What's Enough?

Chapter 118

The next day at school, I find myself sitting in Ms. Rodriguez's office, waiting for her to input my community service hours into the system. "Done," she then clicks the enter button. "50 done 50 more to go,"

"Yup,"

"How is Ryder?" she asks me.

"Uh, he's okay. As okay as he can be,"

She looks at me with understanding eyes, "Have you spoken to the cops recently? Did they ever find the person who shot him?"

I shake my head, "No, they haven't found him yet. The investigation is still open; the last time I talked to them was the day after I left the hospital. They stopped past the house," They asked me question after question, and I told them lie after lie, "They said if they had any more questions, they would reach out to me again," I'm so happy they haven't. Talking to them made my anxiety shoot through the roof. I just knew they would find out I was lying and somehow connect me to Travis and the dealership but surprisingly, they haven't.

"Well, I hope they catch him; I'm sure this town would be a lot safer knowing he's behind bars," I don't say anything; I just give her a small smile. "So I know that we kind of went ten steps back with the college plan because of the whole NYU thing,"

Just thinking about what my father did not only makes me sick, it makes me want to burst into tears.

"We need a plan B. You're so far behind in applications. Most of them close at the end of the month." she informs me. "We need to get you applied somewhere before we go on break,"

I scratch my head and say, "I'm uh, I'm not going to go to college,"

She's taken back by my words, "Why not?"

I shrug my shoulders, "I don't think it's for me,"

She tilts her head to the side, "NYU was for you; you wanted to go there. Now all of a sudden, college isn't for you," her eyes search mine trying to find answers, "What's really going on?"

I take a deep breath, "I can't afford college,"

She almost laughs at my words, "You Jayda King, daughter to a millionaire businessman and a well-known Lawyer,"

I twitch as irritation invades me. "No, me, Jayda! My parents have money. But I have nothing to my name, a trust fund maybe, but a trust fund with their money, a trust fund I have no intention of using,"

She nods her head slowly, understanding, "I see, so you want to go to college, but you want to do it independently? Without your parent's help?"

"Yes,"

"I can help you with that," she says with a huge smile; the bell then rings, signaling that it's time for lunch. "Come see me Friday,"

"Okay," I stand from the chair and then walk out of the room.

...

While standing in the lunch line, I search the cafeteria for Jessica; I haven't seen her all day. "How's the boyfriend?" Ashley comes up behind me and asks.

I grab one of the red trays and say, "Caleb?" I slowly walk forward as the line moves.

"Who did you think I was talking about?" she says with a sly smile.

Damnit. "What do you want, Ashely?" I ask, annoyed.

"You know I saw him yesterday; he was at the movies," she says. "Him and his friends. Some girls were there too; it was an even number, so I'm sure they were paired up," she lightly chuckles.

I place my tray on the counter and turn to her, "I don't care. How do I even know you're telling the truth?"

She bites her bottom lip and then smiles, "What would I get out of seeing you two break up?" she asks. "If anything, I need him to keep you occupied. The more time you're with him, the less time you will spend with Ryder," she looks me up and down, "If you don't believe me ask him yourself," she then grabs one of the apples in the bowl and walks away over to her seat.