Daddy Issues

1 - Tell her

'You have to tell her.'

'I can't.'

'You have to! She's going to find out when you show up home anyway. Best tell her now and get it out of the way, right?'

'I don't know... Maybe I should just tell her when I get there.'

Cassie, my roommate, rolls her eyes at me and sighs deeply. I hide my face in my pillow, which makes the exasperated sound that leaves my throat come out muffled. Unable to see anything, I don't notice her walking over until it's too late.

'Hey!' I yell when she snatches my phone from my hand.

'We talked about this', she says sternly. 'Over and over and we agreed it's best to tell her now. She'll have some time to cool off before you get there so once you do, you can talk it all over without it turning into a screaming match.'

'Okay, but... I'll do it tomorrow', I argue, reaching out to try and snatch my phone back. Unfortunately, she pulls back her hand and I'm left grabbing nothing but air.

'Your plane is leaving tomorrow! You're doing it now. Here, it's already calling.'

'What?' I ask wide-eyed, catching the phone when she finally tosses it back to me. The truth of it hits me when I hear the sound of my phone trying to connect. And when I look down at the screen, three fearful letters stare up at me.

MOM

I'm just about to press cancle, when a voice blasts through the speaker and I realize it's too late.

'Yes?'

She already sounds annoyed. This is not the time to tell her. She needs to be in a good mood if I want any chance of her understanding.

I look up at Cassie furiously, but she only shrugs and mouths at me silently.

Tell her.

'Emma? You there?'

I raise my middle finger up at Cassie and shake my head in an attempt to clear it as I bring the phone up to my ear.

'Yes. Hi mom, uhm... How are you?'

There's a beat of silence before she answers. And when she does, she sounds confused. We don't usually talk much over the phone. Not unless there's anything important to discuss.

'I'm fine?' She answers, like it's a question. 'Why are you calling? I was just about to start dinner.'

'Oh, already?' I ask, in an attempt to postpone telling her what I have to tell her. 'Early dinner, huh?'

I can hear her sigh of impatience over the phone. My mother isn't one to waste time on chit-chat.

'Just tell me, Emma, what's this about? Did you mess something up?'

'Why would you assume that I messed something up?' I ask her, offended.

'Well, did you?'

'No. I just... I wanted to tell you that I'm coming home tomorrow.'

'You're coming home?'

Silence again. I know what that means. She's trying to gather her patience, which means that I'm getting on her nerves.

'What do you mean you're coming home? Your program is starting on Monday, right?'

I take a deep breath and look up to meet Cassie's eye. She gives me a thumbs up, trying to offer me some support. God knows I need it.

Because this is when I tell her. I have to tell her that I won't be doing the summer program for extra credit... because I dropped out. I dropped out of med school. I have to tell her that four years of college and one year of med school were a waste of time and a waste of a lot, and I mean A LOT, of fucking money, because I won't be coming back here after the summer.