The color in his face surpassed red and stormed into purple. His voice surprisingly controlled and even, Mr. Cambridge said, ‘The next time you want to talk to my son for any reason, you better have an arrest warrant in hand. And even if you don’t, we demand his attorney be present.’ Before stalking away, he reached out and squeezed his son’s arm, shoving him in front of him. As he stormed off, Alyssa heard him berate Beau. ‘Are you stupid? Where the hell is your head?’ The remainder of his words were lost as he rounded the corner, but she had a pretty fair idea of how that conversation would play anyway.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Friday, May 24

Late Friday night, Holly studied herself in the full-length mirror in the corner of her room. The pants that fit her nicely just last week now hung a little looser on her hips, held up by a belt she’d had to tighten by notching it an extra space over. Her cheekbones were sharper and more pronounced, and even though, on a normal summer break, she’d already be sporting a nice sun-kissed tan, right now her skin had taken on the pallor of someone who’d never gotten a dose of external Vitamin D.

Her rapid weight loss wasn’t only a result of her stress over Jersey disappearing; she’d also made up her mind not to attend Cornell University when August rolled around. And the thought of telling her parents zapped any remaining appetite she might’ve had.

Ultimately, it was her decision to make, but the nerves in her stomach spasmed at the very idea of disappointing her dad, who she knew was going to take the news like a physical blow to the gut. Everyone in her family, of course, had been thrilled when she’d received her acceptance letter to the Ivy League school, but her dad? He’d been so proud – no, not just proud – boastful was a more apt description. He bragged unselfconsciously about her accomplishments to his friends, his colleagues, his subcontractors, even the servers at their favorite restaurants. Honestly, it was all a bit embarrassing, not to mention the amount of pressure she’d felt at anticipating having to succeed at every single point in her college career – but she hadn’t had the heart to ask her dad to stop. After all, she was only going to be home for a few more months.

Until that first tiny whisper of a thought had nudged her while she slept. And when she woke, the nudge had grown into a push and then into a full-out shove.

And sure, her mom would be concerned about Holly’s choice, and she would most certainly fall into what Holly liked to describe as mom-detective mode in that she’d question every minute detail as to how Holly had come to this decision, but she was prepared with her answers. And just like her mom, once her teeth sank into something, she was superglued to it, and it would take a Herculean amount of force to change her mind. So, she knew that once her mom understood not only why she’d made such a momentous change to her future plans (without first discussing it with her family) but that she’d truly thought through every angle, her mom would become her biggest champion.