But he had made good on his promise to Mom, and I had never lacked the essentials over the last seven years. He had made sure my long stay at the hospital and subsequent rehabilitation were funded even though the payout from my father’s accident hadn’t covered all the hospital expenses. Later, I had a roof over my head, food to eat, clothes to wear, and he occasionally left an envelope with some extra money in it for me. It was not easy for a parent to support a sick child and he had been my step-father and lost the love of his life.

On my eighteenth, we had a long and emotional conversation. He was no longer obligated to take care of me since I was an adult, but he wanted me to finish high school before we parted. He had told me he would keep renting the house until I graduated, but when the lease ended, he would not renew it. He was on the verge of tears as he apologized. I had to assure him that it was okay. That I didn't want to stay in Atkins either. He had been relieved. I knew it was excruciating for him to return to the house he had chosen with my mother. He had imagined a rosy future with her, but instead, he came to a home that no longer had her. Instead, the constant reminder of her death walked around it unashamedly. I understood why he took extra work and kept away as much as he was allowed to.

"Willow?" Lorelei asked hesitantly. I turned my head to find her watching me. "What happens if this doesn't work? What are you going to do?"

"It has to work." I wrung my hands and stared at my lap stubbornly. "And if it doesn't, then I'm going to Quentin anyway. I could get a job… save up enough to attend college in a few years. I'm going to Quentin no matter what."

"You know you always have me, right?"

I gave her the best smile I could. There was little she wouldn’t do for me. And I felt the same way for her. I didn’t want to take advantage of her feelings, though. I respected her and even though she would share a cot with me if I asked, I wouldn’t. She had put down a deposit for a single housing unit and was leaving two weeks after we graduated. She would be a part of a special program for gifted first-year students and I didn’t want to put a wrench in her plans.

"I know. I plan on leaving with you. It's all going to work out somehow, Lory."

She patted me on my back. "Yes, it will. We're moving on to bigger and better things. The City of Opportunities won’t know what hit it!"

I grinned as she turned back to the computer.

"Okay, now let's unravel the elusive Mr. Rowe," her voice was filled with determination.

I pulled her beanbag next to the desk and watched as her fingers flew over the keys. I tried to remember what I knew of him… Mr. Rowe, that is. His family came from generational wealth. They had only resided in this area for a short period, during which time Mr. Rowe had graduated from Atkins High School. That was about twelve years ago.

He had attended the best university in the country and started his own entertainment business. Using his own strength and possibly his family's money, he disrupted how people consume television and content, and gained a lot of success in the entertainment business. With the merger between Rowe and Hampton, his company now rivaled the biggest media giants and producers in the world.

"Damn, he's got the looks of an angel!"

I straightened up and looked at the pictures, jolting out of my thoughts from Lory's exclamation. He was definitely a good-looking man. I could barely stop myself from noticing his chiseled features and piercing eyes. I tore my eyes away before I drooled over her keyboard, effectively ruining it.

"He'd be even better looking if he paid my tuition," I quipped. I gave her a smirk and she laughed.

"Well, he's a step up from Josh." She elbowed me lightly and I scowled at her mention of my ex-boyfriend.

"You should be the last person to tease me about that. You dated his best friend Tony!"

She groaned as I elbowed her right back. As we were equally embarrassed about our ex-boyfriends, I didn’t push it further. I chalked it up to learning experience.

"I still believe in true love and soul mates."

I rolled my eyes at her. She was a hopeless romantic. It was all the romance novels she was reading in her free time. I, on the other hand, had slowly given up on the idea of true love. It always seemed to end in tragedy.

"The last thing I'm worried about right now is falling in love. I just want to get out of here and have a bright future. Haven’t you heard? Love flies out of the back door if you are poor?" I tickled her side. "Now, are you going to find me the contact information or just stare at his pretty face?"

"Keep your pants on. I think I have his email. I need more time to get a hold of his personal number. It will be hard, though. That may be a few days."

By the time Lory's mom informed us dinner was served, we had already crafted an email and sent it off. I carefully told him the same thing as in my previous letter and hoped this would get a different treatment.

I was at my breaking point a few days later. I had already sent a total of twelve emails after the original one. I had yet to receive a response to any of them. There was no copy-paste response… this time, there was radio silence. It was even worse than before. Lory had given me Mr. Rowe's phone number—which may or may not have been illegally obtained—but, I had been hesitant to use it until that point. It felt too intrusive to use the number... like it was solidifying a criminal act I had committed.

However, desperate times called for desperate measures. And I was beyond desperate.

I was finished with my final exams and our graduation ceremony was a week away.

The clock was ticking and I had no other option. It was now or never.

I sat on the dining table, the timer on the oven keeping me company in the empty house. I stared at the empty message box with Mr. Rowe’s number on the top. I had never been so jittery in my life. Even though I had expansive notes on how to approach the conversation and made a reactive diagram for all the possible responses he could give, I didn’t feel prepared. I had a sinking feeling that I would put my foot in my mouth the second he answered his phone.

He would definitely cut the call when he realized I was a complete lunatic. This was if he answered the call from an unknown number.

I knew I was deferring the inevitable and hoping it would never happen. The longer I contemplated, the worse my mental state would be.

Finally, I put my foot down and sent a text message. I was better to start out with written words. I typed out a short message and my thumb hovered over the send button for an awfully long time before I couldn't stand it any longer. I closed my eyes and prayed to all the higher beings as I hit the send.

[I need to talk to you.]

In my deranged mindset, the message was just creepy enough to spark some interest. He wouldn’t automatically ignore it. It also didn’t give away enough information that he would block me immediately. I set the cellphone down on the table and barely breathed as I begged him to respond.

I almost burst into tears of joy when my phone buzzed with an incoming message five minutes later.

[Who is this?]

I gulped. If he was intentionally avoiding ‘Willow Taylor’ as a nuisance, he would block any further texts that I sent after telling him my identity. On the other hand, he would definitely block me if I remained cryptic and didn’t give him a name. I mulled over what I should do before realizing he could search my name on a call app easily. There was no harm in answering truthfully. I would have to reveal myself at some point.

[Willow Taylor]

It didn't take long for a response to arrive.

[I think you have the wrong number.]

I blinked in surprise. I was almost sure he didn’t recognize my name from the emails. It made me suspicious if he had even seen them in the first place. It was not a far-fetched idea.

Either way, he couldn’t brush me off this time around. My fingers thrummed over the screen at lightning speed. I was scared to be a second late and miss the chance to carry on the conversation with him. He was a busy man, who knew how long he had to text with a stranger.

[I have the correct number if I reached Mr. Nicholas Rowe.]

I started to worry after five minutes without a response. When the phone buzzed again, my shoulders sagged with relief. I must have been holding my breath all the while.

[Miss Taylor, do I know you?]

I quickly wrote a response.

[I wouldn’t say so, but it is imperative that I speak with you.]

Before I could add in more words, he had already responded.

[I don't have time for this. I'm late for a dinner meeting.]

Was he ancient? He couldn’t multitask? What kind of a boss was he? I rolled my eyes before answering him.

[May I call you, then?]

I jumped out of my body when my phone rang. I hadn’t expected him to call me directly. He was definitely a man of action. I felt nauseous as I sucked in a deep breath and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Miss Taylor. Can you tell me what this is about?" he asked.

My anxiety erupted like a volcano at the sound of his low and confident voice. My tongue felt like lead in my mouth and my limbs were cold with fright. "I… uh… I…" I wanted to bury myself in the misery of being unable to speak without stammering.

I reached for my notes, but in my nervous stupor, my hands shook and I knocked them all over the floor. When I bent down to pick my notes up, my head felt heavy and I dropped to my knees in a humiliating manner. I rolled around on the floor as my phone slipped far away on the floor from the impact. I went crawling to it, wondering what else I could ruin before the end of this call. I was an utter mess.

"Hello? Are you alright, Miss Taylor?"

I grasped the phone in my unsteady hand, deciding it was better to stay seated on the floor than to try to get up and feel the sting in my knees. "Yeah… um… I'm all right. Sorry. I slipped."

He sighed. "Look, Miss Taylor. I must hang up. Please tell me what this is about without wasting any more time." His demand made me straighten my spine and find the resolve I needed to talk. If I didn’t say everything right then, I knew for a fact I would never get the chance again. He would block me ruthlessly.

"I am graduating from Atkins High School in a week’s time. I was informed that I was the recipient of your yearly scholarship but later it was retracted on the account of an error. The scholarship has been since awarded to someone else. The retraction came after I had accepted a spot at QCU and I have already spent all my savings for room and board. I was dependent on the scholarship to attend college and I believe I deserve it. Mr. Rowe, I want you to fund my education as well.”

My breath rushed out immediately after I had said my piece. I crossed my fingers and hoped that he had gotten a gist of the situation.

"You want me to fund your education?" He sounded almost incredulous.

I narrowed my eyes, my previous anger returning in the fraction of a second. "Yes. I shouldn't have to suffer because of your employee's mistake."

I clamped my mouth shut, instantly regretting my inability to control myself. I was trying to placate the man and get him to help me. Still, I blurted out rude and disrespectful things that would offend him. That was certainly not the way to go. He would shut me down because of my incomprehensible and idiotic behavior.

What was wrong with me?

There was only silence on the other end of the phone.

"I'm sorry," I rushed to apologize. "I didn't mean to be rude. But I am in desperate need of that scholarship. It is my last hope of making something of myself, Mr. Rowe."

I refused to work as a cashier at the supermarket for the rest of my life. Just because I didn’t have a conventional family, I didn’t deserve to be kicked away by the world.

His silence was deafening. I counted to sixty, wondering if he was even on the call any longer.

"Hello?" I spoke tentatively.

"I will look into this so-called scholarship miscommunication. I will contact you myself when I have determined the steps going forward. Please wait until then."

It was the best outcome I could have hoped for. I didn’t expect him to jump and tell me I would be funded too. I couldn’t help but be happy even though he sounded displeased with the situation.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Rowe. You have no idea how much this means to me. I've sent you several emails with all my information previously."

He probably thought I was stalking him. And my behavior indicated that I kind of had.

"As I said, I will look into it." He paused for a moment and I held my breath. "I just have one last question for you," he said, causing me to freeze. "How did you get my personal number, Miss Taylor?"

"I prefer to be called Willow," I blurted out, trying to defer answering.

I begged myself to stop blubbering. I dug a deeper hole every time I spoke. He could call me anything he wanted as long as he gave me the scholarship. His tired exhale reached my ear, and I fidgeted, knowing he was beyond frustrated with me.

"Fine. Willow, how did you get this number?” he repeated.

"I… uh…"

"Tell me the truth," he demanded. He left no wriggle room for me to get out of answering.

"I asked my friend to find your information. I am not sure how it was retrieved.” My voice was soft and I wasn't sure he heard me. There was no way I would tell him we had gone through illegal means. And I would not tell him who my friend was, either!

"I will be in touch,” he said before hanging up. He sounded furious and I knew I was done for.

It took me a long time to sort my thoughts and emotions out and get off the floor. I called Lory and relayed the information. Of course, I left out the part where I vaguely admitted to criminal conduct and ratted her out. If she found out, she would smack me. Her excitement was so palpable that I had to put some distance between my phone and my ear.

But not even the little bump in the road could wipe off the grin on my lips. So what if he sounded angry? He said he would investigate the matter personally and give me a response. That had to count for something!

"Willow, my dude! How about one last fling tonight at my place? We’ll party our heads off!"

I turned around with a deadpan and flipped Chris Grant off. If the crowd wasn’t dressed in robes and waiting in line to receive the high school diploma, I would have punched him in the face. Maybe another person would knee him for harassment, but I wanted to be nowhere near his weenie. Not even if he were the last man on the earth and it was upon me to repopulate it.

I was in a terrible mood already and dealing with the asshole ticked me off further. It had been a week since the call with Mr. Rowe and I had yet to hear back. I had come to the consensus with Lory that if he didn’t call me by that night, I would call him myself.

I was scared that calling him would make the situation worse… that he would get pissed off and dismiss me. The only thing holding me together was that he was across the country and he couldn’t kill me for pestering him.

“Yeah, Willow. You should come to the party tonight.”

I looked to my side and found Joan Ray smiling at me. I stopped myself from shuddering at her voice. There was just something about it that was akin to nails on a chalkboard.

"I’ll pass."

My idea of fun didn’t include being packed into a house with sweaty and drunk people. It also didn’t include being puked on or groped.

"Are you sure? We might never see each other again."

I thanked god in advance if that were the case. I would donate to whatever charity the higher power wanted if they made it come true.

"I bet I will live."

She huffed in irritation at my words. It was hard to resist rolling my eyes.

Joan was a part of a duo with Sasha. They had been downright aggressive since the beginning of high school and nicknamed me "Little Orphan Willow". Much to my displeasure, the nickname caught on when Joan accused me of trying to steal her boyfriend. You ask who that is? Chris Grant. The man I wouldn’t take help from even if I was drowning.

The bullying taught me how to take a step back… become a well-settled person. That was the only good thing that came out of it.

"So, which college will you be attending?"

Of course, Joan knew the answer. Everyone in our school knew of the scholarship drama between Chris and I. And I also knew she was fishing for gossip to spread later on.

“I have decided to dig wells in Africa,” I said blandly. I loved seeing her mouth drop open in shock. I threw a stereotype at her sarcastically and she accepted it without a word. She didn’t even point out how horrible my statement was. Our school needed to restructure the education they gave to students. How was this girl going to survive in the world? “You should pay attention. Your name will be called soon and you don’t want to miss it,” I warned her.

I had to applaud her for graduating with shitty grades. This gave me some comfort. If she could make something of herself, I could do as well. If I kept saying it, it would happen.

Luckily, she turned away from me. I could see Lory waving at me from her seat. I looked past her and at the crowd and a wave of sadness overcame me. It was hard to have no family of my own watching me at this milestone.

I had awoken to find a note from Oliver that morning. It was on the kitchen table and I knew he had come to the house to get the last of his things. I hadn’t even known he had come back. The note contained an apology for not being able to attend graduation and he even left me a generous amount of cash as a parting gift. Another paper came with it. It listed the date I needed to move all my things out and where I had to leave the key to the house. I knew for certain I would never see Oliver again.

I should have been angry. I should have screamed and cried about how unfair it was. But what was the point of it? Nothing would change if I felt sorry for myself. And I was never going to beg Oliver to stay when he had made it clear he wanted to cut ties.

And I was certain I would someday find a place in the world I could call mine. Somewhere where I was wanted and needed.

As I scanned over the faces in the crowd, my eyes landed on a pair of eyes staring right back. It was a man in a dark suit who could have been extended family for any of my classmates. Yet, a strange feeling of familiarity washed over me. I could have sworn I had seen him around town several times over the last few days. Our neighborhood consisted of families that had lived here for decades, so a new face was easy to spot.

I hated to say but he was ordinary looking. With light brown hair, he had nothing particularly distinguishable about him. As I continued to stare, I realized I had seen him near the administrative room at school. He had also bought things at the supermarket a few nights ago when I was manning the cash counter.

But why was he staring at me?

I shrugged off my concerns and raised my head when my name was called. Much to my shock, I heard a small but distinct round of applause as I walked over to receive my diploma. I gave Lory a smile and turned to her parents with a small nod. I found some of my coworkers from the supermarket too. At least there were a small group of people that had some care about me.

The ceremony ended shortly after I took my seat. Our school didn’t allow hats to be thrown into the air. The graduation gown and hat were rented and losing them would lead to a big fine. I gave back my robes before the others who took pictures with their family. I had little emotional attachment to all things school related. The only thing I needed was the documentation.

"It's finally over!" Lory took me into a bear hug before dragging me toward her family.

"Congratulations on graduating, girls." Mrs. Adams hugged us both. "Willow, will you join us for dinner?"

They had reserved a table for a celebratory dinner. Though I knew I was welcome, I was not in the mood to join in. I had much more pressing issues to focus on.

"Thank you for inviting me, but I think I have to pack everything at home."

She looked sad as she nodded in understanding. Before Lory could try to change my mind, I was ushered away by the well-wishes of my coworkers from the supermarket. Even the owner handed me a gift card.

“This should help you buy things for college,” he said.

"Thank you," I told him softly.

"You’ll be sorely missed, Willow. But don’t forget us while you are living in the big city. I will be waiting for you to make a name there." I knew he was simply teasing, but I couldn’t joke back.

Make a name for myself? If I was lucky I would have a shoe box to live in and food in my stomach. I had to repress the dissatisfaction from being ignored by Mr. Rowe.

Lory found me again and pulled me aside. "Are you sure you want to go home?" she asked. I squeezed her hand in reassurance.

“I will be fine. I am just not in the mood to celebrate.”

She was silent for a moment. “I will go over to your house after dinner. Packing is better when you have someone to accompany you.”

"Okay." She wasn’t wrong. I would have her by my side rather than being alone in that empty house. I didn’t need a hand to pack my meager belongings, though.

"Willow, hop into the car. We will drop you at your house on our way," Mrs. Adams called out.

"Thank you," I told her.

Lory threaded her arm through mine as she spoke in low tones. “Will you call him when you go home?” she questions.

“I have no other choice,” I said. There was no time left to dilly-dally. I had to contact him.

If only it were that easy.

“How about you wait until I return to make the call? It won’t be late then.” She knew how nervous I was to call. Everything was riding on Mr. Rowe’s decision.

"I’ll let time decide." I remained noncommittal. I would fake being relaxed until I felt it completely. If I kept using Lory as a crutch, I would never be able to stand up on my own.

The conversation remained light on the ride back. They all knew to steer clear of my immediate future. I hopped out of the car and heard Lory yell that she would see me soon. Once inside the house, I stripped off my formal clothes and rushed towards my phone. I was appalled that the school didn’t allow phones at the graduation ceremony. Some of the people in the education industry were still living in the dark ages.

I groaned in frustration when I saw that I had no notifications.

I threw myself on the bed and tried to calm myself. There was a possibility he was busy and didn’t have time to call me. I really wanted to think he was a good guy. That he would give me a chance.

I was startled out of my thoughts when the doorbell rang.

"Just come in, Lory," I yelled as I ran downstairs. I yanked the front door open, ready to chew her out for rushing her celebratory dinner. Instead, I came face to face with the stranger in the dark suit who had been staring at me during the graduation ceremony.

I should have looked through the loophole before opening the door. I was an idiot!

I was having a breakdown right at my front door. I was close to slamming the door shut and hide in my room, but my shock prevented me from moving.

"Willow Taylor?" His voice was low and non-threatening. But what would I know what threats sounded like?

My thoughts ran at the pace of lighting: Who was the guy? Was he stalking me?

He noticed I was scared and held his hands up in surrender. He even offered me a guilty smile.