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In 1994, the median American household brought in a little over thirty thousand dollars a year.
At a selective private university, tuition alone could run close to twenty thousand. Add fees, books, room, board, travel, and everything else, and the real annual cost could climb toward thirty thousand dollars.
If Katherine wanted to go to one of those schools, the best outcome was a full scholarship. Otherwise, she would have to chase Pell Grants, federal student loans, and whatever private loans could cover the gap.
The cheaper option was staying in California and choosing a public university.
Women’s volleyball did not have football’s ceiling. It would not be easy for Katherine to earn a full ride through volleyball.
If Nolan had any choice, he did not want her taking on student debt. Interest rates were high, and even a reasonable-looking loan could turn a four-year degree into a burden that followed someone for decades.
"When the time comes, Mia and I will figure something out," Nolan said suddenly. "We’ll get you through college without loans if we can."
Katherine looked at his serious face and laughed.
"You really think moving a little medicine can pay for college? Keep your money for yourself. Besides, it isn’t just me. You have to think about your own future too. I need to find a way to make money fast."
"Guess where the money for dinner came from."
Nolan remembered her paying the bill, and his stomach tightened.
He grabbed her shoulders.
"Promise me you haven’t done anything reckless."
That was one of the last things he wanted to see.
Katherine blinked, then laughed and explained.
"What are you imagining? When we packed, I saved some of your dad’s old records. He had a few out-of-print jazz records from the sixties. Some can sell for close to two hundred dollars each. Together, they should be worth about three thousand."
Nolan let out a long breath.
"So you do worry about me." Katherine leaned closer. "Good. I didn’t raise you for nothing."
"Not just you. Mia and William too. We have to get through this. Everything will get better."
"Of course. But that is not what you should be worrying about right now. You study, you play football, and leave the rest to us. You have a game next week. This weekend, I’ll take you to Century City and buy you proper football cleats."
She rested her hand on his shoulder.
"I trained all afternoon and I’m tired. Let me borrow your shoulder."
"Want me to carry you back?"
Katherine smacked the back of his head.
"I’m too heavy. I’d crush you."
She turned her face away, hiding her expression.
Katherine weighed more than most girls her age, mostly because she was tall and athletic. Her waist was lean, with faint lines of muscle.
She stood a full head above the average American woman, taller than many fashion models and taller than most boys at school. Only Nolan was slightly taller.
That height intimidated most boys before they ever approached her. Add Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jennifer Love Hewitt shining elsewhere on campus, and Katherine drew less public attention than her looks deserved.
"Rest early," she said when they parted in the motel hallway. "I’ll wake you up tomorrow."
Nolan turned away and heard her open the room door. He heard Mia ask Katherine something, then the clatter of a mechanical typewriter.
...
The next morning, while Nolan was still asleep, the blanket was ripped away.
"Fuck you!" Nolan snapped.
Katherine spun around at once and threw the boxers draped over the chair at his head.
"Surprise," he said.
Nolan dodged the flying underwear.
Surely this would teach her to knock.
Katherine had already walked out.
Because they were up early, they had breakfast in Nolan’s room without rushing. The meal was the leftover steak from the night before, plus two eggs Katherine fried and a large carton of milk.
Nolan took one sip and noticed the taste was off. When he checked the carton, he saw it was a day past the date, and the milk had clearly spoiled.
"Only one day," Katherine said, propping her chin on both hands and watching him. "Milk near its sell-by date is cheaper. The flavor is a little different, but it still has nutritional value."
Katherine was a caretaker by instinct. Seeing someone accept her care gave her an extra kind of satisfaction.
She was going to make someone an alarmingly competent wife someday.
She was also good in the kitchen. After her work on the leftovers, Nolan thought the steak tasted better than it had the night before.
The bus was packed that morning. Passengers pressed shoulder to shoulder, and Nolan naturally stood behind Katherine, one arm braced on the pole as he shielded her from the crowd.
After they parted on campus, Nolan went to his locker and checked the day’s schedule.
"Look. That’s him."
"Yeah, the school paper wrote about him."
"The new football player."
Nolan turned and found two girls nearby watching him and whispering.
When they realized he had noticed, they looked embarrassed, then smiled.
"Hi. I’m Naomi."
The girl with straight blond hair greeted him easily.
"What class do you have next?" asked the girl beside her, who had short black hair. "I think I’ve seen you in Spanish."
"Spanish," Nolan said. "So we are classmates."
He glanced at their skirts, then asked, "How are you two in Spanish?"
That class was currently his biggest headache. He had no background in the language at all.
"Amy’s mother is from Venezuela," Naomi said. "Spanish is Amy’s first language."
"Perfect. Then the three of us can sit together, right?"
The two girls exchanged a look and answered together.
"Why not?"
"Por favor, abran el libro en la página 105. Hoy vamos a hablar del tiempo."
The elderly Spanish teacher walked past Nolan.
The girls on either side of him could not help looking at him. His sharp features, strong brows, blue eyes, and broad chest were hard to ignore.
That was one benefit of being on the football team. Girls at school paid attention to athletes. Their gossip often circled the boys who played.
With Nolan’s looks added on top, that attention could easily turn into interest.
After class, when Nolan asked about the parts he had not understood, both girls gladly helped.
With such selfless classmates, his Spanish grade should improve quickly.
At lunch, the three of them sat together again. High school lunch was only half an hour, leaving almost no spare time, so most students ate simple food.
Some students brought warm, carefully packed lunches from home. A lot of their classmates ate more casually.
Nolan had two bacon sandwiches Katherine had made for him. Naomi ate a box of sushi. Amy ate only sliced fruit: kiwi, dragon fruit, and cherry tomatoes, almost nothing that looked like a real meal.
Amy was apparently watching what she ate. From their conversation, Nolan learned that she and Naomi also ran together at night.
"Do you work out at night too?" Naomi asked. "You could come with us."
"I..."
Nolan was more interested in arranging private Spanish tutoring after school, and he was considering how to answer.
Then pain twisted through his stomach as if an invisible hand had grabbed it and wrung it into a knot.
When Nolan failed to answer and frowned instead, Amy looked a little hurt.
"Nolan probably doesn’t look twice at girls like us," she said. "He likes movie stars."
She had remembered the Highlights interview mentioning Nolan’s crush on Sarah Michelle Gellar from the cheer squad.
That wasn’t what was going on.
But there was no time to explain.
"Hold that thought. Give me a minute."
Nolan stood stiffly and went looking for the nearest restroom.
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