4: 4
I flipped my phone facedown and said it lightly.
"Just about the tutoring."
Marvin's eyes were complicated, and then the very first thing out of his mouth was a scolding.
"Mia, can't you stop throwing tantrums? Harper's grown up sheltered, she's never seen anything like this. You slamming that door just now scared her to death."
I looked at this boy I'd liked for six years, and all I felt was that he was a stranger.
"Marvin, is it that every single time something involves Harper, I'm the one who has to back down?"
"My mom does it. And so do you."
Guilt flickered across Marvin's face. He opened his mouth to explain.
Just then Harper stepped out from behind the door, tears rolling down in fat drops.
"It's all my fault... if it weren't for me, my sister wouldn't have to suffer like this. Marvin, don't blame her."
The guilt in Marvin's eyes gave way to tenderness for her, and then hardened into anger.
"Mia, can't you cut it out? Look, you've made Harper cry!"
His gaze swept across the desk and locked onto that bright red acceptance letter from the state university.
That letter was countless nights I'd stayed up, countless practice sets I'd ground through,
the one and only report card I had to show for more than ten years of study.
But in the next second, Marvin ripped it to shreds.
"Mia, I knew it. You've been picking fights lately because you still haven't given up on going to college."
"As long as that thing exists, no one's going to be happy."
"Now you don't have to think about it anymore, and we don't have to fight anymore."
"We can go back to how we used to be!"
A dull ache spread through my chest.
Before, every time I got hurt by my mom or Harper, he would say,
once I got into college, we'd leave this city and build a home of our own.
But now, he had no intention of taking me anywhere. Even my hope of leaving, he'd torn up like it was nothing.
Harper forgot to cry. My mother came running in too.
Seeing the scraps all over the floor, she let out a long breath.
"Just as well it's torn. She wasn't going to study anyway, so now she can put it out of her head."
"I already talked to Maggie Finch. Her son's driving over right now to take you to start at the factory, before you get any wilder over the break."
"Go on, pack your things."
Marvin reached out and patted my shoulder.
"Mia, it's okay. Even if you don't have a degree and you're working in a factory, I won't look down on you."
I didn't fight. I didn't cry or make a scene.
I just crouched down numbly and started gathering the few clothes I had left.
The light was fading. When I went to collect my toiletries, I passed Harper's half-open bedroom door.
"Marvin, you had me sneak Mia's acceptance letter out and put it on the desk—so you could tear it up? That was the plan?"
"You scared me half to death just now. You know how she treasures that piece of paper. Why would you do that?"
Marvin's voice was low.
"Mia's been unhappy lately, and she keeps contacting that Mrs. James from the tutoring thing. She definitely hasn't given up on college."
"If I let her keep going like this, no telling what she might do to get tuition money."
"And the way she looks at you isn't right. She's got to be blaming you."
"Don't let her quiet act fool you. She's actually got a lot of scheming in her."
"You're too simple. You'd never be able to handle her."
"So it's better if I cut off her way out with my own hands."
"That way she can't pin it on you, and your hands stay clean."
"But what if she gets mad at you and never speaks to you again?" Harper couldn't believe it.
Marvin's tone was certain.
"She won't. She's always depended on me. Growing up, no one looked after her but me. A little sweet-talking and she'll come around."
Tears dropped onto the floor without a sound.
I didn't wipe them away.
Once the tears had run completely dry, I threw out the wishing stars Marvin had folded by hand, jar and all, into the trash.
Only after I'd packed everything did I notice Mrs. James had already replied.
"Someone's on the way to pick you up. The car will be downstairs any minute."
A black Porsche pulled up slowly below the building.
My mother pushed me out the door.
A young man in a bespoke suit stepped out of the car.
Tall, straight-backed, with a bearing that stood out.
He asked politely,
"Which of you is Miss Mia Fox? My mother sent me to pick her up."
My mother's eyes went wide, her whole face breaking into a smile.
She was about to introduce Harper to him when I cut in.
"That's me."
The man took the bag from my hand and opened the car door for me.
Only then did my mother shoot me a resentful glare.
Marvin looked at the Porsche, worry on his face, but in the end he still put on that air of doing me a favor.
"Mia, stay safe on the road. When the weekend break comes, I'll go visit you at the factory."
"My sister looks really upset. She's not going to run away from home, is she?"
Harper's eyes darted away. She always looked like that when she had something to hide.
But Marvin only scoffed.
"No. She's got no money left. Other than the factory, she's got nowhere to go."
I didn't bother with any of them and climbed into the passenger seat.
The instant the car door shut, my mother's phone rang.
Maggie Finch's voice came through.
"Mrs. Fox, so sorry—my son can't get away today."
"Picking up your daughter will have to wait a couple of days."
My mother's face went white.
Marvin's pupils shrank. He lunged and grabbed the car window.
"Mia!"
