The professor checked his roll sheet, confirmed Julia hadn’t requested any leave, and then announced, “Unexcused absence. She loses all her participation points. There will be no exceptions. Assistant, continue with the roll call.”
I heard a few gasps around me. This professor was infamous for his high fail rates, and without participation points, Julia was in serious trouble.
But what did it matter now? I shrugged and went back to my work.
She’d made her choice and now had to live with it.
When I returned to the dorm, I found Julia still packing her bags.
She practically ran over as soon as she saw me, all excited.
“Keira, the counselor approved my leave of absence! I’m finally going to start my life with Howard!”
Her eyes were practically glowing with excitement.
She grabbed my hand, pulling me further into the room as she animatedly laid out her plans for the future.
“Howard says he’s taking me back to his hometown. We’ll rent a big house. He’ll work hard during the day, and at night, he’ll be home with me and the baby.”
“He promised it’s just a break from school. Once the baby’s born, I’ll come back and finish my degree. By the time I graduate, Howard will be 22, and we’ll get married.”
“By then, my parents won’t have a choice but to accept us. I’ll be a lawyer, he’ll have a good job, and we’ll save up to buy a big house. We’ll be happy together forever.”
I had my earbuds in, only half-listening to her go on, while my mind wandered.
Would they really be happy? I didn’t know. All I knew was that in the last life, less than a week after they broke up, Howard was already seeing someone new.
He even managed to clean out Julia’s savings before he left. It was only because we, her roommates, chipped in some money that she didn’t end up in one of those shady clinics for an abortion.
When I first heard about Howard’s new girlfriend, I shared the gossip with her. She didn’t say a word, just quietly pulled out her bar exam prep videos.
She became withdrawn after that, throwing herself into her studies. I thought she was just focusing on her future, but now I realize that’s when she started to resent me.
She studied law and passed the certificate, all so she could better game the system.