They Gave My Sister My Room, Now They've Lost Everything novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: Unusual Circumstances

The financial aid office had one desk, one plant and a woman with a stack of folders taller than her coffee.

Luca walked me to the door and stopped there.

"I'll be in the hall," he said. "If you want me, wave. If you don't, I'll read the poster about meal plans."

I almost smiled.

The woman behind the desk waved me to a chair and read the top page of my file with a pencil in her hand.

"Elena Cortese. Aid package approved in May, one parent contribution waived. Your file shows that the parent signature is missing on the final form."

"My father won't sign it."

"Did he say why?"

I laid my phone on the desk with Dad's text open.

She read it, then read it again, and put her pencil down.

"He wants an apology at a dinner table," she said, "in exchange for your tuition."

"Yes."

"I've seen a lot of parents withhold a signature. I've never seen one send it in writing."

She turned to her computer.

"There is a way around this. It's called a dependency override. If a student can't rely on her parents for support, you submit a statement and proof, and a committee decides you can be treated as independent. They meet on Thursday."

"What kind of proof?"

"A letter explaining what happened. Anything that shows it happened: that text, a medical record, a letter from a doctor or a school counselor. And your identity documents: birth certificate, passport or Social Security card, so we can verify you're you."

"They're all in my father's house."

"Then you'll have to get them."

I looked at the text on my phone.

I had left that house at night with one suitcase and no plan to go back.

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