to some classroom to sit in rows and listen to someone drone on and on about numbers and calculations. What she'd told Patrick was completely right. More than she'd realized. She was really happy in Bella Warren. With him, with her life. It was crazy, unstable and anything could happen at any time, but through all that, she was somehow in control of it. "No."
Her dad stood from the table and walked through the kitchen. "Yes you will. You need a good education to get a good job. You have a scholarship and you’re not letting that go to waste."
Now for the really hard part and she returned to warming her hands on her mug. Not like she could stomach the drink at the moment. "I’m not going back. I can’t. When I didn’t continue classes into the Fall, my scholarship ended. The stipulation was for four consecutive years with a full class schedule while maintaining a passing grade."
Her mom's mouth dropped and her stuck up posture crumbled. "Tasha Lauren, how could you be so stupid!"
She'd expected that or a dozen other phrases like it that she didn't even blink at the insult. "I'm doing what I love and I'm good at it. For the past three years, I hated going to school and couldn’t wait to get to my evening shift to wait tables. I lived for that job and dreaded the studying. I only went to college to try to make you two happy with me, but I hated every step.”
Her mom groaned. “It’s college, Tasha. Not the end of the world. Not everyone loves school every day of their life, but they go because they know what’s best.”
Yeah, well Tasha never remembered having a day that she loved. “It’s not just school that I don’t like. It’s the sitting. You know in high school, friends used to touch my knee in class to make me stop bouncing it because it was distracting? And I’m just sitting for an hour and half at a time. The idea of sitting at a desk for eight hours every day for the rest of my life makes me sick to my stomach.”
“What are you doing instead? What are you going to do when you get older and need a job to sit at?”
“I won’t be old for years. Right now I’m renting a building in Bella Warren."
Her dad stopped and leaned on the kitchen counter. "Where is that?"
"It's a little south of Warren and a little South east of Little Rock. It's a small town that's barely on a map. You wouldn't know it."
"How do you know about it?"
She smiled. "College."
Her mom pushed away from the table with a disgusted huff. "When you went to college, you weren't supposed to learn how to ruin your life."
"I haven't," she snapped and then winced. They were still her parents and she hadn't meant to get ugly, but damn it, she was trying and it was working. At least working enough that she was able to pay her bills every month and she wasn't having to dip into what few hundred dollars she had left in savings. She was breaking even after groceries and everything and that's farther along than where she started. So what if she didn't have extra money to put back in savings right now. Some people lived paycheck to paycheck for years. She breathed out and let go of her mug before she snapped the handle off. "I own a business there. And it's successful."
Her dad straightened. "You started your own business? How do you even know how to do that?"
She tried really hard not to laugh, but she did smile. There was just no way to answer that question without sounding like a smart-ass. "College. Economics are part of the business path. And my jobs. I’ve maintained a full time, forty hour work week since I started my Freshman year. Sometimes I worked two jobs. I know what it takes."
"You should have stayed in longer to see the odds of survival. In the worst economy, you thought it was a good idea to start your own business?"
"I think it's a good idea. And the people there do too since they keep coming back."
Her mother sat back down and rested her forehead against her fingertips. "What is this business?"
"An ice cream
Her dad stood from the table and walked through the kitchen. "Yes you will. You need a good education to get a good job. You have a scholarship and you’re not letting that go to waste."
Now for the really hard part and she returned to warming her hands on her mug. Not like she could stomach the drink at the moment. "I’m not going back. I can’t. When I didn’t continue classes into the Fall, my scholarship ended. The stipulation was for four consecutive years with a full class schedule while maintaining a passing grade."
Her mom's mouth dropped and her stuck up posture crumbled. "Tasha Lauren, how could you be so stupid!"
She'd expected that or a dozen other phrases like it that she didn't even blink at the insult. "I'm doing what I love and I'm good at it. For the past three years, I hated going to school and couldn’t wait to get to my evening shift to wait tables. I lived for that job and dreaded the studying. I only went to college to try to make you two happy with me, but I hated every step.”
Her mom groaned. “It’s college, Tasha. Not the end of the world. Not everyone loves school every day of their life, but they go because they know what’s best.”
Yeah, well Tasha never remembered having a day that she loved. “It’s not just school that I don’t like. It’s the sitting. You know in high school, friends used to touch my knee in class to make me stop bouncing it because it was distracting? And I’m just sitting for an hour and half at a time. The idea of sitting at a desk for eight hours every day for the rest of my life makes me sick to my stomach.”
“What are you doing instead? What are you going to do when you get older and need a job to sit at?”
“I won’t be old for years. Right now I’m renting a building in Bella Warren."
Her dad stopped and leaned on the kitchen counter. "Where is that?"
"It's a little south of Warren and a little South east of Little Rock. It's a small town that's barely on a map. You wouldn't know it."
"How do you know about it?"
She smiled. "College."
Her mom pushed away from the table with a disgusted huff. "When you went to college, you weren't supposed to learn how to ruin your life."
"I haven't," she snapped and then winced. They were still her parents and she hadn't meant to get ugly, but damn it, she was trying and it was working. At least working enough that she was able to pay her bills every month and she wasn't having to dip into what few hundred dollars she had left in savings. She was breaking even after groceries and everything and that's farther along than where she started. So what if she didn't have extra money to put back in savings right now. Some people lived paycheck to paycheck for years. She breathed out and let go of her mug before she snapped the handle off. "I own a business there. And it's successful."
Her dad straightened. "You started your own business? How do you even know how to do that?"
She tried really hard not to laugh, but she did smile. There was just no way to answer that question without sounding like a smart-ass. "College. Economics are part of the business path. And my jobs. I’ve maintained a full time, forty hour work week since I started my Freshman year. Sometimes I worked two jobs. I know what it takes."
"You should have stayed in longer to see the odds of survival. In the worst economy, you thought it was a good idea to start your own business?"
"I think it's a good idea. And the people there do too since they keep coming back."
Her mother sat back down and rested her forehead against her fingertips. "What is this business?"
"An ice cream
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