Afterworlds Read Free Page A

have to write the sequel, and then revise that. And my agent says that I should be promoting myself already!”
    Nisha held up both hands, her fingers silently indicating nine “my agents.”
    “Darcy,” her father said. “You know we’ve always supported your creativity. But wasn’t the main reason for writing the novel so you could put it on your college applications?”
    “No!” Darcy cried. “Where did you get that idea?”
    Annika Patel placed her palms together, as if praying for quiet. When she had everyone’s attention, her look of long suffering softened into a sly smile.
    “Is this because you’re afraid of leaving home? I know that Ohio seems a long way away, but you can call us anytime.”
    “Oh,” Darcy said, realizing that her announcement was incomplete. “I’m not staying here . I’m moving to New York.”
    In the silence that followed, all Darcy could hear was Nisha chewing on a samosa. She wished that her little sister would at least try not to look so amused.
    “New York City ?” their mother finally asked.
    “I want to be a writer, and that’s where publishing is.”
    Annika Patel let out a slow, exasperated sigh. “You haven’t even let us read this book, Darcy. And now you want to give up college for this . . . dream .”
    “I’m not giving it up, Mom, just deferring it for a year.” The right words finally came to her. “A year of studying the publishing industry. Learning all about it from the inside! Can you imagine what that would look like on a college application?” Darcy waved her hands. “I mean, except I won’t need to apply again, because I’m only deferring.”
    Her voice took on a guilty quaver at the end. According to the Oberlin student manual, deferment was allowed only under “exceptional circumstances,” and the definition of “exceptional” was up to the school. They could say no, and then she’d have to start all over.
    But being under contract to write a novel was pretty exceptional, wasn’t it?
    “I don’t know about this, Darcy.” Her father shook his head. “First you don’t apply to any universities in India, and then—”
    “I’d never get into a good school in India! Even Sagan couldn’t, and he’s a math genius.” Darcy turned to her mother, who actually read novels. “You guys thought it was awesome when my book sold.”
    “Of course it’s wonderful.” Annika Patel shook her head. “Even if you won’t let us read it.”
    “Just until I do the rewrites.”
    “That’s up to you,” her mother said. “But you can’t expect every novel you write to make this tremendous amount of money. You have to be practical. You’ve never lived alone, or paid your own bills, or made your own food. . . .”
    Darcy didn’t trust herself to speak. Her eyes stung, and her throat was tight. Nisha had been right—now that she’d uttered her dream aloud to her parents, it had become real. Too real to lose.
    But at the same time countless other things had become real, all the nuts and bolts of food and shelter. Darcy had never even done her own laundry.
    She looked pleadingly at her little sister. Nisha placed her fork down with a little tap, just loud enough.
    “I was thinking,” she said as everyone turned to her. “Moneywise, it might be better if Darcy takes a year off.”
    No one said anything, and Nisha played the silence for a moment.
    “I was looking at Oberlin’s financial aid forms. And of course the main thing they ask is what the parents earn. But there’s another place where they ask for the student’s income. Turns out, whatever Darcy makes comes straight off the top of any aid they offer.”
    Still no one spoke, and Nisha nodded slowly to herself, as if she were realizing all this just now.
    “Darcy’s going to make more than a hundred grand this year, just by signing that contract. So if she starts college now, she won’t get any financial aid at all.”
    “Oh,” Darcy said. Her two-book advance was about