I throw open my door and come face to face with Leela, Mila, Meghan, and Ashley.
“Honey? You gotta tell us what’s going on,” Mila says aggressively, and her thick Jersey accent is somehow coming off as more maternal to me than anything I’ve heard in a long time.
“The Dean has taken Herc and me off the rolls. We don’t attend this school anymore.”
Feeling like a ghost in my own house, I pass off the letter to Leela and grab my purse. I run out the back door while frantically texting Titus.
Me:Herc is coming to see you, and he’s pissed.
Titus:What’s going on?
But instead of replying by text, I call him, running down the street like a lunatic.
When he answers, I don’t even say hello; I just launch into the story about the letter as I run.
“They can’t do that,” he protests.
“They can, and they did. It’s done. I’m out. Herc and I are both out.”
“Baby, are you running?”
“I’m headed your way.”
“I’m coming to get you.” I hear the jingle of his keys through the phone.
“There’s more,” Titus, I say, slowing my sprint.
“How could it be worse than my girlfriend and best friend leaving school?”
I don’t even want to say it because it hurts too much. Out of breath, I explain, “Herc blames you because he thinks it was your idea to take the tennis balls. I have a crazy feeling he’s on his way to see you now.”
A minute later, Titus’s truck screeches to a stop on the curb in front of me, and I hop in. He yanks the wheel and makes a wild U-turn.
Titus curses. “No fucking way, you two are leaving school. The only reason I’m even at school is to follow you around, Cass. If you leave, I leave.”
“Shut up! You are not leaving!”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I’ve always got at least five backup plans.”
“Titus!”
“I’m going back to my dorm to pack right now.”
“Don’t be an idiot!”
The tires squeal as my boyfriend slams on the brakes and parks in the resident assistant’s prime space.
We arrive seconds before Herc and spot him stalking toward the lobby doors.
“Hercules,” I say, using his full name, recalling how Mom used to do that he was being unreasonable.
Herc’s brows furrow as he turns and stares at Titus.
“Are you going to talk to me?”
“Stay out of this, Cassandra.”
I stand between the two of them. “Nobody twisted our arms. We took what we needed and used that money when we knew it was a risk?”