The irrational fear she’d always faced in school had instantly sprung to life, bringing with it the debilitating anxiety that tightened her chest and made her insides feel as if she was both ice cold and fiery hot. She’d left the testing center after the first bathroom break and had ignored the follow-up emails regarding the test.

Why would she want to put herself through that again? The gig she had going with Jamar was bound to lead to the success that had eluded her in the past. It was all but guaranteed.

You thought the same thing about going viral.

She sucked in another deep breath to quell the turmoil churning in her head. Just the thought of going back to school, of sitting in a classroom and suffering through a test while some teacher breathed down her neck, made her start to hyperventilate. But if there was one thing this past year had taught her, it was that her lack of a degree had become a nearly insurmountable brick wall between her and her goals.

She took a step forward, running her hand along the ACT prep manual’s glossy spine before lifting it from the shelf. She’d allowed Samiah and London to think that she’d just come up with the idea to go back to school, but it had been swirling in her head for well over a year. She’d researched the nutrition and kinesiology programs at area universities and diligently read over the course requirements to figure out how many credit hours she could carry while still working full-time. And then she’d signed up to take the college entrance exam.

That damn test. It persisted as the one barrier that stood in her way.

Actually, that wasn’t entirely true. There was another obstacle that she’d done her level best to ignore over the years.

Despite her reluctance to even glance that way, Taylor’s gaze traveled to the section just a couple of yards to her right, where the purple and green cover taunted her. She knew exactly where the book on common learning disorders stood on the shelf, between the one on sensory processing disorders and the one on curriculum planning for the exceptionally gifted. She’d flipped through its pages on a previous trip to this bookstore, studying the diagrams about kinesthetic learning styles and skimming the chapters on how learning disorders develop and tools for helping those who have them.

Her eyes fell shut. She tried to swallow, but it felt as if her constricted throat would never open again.

She looked down at the thick prep manual in her hands, hands that had started to sweat. She set the manual back on the bookshelf and turned away, darting from the aisle and out of the store without a backward glance.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN