keyboard in the background. "Just the other day, we received your submission and portfolio under our late entrance submission thread. Now, normally, we don't accept applications this late; however, your submission really caught our interest. You really have a knack for journalism."

Was this a dream? They liked my journal articles? I racked my brain for any possible solution to this. The only person who had copies of my mock articles was Allie. I suppose my parents also had access to them, but I quickly ruled out that option. There was absolutely no way in hell.

"Sorry, but I can't pay for that," I said, a sad tone having crept into my voice. I was sure the man had heard.

"Your first year has already been paid for," he responded. "In fact, your whole four year program has already been paid off."

I gawked silently. What?!

Tom chuckled slightly. "It seems that you're quite unaware about this whole thing?"

"Do you have access to who paid it off?" I asked, biting the nails on one hand nervously.

This didn't seem like the type of thing for Allie to do, though. Yes, she had been pushing for me to attend university with her, but she didn't have that much money. She was lucky her parents were paying for her education; it would be pushing it to ask them to pay for me as well. The only other person I knew who was well off enough to pay for four years of university was currently sleeping in the room next door.

"Sorry, I do not have access to those files," Tom said apologetically.

"Oh, okay." I removed my hand from my mouth. "Well, thank you. Is it fine if I think about it?"

"Of course," he said. "You can accept the offer online, so you don't have to call again if you make up your mind, just make sure if you decide that you want to accept the offer, do so by the end of this week." He proceeded to give me the online login information, and then the call ended.

I stood in the kitchen for a moment longer, trying to process and think about everything that had just happened, before I headed back over to the living room to question Harry.

He was still sleeping, sprawled out on the couch, filling up the space that I had previously occupied. Soft snores were emitting from his slightly agape mouth.