“How long?”
I put my keys down.
“How long what?”
She slid one page toward me.
An email from Ridgehaven Institute of Spatial Design.
Dated fourteen months earlier.
Transfer evaluation request for former student Marissa Hale.
“You contacted them behind my back.”
“Yes.”
Her eyes hardened.
“You contacted three schools.”
“Yes.”
“You calculated how much money I would need if I went back.”
“Yes.”
“You researched jobs I could get after finishing.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
I sat across from her.
“I can explain.”
“That is usually what people say after they get caught.”
“Caught doing what?”
“Preparing me to support myself.”
I stared.
“Yes.”
Her face changed.
