Letters by Her [Book 2]

Chapter 20

"My attendance?" Dusty squeaked.

"Yes, your attendance. While your grades have been adequate, your attendance has been far from satisfactory, a point made even graver by the fact that you've been previously warned about your poor record." Miss Dunne held Dusty in a steely gaze that made her shift uncomfortably.

"I'm... I'm sorry." Dusty knew how lame an apology sounded in light of such accusations but felt she had nothing else to offer.

"Is that all that you've prepared to plead your case?"

"I... I'm not sure what else to say," Dusty admitted. For a moment, Miss Dunne was silent, as if lost to contemplation. In the void left by the lack of conversation, Dusty tried to focus her thoughts, not to lose herself to panic over the possibility that she was about to be expelled from the college she'd initially fought so hard to attend.

"I think we both know why you've been absent so frequently," Miss Dunne said quietly. "I told you to avoid her."

Dusty straightened in shock at Miss Dunne mentioning Kyera; then she turned crimson with embarrassment. It felt surreal to have an authority figure discussing her romantic life.

"Ms. Aroura is a troubled yet brilliant young woman, and sadly anyone she associates herself with ends up being collateral damage in her continual attempt to self-sabotage. You are a bright young woman, Miss Black, I urge you to disengage yourself from her and discover your true potential here at Princeton."

"You're not expelling me?" Dusty blurted, shocked.

"No, at least not yet," Miss Dunne answered cautiously. "I met with the school board, and we reviewed your case and decided to offer up a compromise."

"Okay..."

"If you attend our summer school, improving both your grades and your attendance, you will be allowed to continue your studies here in the fall."

"Really?" Dusty felt overjoyed by the compromise, but her glee was short lived as she remembered how she'd promised her mother that she'd go back to West over the summer break. It had been so long since she'd been back there.

"I know how important the summer break is to students, but you need to look at the bigger picture, Miss Black. Your future here will be determined by what you do over the next few months."

Dusty didn't need to think about what to do. She knew what needed to be done, what she needed to sacrifice. She just dreaded the phone call to her mother and explaining why she wouldn't be coming home that summer.

"I'm so grateful to be given another chance to prove myself. Summer school sounds great." Dusty smiled.

"I'm glad you think so." Miss Dunne nodded but didn't return the smile. "Just remember how close you've come to expulsion not once but twice now, Miss Black. No one gets a third chance, not in life and certainly not here."

Dusty nodded as she gathered up her things, including the literature about the summer school program that Miss Dunne had discreetly slid across the desk as they spoke. 

**** 

Dusty felt deflated as she sat cross-legged in the grass, having just gotten off the phone to her mother, who cried upon hearing that she wouldn't get to see her daughter for yet another summer.

"Hey." Kyera's familiar voice carried on the breeze, soon accompanied by her vanilla scent as she sat down next to Dusty. "You okay?" she asked with concern, noticing how Dusty's face was pained.

"I've been better." Dusty sighed.

"Bad day?"

"The worst."