by Hamel, B. B.
Gradus really is beautiful. The campus is large but spread out and the paths make interesting geometric patterns along the neatly trimmed lawns. The university has a fleet of men that cut and prune everything, keeping the space immaculate.
Out there, the other sponsors and their girls are living their lives, existing in this place that feels so broken. I don’t know how they do it. A lot of marriages come out of this situation, and some of them are actually pretty happy as far as I know. I don’t understand how it ever happens when everything is so damn toxic.
“What did I say you to before we went in there?” I ask her softly.
“You don’t have to do this,” she says.
I look at her. She’s staring out across the lake with a sad little frown.
“I meant what I said.”
“Reed, stop.”
“Why?”
She shakes her head and pulls away from me. “Listen, I’m not a part of this world, okay? It’s so obvious that I’m not wanted here and you’re not my sponsor anymore. I’m just going to go home.”
“No,” I growl at her.
“Listen to me, Reed. You don’t owe me anything, okay? It was fun while it lasted, I guess, and none of this is your fault. Even if you didn’t sponsor me, I never would’ve fit in here.”
“That’s not true.”
“How isn’t it true? I’m not rich, I’m not powerful. My family is nothing.”
“There are plenty of non-rich people here.”
She rolls her eyes. “Come on, Reed.”
“No, you listen to me.” I step up to her again. “I said I’d take care of you and I’m true to my word.”
“You don’t have to.” She says it so softly, so sadly. She puts her hands on my chest and looks up into my eyes. “I’m not mad at you. I absolve you of all your guilt.” A little smile tugs at her lips.
“You don’t have that power,” I say with a smirk. “And even if you did, I still wouldn’t listen.”
“Why don’t you just let me go? We barely know each other.”
That hurts, just a little bit. “Do you really think that?”
She bites her lip and looks away. “It doesn’t matter. I’m done here no matter what. I can’t afford to stay at this school and you know it.”
I pull her chin back to me. “Trim said I can’t sponsor you. But he didn’t say I couldn’t pay your bills.”
She furrows her brow. “What?”
I grin at her. “What’s a sponsorship but just paying your tuition and giving you some pocket money? So you won’t be able to go to the fancy apartment anymore, so what? You didn’t want any of that anyway.”
“You mean…”
“I’ll just pay your fucking tuition.” I bark a laugh. It’s so simple, so easy. “And I’ll give you some pocket money to get you by.”
“Reed, you can’t—”
I cut her off. I don’t want to hear any more excuses.
I kiss her slow and deep and pull her tight against my body.
She kisses me back and I melt into it. God, I love this kiss, this body, his girl.
We break apart slowly. “You can’t,” she whispers.
“I can and I will. I’m filthy fucking rich, remember?”
She grins a little. “I remember. You don’t let me forget.” She looks up into my eyes. “But why?”
“Because I’m falling in love with you.”
She blinks, surprised. “You’re… what?”
“I love you, Kayla. I’ve never met someone that makes me feel this way. Not even remotely close. I’ll do anything to hold on to this feeling, anything to take care of you.”
“You... love me.”
“I love you.”
The words feel so fucking good it almost hurts. I’ve never said them to a woman before, never in my entire life. It’s a strange thing, going so long without telling a girlfriend that I love her, but I’ve always had my reasons.
Now though, it’s so simple and clear and obvious. I love this girl. I’ll do anything for her.
“I love you, too,” she whispers.
We kiss again, this time deeper, slower, like we’re finally exploring each other for the first time.
I hold her tight against me as the wind whips over the building. Beneath us, spread out like a blanket over the earth, the campus keeps going about its business.
Our kiss breaks apart. “Are you sure?” she whispers.
“I’ve never been more sure.”
“Won’t your family be angry?”
I shrug a little. “I think they just want me to get married. I’m not sure my father really gives a shit who I marry at this point.”
She laughs a little. “That’s heartening.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll hate them anyway.”
She laughs again. I kiss her one last time, letting her taste linger on my lips.
“What now?” she asks.
“Now I take you back to your dorm and I write some big fat checks.”
“You really don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do,” I say, cutting her off. “I really do. You’re getting your goddamn education. Nobody on this campus deserves it more.”
She smiles and takes my hand. “Okay. Well, when you put it that way.”
“Come on. Nora won’t bother you anymore.”
“You don’t think so?”
I shake my head. “I can get involved now.”
“Trim will kick you off campus.”
“Oh, I doubt that. Maybe he’ll strip me of my sponsor privileges when he realizes I’m not choosing anyone new, but he won’t get rid of me. Trim’s a romantic at heart.”
She rolls her eyes. “I doubt that.”
“I wouldn’t,” I say softly, leading her to the steps. “He’ll like that we fell in love. I suspect that’ll win us a lot of favor.”
We walk back down the steps together, her bags thrown over my shoulder, her hand in mine. I feel happy and light and free for the first time in a very, very long time.
We’re in love. It’s so simple and so easy. I don’t know why we let that stupid fucking game define anything about our relationship to each other. Now that we’ve been kicked out, it’s like having chains removed from my body.
I can do whatever I want. I can pay for her education and give her presents and interfere as much as I need to.
And I can make her enemies fucking bleed if I want.
I smile as I put an arm across her shoulders, pulling her against me. We walk back out into the hot afternoon day and head toward her dorm.
“Think Iris will be happy?” I ask her.
“Ecstatic,” she says, grinning.
“I’m going to be around the dorm a lot more.”
“I know. She’ll have to get used to that.”
“We’ll need a signal.”
“For what?”
“For when I’m taking advantage of you.”
She giggles. “We’ll work something out, I’m sure.”
I grin and kiss her cheek. We head off together, into our future, finally smiling, finally free.
17
Kayla
Four Years Later
I stare at the degree on my office wall and let out a long breath. I don’t know why but I never really thought this day would come.
But here it is. I graduated, I walked, and now I have my college degree.
“Looks good.”
I turn back and smile at Reed. “Think so?”
“Sure.” He walks over and puts his arm around me. “I’m glad it doesn’t say Gradus.”
“Yeah, me too.”
He laughs and kisses me. “And I’m glad you’re working for me.”
I glare at him. “With you.”
“Sure, right. Whatever.”
I laugh and sigh, leaning my head against his shoulder.
We lasted one full year at Gradus before we decided to leave. It wasn’t really because the school was bad or because I was getting bullied, but because we both agreed that
we’d be happier starting a new life together from scratch. And so I applied for a transfer to a bunch of different schools, got in to a few of them, and landed at the University of Michigan.
We loved Ann Arbor, but as soon as I graduated, we moved to New York to be closer to his company. Now I’m working with him, getting ready to take his company up to the big times.
Because the day after we got married last year, his father released his entire trust into his name, which means the company has all the funding it’ll ever need.
“When do you think you’ll add my name to the door?” I ask him.
“We don’t have any names on it,” he points out.
“Yeah, but I’m very important, so.”
He grins. “Yeah, yeah. Okay.”
I kiss him before walking over to my desk and sitting down. “Seriously, aren’t people talking about nepotism right now?”
“Probably,” he admits. “But fuck ‘em. They’ll love you like I do eventually.”
“True. I am wonderful.”
He grins at me and leans across my desk. We kiss for a second before he sits down.
“Seriously, I’m happy you’re here. I’ve been waiting for this day for a while.”
“Me too. I feel like we can finally start doing some good in the world.”
“I know.” He sighs and stretches. “You ever wonder what things would be like if we had stayed at Gradus?”
“Not really,” I admit, because I don’t. “We would’ve been pulled back into that bullshit sooner or later.”
“You think so?” He purses his lips. “I don’t know.”
“The only good thing that came out of Gradus is Iris.” My old roommate and I are still good friends. She was my maid of honor and we keep in touch still today.
“That’s a good point.”
“We said it at the time. We needed a new start.”
“I know.” He sighs. “I still wish we had stayed, if only to piss off Felix and Nora.”
I smirk at him. “I wouldn’t worry about them.”
“Good point.”
“They got what they deserved.”
He laughs and cocks his head. “Married with two kids.”
“And miserable as all fucking hell, I’m sure.”
“If you went by their Instagram posts, they have a perfect life.”
“Which means they’re even more miserable.”
“Good point.”
“You don’t have to be so vengeful all the time,” I point out. “Plus, I heard something happened to them after we left. They aren’t exactly well loved anymore… actually, I think people pretty much think they’re pathetic.”
He laughs. “I know, I heard that rumor too. They basically got kicked out of high society. Think it’s actually true?”
I grin at him. “Who knows. It’s Gradus, after all.” I sigh and take a deep breath. “You’re going to have to soften up a little bit, you know.”
He arches an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”
“Well…” I trail off, biting my lip. I open the top drawer of my desk and take out a little package wrapped in tissues. I open it up and show him the pregnancy test.
His eyes practically pop out of his head. “You’re… holy shit.”
“I know.”
“You’re pregnant?”
“I’m definitely pregnant.”
He stares then bursts out into laughter. He gets up, grinning ear to ear. “Holy shit!”
He scoops me up and hugs me tight. I laugh with him, his pure joy totally infectious.
“This is amazing,” he says, kissing me.
“I hope your maternity benefits are good.”
“They’ll be more than generous, I’m sure.”
He holds me a moment longer. “This is perfect,” he says softly.
“I know.”
“I never thought all that shit we went through about be worth it, but maybe it was.”
“I think it was,” I say softly. “I’d burn my hands a hundred more times if it means having all this.”
“I’d burn them a thousand.”
“Okay, you win.”
He grins and kisses me one more time.
We hold each other like that for a little while. Our family is growing and I know it’ll grow even more someday in the future. This is what I’ve always wanted, and I can’t imagine being any more satisfied than I am right now.
I have a job, a man, a baby on the way. I have the education I’ve always dreamed of. I have the future I’ve always wanted.
I wake up every day and I can’t stop smiling.
That’s what Reed does for me. He brings light into my life, light that I didn’t even know I could have. Every day is easy, free and right.
I love him more than I can even say, always deeply, always every moment.
THE END
* * *
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