On the Mountain (Follow your Bliss #5) Read Free

social life analyzed
and criticized. “I thought we were talking about school.”
    “Your father is eager to hear
what you’ve decided.”
    “I’m sure he is,” she said dryly.
Although Baskia loved her father, he was just that, a father and not a dad. She
wasn’t daddy’s little girl or the daughter he taught how to throw a baseball or
a right hook. He was a stoic figure who paid the bills and sat in disapproving
silence at the head of the table, when he appeared for meals.
    “Baskia, you have your choice,
Dartmouth, Harvard, Columbia, or Yale. You must make a decision. They’re not
going to hold your place forever, you know. You do realize most prospective
students had to make a decision months ago. Not every institution is holding
its door open waiting for you. Your brother, he went directly to Harvard, there
was no question. As for you—”
    “Okay, okay. I’ll go to
Columbia,” Baskia blurted.
    “Well, that wasn’t my first
choice, but good. I will let them know. I’ll send a courier over with a few
documents after they’ve been sent to me.”
    “Email is fine, Mom.”
    “Their prospectus is lovely, and
you’ll need—”
    “Didn’t Will show you how to
press send?” Baskia asked, knowing her mother’s ineptitude or perhaps
unwillingness to move forward, with technology.
    “Well, yes, but how about you
come over for dinner next Sunday. I should have everything in order by then. I
expect your brother will also be home one last time before the semester begins.
You’ll also have to discuss this with your agent. College is different from
high school with the tutors. I can’t get you excused if you miss classes or
exams.”
    “I know that. What do you think I
am, stupid?” Baskia couldn’t help reverting to the argument they’d been having
since she was thirteen.
    “No dear, but it isn’t like
you’re as independent and,” she paused, “adept as Mellie.”
    “You’ve got to be kidding me,”
Baskia snapped.
    “After she lost her mother, she
had to handle everything, applying to schools, her interviews…”
    “I’m pretty sure you helped her.”
    “Well, not having a mother to
look after her interests—”
    “Come on, Mom,” Baskia said,
feeling her cheeks flushing hot with indignation.
    “Dear, it’s just that Mellie has
a clear vision for her future, she has goals, and is taking the steps necessary
to succeed.”
    “If you prefer Mellie to me, just
say so. That way I can be the ditzy-orphan child and you can adopt a new
daughter. The two of you can attend stuffy dinner parties, rub elbows with high
society, and then when you’re old and dull, you can ask yourselves what it was
all for,” Baskia shouted, knowing she’d gone slightly too far, but couldn’t
stop herself. All the pressure of her upbringing and the expectations for her
future pressed against the inside of her chest begging for a way out, and
unfortunately, it was through a yelling match with her mother that continued
for fifteen minutes.
    “Fine,” Baskia said. “I’ll go to
Columbia, get a degree, then I’ll get married, leave my career, have a couple
brats, and when I’m your age I’ll be so miserable I’ll either try to hold onto
my youth by trying to control my adult children’s lives—” but her mother had
already hung up. Baskia leaned back on her bed, practically out of breath,
knowing she’d just crushed her future in a rocky avalanche of acquiescence and
anger.
     
     

 
    Chapter Two
     
    Without a knock, London appeared
in the doorway looking as sexy as ever, despite bedhead and smudged eye makeup.
Baskia wondered how she was always effortlessly perfect. Even though Baskia
would be able to stay in the city, her pledge to go to Columbia made her feel
as alien in her skin as ever. She rubbed her eyes wishing she could see a way
clear of the situation.
    “What was the tantrum about this
time? Daddy not paying your—those shoes!—where did you get them?” London asked,
interrupting