Chatoyant College Book 5: Parents' Weekend

Chapter 1: Plans

Friday, October 3

Dawn had really hoped to spend the afternoon outside that day, but unfortunately, it seemed the nice weather was over for the year, and autumn had begun in earnest. Except for a brief period of sun when she'd gotten up this morning, it had been raining steadily all day. And it wasn't the blustery, soaking rain they'd been having last month... it was a gray, persistent drizzle that was somehow more depressing.

So after finishing classes and work, Dawn had made it mostly dry back to her dorm, and now she was laying facedown on her bed, with Rico, Naomi, Corrie, and Edie all arranged around the room. They were ostensibly working on homework, but Dawn, at least, was finding it difficult to concentrate, and she suspected the others were as well. She knew she wouldn't have much time this weekend to work, but the reason for that was the same reason she was distracted.

Finally, she propped herself up on her elbows and looked around the room. Edie and Naomi were both gazing out the window at the rain. Rico was frowning at his book. Corrie, who was on the floor with her laptop, had a glazed look and was clicking her touchpad in a way that suggested the repetitive motion of Solitaire. None of them seemed to be concentrating very hard. So she brought up what was distracting them. "So," she said into the quiet room. "Are everyone else's parents coming for Parents' Weekend?"

Immediately everyone turned to her, their expressions brightening. Corrie, unsurprisingly, was the first to answer. "My mom and grandma are coming!" she said with an excited smile. "Just for Saturday, but it's great that they could both get the afternoon off. Well, my grandma wasn't scheduled for that night."

"Your grandmother still works?" asked Naomi.

Corrie nodded. "She's not that old. She just turned sixty-one, actually. She works at a diner. What about you, Naomi?"

"My dad's coming, actually." Naomi tugged on one of her dreadlocks. "I haven't seen him in forever. I just hope he's not bringing my stepmom."

Dawn could tell that wasn't a subject that needed further discussion. "My parents and Aunt Pru are all coming," she said. "I think Aunt Pru is more excited to come back to Chatoyant than I am to see her. She misses it here. She moved back to Canada to be close to Dad and my uncles—or to be close to us kids, I think—but I think she might move down here soon."

"What does she do for a living?" Corrie asked.

"Oh, she's an artist. All kinds of things. Painting, sculpture. So she can do that from anywhere." Dawn poked Rico with her toe. "Any of your family coming?"

He looked up and grinned at her. "Yeah, my mom's coming. You'll get to meet her. Be warned, she'll probably complain about me dating a white girl, but she'll do it in Spanish so you don't have to listen."

"Oh good, I look forward to that," said Dawn. She rolled her eyes and pointed at Edie. "You haven't said anything. Don't tell me your family isn't coming."

Edie shook her head quickly. "Actually, both my parents and my grandmother are coming. I was just waiting for everyone else to talk first."

"Hey, that's cool," said Corrie. "Both our grandmothers are coming. Maybe they'll get along."

Edie grinned. "Maybe! I think my grandmother is a lot older than yours, though. My mom has two older sisters. I only get to see my grandma on holidays usually, so I'm really looking forward to seeing her."

"I'm kind of jealous," Dawn said. "My grandmothers both live in Florida. I never get to see them. They won't fly up for Christmas and my family can't afford to fly down every year."

"Oh, that's sad," said Corrie. "I can't imagine living away from my grandmother. Then again, she couldn't retire to some nice place, either."

"Didn't your grandma help raise you?" Edie said. "I think you're closer to her than a lot of people are to their grandparents."

"That's true," Corrie said with a nod. "I forget that most people didn't grow up with their grandparents always there."

"Doesn't anyone have grandfathers?" Naomi asked. "All four of my grandparents are still alive, but they're not coming. I'm sure I'll see them at Thanksgiving and Christmas and all that, though."

Corrie laughed. "We are just talking about grandmothers, aren't we? Actually, my grandmother and grandfather divorced when my mom was like fifteen. I've never met him. Mom and Grandmom both say it's better that way."

There was something Corrie was obviously not mentioning—the other side of her family. But fathers had come up in conversation several times since Dawn had known Corrie, and she'd always avoided saying anything. Dawn certainly wouldn't press her. Wherever Corrie's father was, he obviously wasn't coming to Parents' Weekend.