Nanny ___ Chaesoo

Chapter 2

Rosé

                     

Tears pricked behind my eyelids, and I blinked rapidly to keep them from falling. The Dean of Student Affairs sat across from me, and while her expression was uncompromising, her tone was kind enough. I didn't like hearing what she had to say, though I knew it was coming. 

                     

"I'm afraid you're going to have to find a solution as soon as possible, Ms. Park. The check bounced for your latest tuition payment, and since you ignored the situation for thirty days, something has to be done now. If I don't have some sort of resolution within the week, I'm going to have to expel you." 

                     

I nodded, shifting in my chair with shame and embarrassment. I never would've turned in the check when my father mailed it if I'd suspected it wouldn't go through. The possibility that it would bounce should have at least occurred to me, since he was terrible with money and always prone to wild spending sprees, but I had been naïve enough to think that my future would've been important enough to him to ensure the tuition check was covered. 

                     

"I really wasn't trying to ignore it, Mrs.Han . I didn't find out until I got the email in my student account yesterday morning. My father didn't tell me." 

                     

Her uncompromising expression softened, and her look took on an edge of sympathy. "That's understandable, and I feel for your situation. I have a list of scholarships that you can apply for, but I have to be honest and tell you they won't be processed in time for the payment that's past due. I have no doubt you can get at least some of them with your grades from high school and your extracurricular activities, but they won't be something you can rely on to pay for this semester. And unfortunately, you're far enough into the academic year that we can't just issue a refund and drop the classes. Since we're halfway through the semester, if you can't sort this out quickly, they'll be listed as withdrawals on your record. That means they'll affect your grade point average. Which in turn, affects your ability to get any scholarships." 

                     

I closed my eyes for a moment and swallowed the lump in my throat. I studiously ignored the buzzing of the phone in my purse as I took a deep breath. "Is there some kind of payment plan? I could get another job." 

                     

Somehow. I already had two part-time jobs alongside attending school full-time, but did I really need to sleep anyway? I can sleep in four years, after I graduate. 

                     

Mrs. Han shook her head. "I'm truly sorry, Ms. Park, but you are already on the payment plan. The most we can do is break tuition payments into thirds, with the final third needing to be paid at least a month before the term ends. Even that payment is coming up. You have the second installment due, plus penalties for the returned check, and then less than a week after that, your third installment is due. We won't be able to accept a check in the future either. The funds must be a cashier's check or some other certified method, or you could also pay via credit card." 

                     

It was getting hard to concentrate on what she was saying. My phone briefly stopped buzzing, but now it started again. The sound was drilling through my head, making the headache that started the previous morning, when I learned how bad the situation was, that much worse. When I called my father, he'd been apologetic, but he also brushed it off. "I'm telling you, kid, I'm on to the next big thing here. Payout will be soon, and I'll have so much money I can prepay four years of tuition for you."