Just a Pucking Kiss [COMPLETED]

Chapter 4 - Dinner dates

Morgan

I finish my make-up, slightly darker than usual, and study my face in the mirror. As I do, I recognize that part of me is acting up at the thought of having dinner with the woman who kicked my mom out and didn't contact us for almost twenty years.

Behind me, Kat is fluffing up the pillows on her bed.

"Do you want me to make your bed as well?" she asks.

I furrow my brow and turn to her. "What? Why?"

She straightens the laptop on her desk. "Because your grandma is coming. Don't you want the place to look tidy for her?"

She's eyeing the dresser where I keep my make-up and I can tell she's itching to put it away. She's been tidying the dorm for half an hour, hiding her books and making sure there's no dust on the windowsill.

"As far as I'm concerned, she's the one who needs to impress me."

"Isn't she paying for your tuition?"

I take a breath. This is a sore subject for Kat. Her parents lorded their money over her to get her to follow their ridiculous rules. She always felt trapped by that. Until she got money of her own.

"She is. But she said there were no strings attached."

Kat looks as if she has a hard time grasping that concept.

"It doesn't matter," I say. "I can't be bought. It's great that she wants to contribute, but that doesn't give her the right to hold it over me. I'm not meeting her because she's paying. I'm meeting her because I know my mom really wants her in our lives."

"But what if she stops paying?" Kat sits down on her bed and then immediately jumps up and straightens the bedspread.

I sigh and pull my covers somewhat in place. "Then she stops paying." I shrug and sit on my bed.

"What's she like?" Kat asks and sits on the chair by her desk.

"I don't really know. When my mom became pregnant with me, her parents kicked her out. And when, instead of getting an abortion, she married my dad, they cut her off completely. It was mostly because of my grandfather, but she was there, too. She could have done something."

"And now she's reaching out."

I nod. "Grandpa died last year, so she told mom she wants to mend their relationship. Mom wasn't sure at first, but then she offered to pay for UNI, and we decided to take her up on it since I didn't get any scholarship."

"What would you have done if she didn't offer?"

"I would have gone to Rivers. I don't know if I told you, but my dad is a professor there. He teaches classic literature, so I could have lived at home and gotten free tuition."

"But you wanted to come to UNI?"

"The engineering program is better here, and I wanted to gain some more independence."

Kat looks at me with a furrowed brow. "So you do owe her something?"

I chew on my lip. "Perhaps. She has made my life easier. But that doesn't give her any right to control me. And if she stops paying, I'll take out loans or something. A degree in engineering is a decent guarantee for a good job."

With a smile, Kat shakes her head. "I still can't believe how independent you are."

When Kat was trying to break free from her parents, I tried convincing her that getting a job or a loan wouldn't be so bad. That there were other ways she could live without her parents' money.