Jade tried to concentrate on the material she was reading, but her mind wandered from chemistry to her personal problems, chiefly those with her mother, who refused to take seriously either Jade’s love for Gary or her burning desire to have more out of life than the ordinary—husband, home, and children.
A family was important and Jade wanted one. But she wanted more. Most of the girls in her class had already resigned themselves to working for Ivan Patchett until they got married and started having babies, who would eventually work for Neal. Gary and she shared an ambition to break that dreary cycle.
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Whether intentionally or not, Ron Sperry had imbued his daughter with the courage he had lacked, instilling in her a desire to make a better life for herself than her parents had had. At least on that, she and her mother agreed. It was their ultimate goals that differed… and their means of attaining them. Jade feared that those differences would never be reconciled, especially where Gary was concerned.
Gary was another source of worry that gloomy afternoon. Neither of them had heard from any of the scholarship boards to which they had applied. That, coupled with their escalating sexual frustration and the hell that Neal was giving them at school because of the incident at the Dairy Barn, had made them irritable and short-tempered with each other.
They needed a distraction. Perhaps if the weather was warm this weekend, they could have a cookout on the beach, or go for a long drive, something that would relax them and put things back into perspective.
She was still mulling it over when the bell over the entrance jangled. Jade looked up from her studies to see Donna Dee barreling through the door. Her cheeks were flushed and her chest was heaving as she gasped for air.
Jade jumped to her feet, and her chemistry book fell to the floor with a loud thud. “What in the world is the matter?”
Donna Dee fanned her hands in front of her face and drew several deep breaths. “I just came from school. Mr. Patterson asked if I’d stay and do some filing for him.”
“And?”
“You got it. Your scholarship.”
Jade’s heart went straight to her throat. She didn’t dare trust her ears, so she repeated, “I got it? A scholarship?”
Donna Dee bobbed her head quickly. “To South Carolina State.”
“How do you know? Are you sure?”
“I saw the letter lying on Mr. Patterson’s desk. It looked very official, you know, with gold seals and scrolls and stuff. I saw your name on it and kind of accidentally on purpose knocked it to the floor as I was reaching for a folder I was supposed to—”
“Donna Dee!”
“Okay. Anyway, I read the letter. The dean or someone was congratulating our principal on producing two such fine students at Palmetto High School.”
Jade’s eyes widened. “Two?”
Donna Dee spread her arms out to her sides and squealed, “Gary got one, too.”
They both started squealing then. Clasping arms, they hopped up and down until the glass jars of jelly beans on the counter began to rattle.
“Oh, Lord. Oh, I can’t believe it! How much? Did it say how much?”
“It said ‘full scholastic scholarships.’ Doesn’t that mean everything?”
“I don’t know. I hope so. Oh, but I’m so grateful for whatever it is,” Jade said breathlessly. “I’ve got to tell Gary. Was he still at school? Did you see him on the track?” The track team was preparing for its season by working out every day after school.
“No. I told Mr. Patterson I felt sick and had to leave. I ran to the stadium and looked for Gary. I was going to get him to come with me and tell you together.”
“Maybe he was in the locker room.”
Donna Dee shook her head. “I asked. Marvie Hibbs said he’d seen him leave.”
Jade consulted the pendulum clock mounted on the wall. It was surrounded by cuckoo clocks, all about to strike five-thirty. “Sometimes Mr. Jones comes back before six. I’m sure he’ll let me leave a few minutes early today.”
“What for?”
“To go tell Gary.”
“Why don’t you just call?”