The Summer Girlfriend (Heart Beach, #1)(13)
Later, before her hearing, when she’d realized that her scholarship was on the line, she’d begged CJ to tell the truth and admit the alcohol was his. At first, he said that he would. But then he’d backpedaled. He’d been too worried about losing his own scholarship. Plus, she’d broken up with him, which had made him bitter. It had been her word against his, and there was proof of Noelle having the liquor in her possession. The violation went against EmpoWOMENt’s code of conduct, and Noelle lost her scholarship. It was the end of her junior year, and she couldn’t afford UMD, or college in general, without financial help. She qualified for some federal loans, but they weren’t enough to cover everything. When she tried to apply for private loans, she was denied. And she definitely didn’t want her mom to take out loans on her behalf.
Reality hit her like a ton of bricks. She wouldn’t be able to return in the fall to finish her final year and graduate. That summer, Noelle went home, embarrassed and ashamed. Portia seemed to be the only one on Noelle’s side. She’d wanted to take action and get CJ to tell the truth, but Noelle just wanted to forget that any of it ever happened. At the end of the day, even if the liquor was CJ’s, she chose to hide it under her bed. She begged her mom to let it go so that they could move on.
Soon after, just when it seemed like things couldn’t get much worse, one day on her way home from work, Portia got into a car accident. Her injuries—three fractured ribs and a fractured pelvis—required multiple surgeries and a lengthy recovery stay in the hospital. Noelle spent most of her days in Portia’s hospital room. Portia slept a lot, and the television in her room worked only when it wanted to. Noelle avoided social media because she didn’t want to see pictures of the UMD friends who’d quickly stopped responding to her texts once they realized she wasn’t coming back. As her mom slept, she was left to sit with her thoughts and failures.
On one of those quiet, forlorn days, a nurse took pity on Noelle.
“There’s a library across the street,” the nurse said. “Maybe you can find a book to read to pass the time while you’re here?”
“Oh.” Noelle blinked and glanced at her mom, who had just fallen asleep again after eating lunch.
“Your mom’s okay,” the nurse gently reassured her. “I’ll come back to check on her.”
Noelle stood and bit her lip. She didn’t want to leave, but she also didn’t want the nurse to see her as a problem. They were nice enough to let her stay after visiting hours ended sometimes. She didn’t want to lose those privileges.
She walked across the street to the library. The building was large with a dome-shaped ceiling. As she stepped inside, she was hit with a cold gust of air-conditioning. Three librarians were seated in front of computers at the reference desk. Straight ahead was the children’s books section with colorful chairs and rugs. Noelle walked farther inside, and to her left, she saw rows of books in the nonfiction section. She glanced up at the second floor and saw even more shelves. She didn’t know where to begin her search. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d read a book that wasn’t required reading for school. What kinds of books did she even like? It was overwhelming. Everything was overwhelming. Losing her scholarship. Not going back to UMD. Breaking up with CJ. Her mom’s accident.
She felt her face get hot and tears gathered at the back of her eyes as she stood frozen by the reference desk.
“Can I help you with anything?”
Startled, Noelle turned to see a librarian standing beside her. The woman spoke in a soft voice and she wore tortoiseshell glasses.
“Um” was all Noelle got out before she started to cry.
“Oh, honey, it’s all right.” The librarian walked Noelle to the reference desk and handed her a tissue. “What’s bothering you?”
Noelle realized no one had asked her that question yet, and it made her cry even harder. Through tears, she told the librarian about losing her scholarship and her mom’s accident.
“It sounds like maybe you need to read something that will help you relax,” the librarian suggested gently once Noelle finished talking. “Something immersive to take your mind off things. Do you like fantasy?”
Noelle shrugged and sniffled. “I can give it a try.”
The librarian smiled. She brought Noelle to the fiction section and handed her a fantasy novel about warring witch covens. Then she gave her a romance novel about rival coworkers who were competing for the same promotion. Afterward, she signed Noelle up for a library card. She told Noelle that her name was Margaret.
Books in hand, Noelle thanked Margaret and returned to her mom’s hospital room. Portia was still sleeping, so Noelle started the fantasy novel. She continued reading until the nurse stopped by to let her know that visiting hours had ended. Noelle was so engrossed in the book, she’d completely lost track of time.
She finished the book two days later, even though it was almost five hundred pages long. She started the romance novel next and inhaled that one too. When she was reading, she wasn’t thinking about the stressful state of her life. Reading had helped her relax, just like Margaret had said.
At the end of the week, Noelle returned to the library and asked for more recommendations. Soon she was reading two, sometimes three, books a week. When her mom came home from the hospital and started physical therapy, Noelle read in the car while waiting for her mom’s appointments to end. She read everything. Fantasy, sci-fi, romance, suspense, memoirs. Books had become a source of light during a dark time.