Page 7 of That Summer

She barely heard what he said as her heart sunk like a lead weight in her stomach. Lucas made a bad joke about things not working out between her and Nate but she couldn’t shake the feeling he was on to something. How could she be part of a family when half of them didn’t want her around? Lucas’ mom had said it wasn’t the best time for her to be involved as it ruined Nate’s concentration and Chris was trying to distance herself. Poor Lucas. “What do they think you’re doing all the time?”

“What? Who?”

“Your family. You’re gone all day, and sometimes into the wee hours of the night. They must think you’re up to something.”

“Well, Chris knows what our plan is.”

Lifting her head up, she leaned her chin onto her knees. “I know that. But Nate? And your mom? What do they think you’re doing?”

Lucas practically lived in her apartment during the week, they had to have some concerns over it.

“All that matters is that I’m here to help you.”

“Come on. Even Daddy questions the amount of time we’re putting into this little project.”

“Little project? Good lord, what do you consider a major one?” He huffed and let out a breath.

“No really, don’t change the subject. Where do they think you are?”

He closed his eyes for a second as he rested his head on the back of the couch. “I’m having an issue, no actually, it’s mom who’s having the issue.”

She reached for his hand as it tapped against her foot. “What’s going on?”

“We’re having some disagreements. On a few things. The most major one being university.”

Pulling her legs off him, she sat upright and leaned into the couch. “What about?”

“I don’t feel mechanical engineering is the best place for me anymore.”

“So switch faculties.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“Sure it is.” Without missing a beat, she shrugged. “I did it.”

“I have thousands of dollars in scholarships. All earmarked for Mech. There are no additional funds for me to go into something else.”

Aurora wiggled in her seat, scooting closer to him. “What about taking a year off? Or a semester? That would give you time to save up.”

“That would work if it wasn’t for the fact I’d earned the Lester Johnson Scholarship.”

“Was that named after your father?”

“Grandfather. Dad was the recipient and so was I. If I don’t use it…” His head hung low.

“You’d be doing a disservice to your family.” She rubbed his arm. “I get that. It’s a tough place to be.”

Lucas sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “It is. And the fights. It’s just easier to stay away.” Strong hands twisted in his lap and he answered her question before she had a chance to formulate it. “Things aren’t so bad when we’re out on the track. We have a million things to do, so there’s no time to discuss the school situation.”

“Have you talked to Nate?” She reached out and held his hand to stop his knuckle cracking. Nate was always the voice of reason, at least with her.

“Yeah, but he’s not much help. He loves being in engineering so he doesn’t understand why anyone would want to leave it.”

“You’re right, that’s not much help.” She sighed along with Lucas. “Well, we still have time to come up with a solution.”

By the end of summer, she had planned to give him part of her earnings as a surprise, but she highly doubted there would be enough to cover tuition for a year, or even a term. Maybe she could ask her father, but that might be too much.

Oh Nate. If only you were here. We could sit and figure this out.