KINGS SCHOOL OF LAW

Business office.

She was sitting there, listening to what the director was saying. Her heart beats were accelerating whenever she heard the word 'end', it was one among the worst words in her vocabulary, it was something she didn't want to accept. The room was so steamy for her and the AC was not helping. The director, on the other hand was as helpless as always, repeating the same words he always told her in their countless meetings

    "I always tell you this and I'm going to say it again, postpone your studies until you find a way to pay your debt, there is nothing we can do for you now", it sounded normal to him but to Fania it sounded like he was sick and tired of her already, and she understood why

    "I know my face is the last thing you want to see in this school, I obviously know, but the last time I spoke to you, you promised to do something if I get good grades, luckily I got excellent grades, 3.9 GPA aint a joke", she said, trying to defend herself

    "You're not the only one who got excellent grades last semester",

    "But I'm the only one who didn't receive the academic award! This is so surprising, sir, especially when the business office knows how I'm struggling financially, I just wonder why you skipped me",

    "It's not that we skipped you, even if we gave you the award nothing would've changed, the award is $2000 and your debt is $31000, it's just like adding a drop in the ocean, pointless!",

    "Pointless to you! To me little things matter, you don't know how that $2000 would've made me and my family feel",

    "I know about your family and how your mother is struggling, but it's impossible for you to continue studying here while you have a lot of debt accumulated, go home, find a cheaper college and go there, that is my advice t_",

    "Thank you for your time", she had to stop him there. She picked up her bag and quickly left the room. She didn't want to stay and listen to anymore painful advices from him. She had to protect the tiny peace she had left in her.

She took out her phone to check the time, luckily, she had 10 minutes to class, below the time, she saw a text from her mother saying, 'Call me when you're free'. She directly knew something was up, and that weakened the tiny peace she had, she put her phone back in her white cotton shoulder bag and hurried to class.

…..

Class

She couldn't help but wonder why she was still in class, learning, while she was supposed to leave anyway. Her seat being the second row from the back she had a chance to look at everyone in the room. Everyone looked so happy and peaceful, everyone was there with a laptop in front of them, plus bottles of water to cool their throats. She felt like they had the luxuries she lacked in her life. She was so lost in her own world of stress that she couldn't hear the professor calling her twice, it was the third time that she heard her, and that was because everyone was looking at her

    "Are you alright, Fania?", asked the professor, concerned by the way she was silent and blank, she was always the active type

    "No", she easily said with a weak smile on her face, what was the point of hiding what was already crystal clear

    "I noticed, you're excused, go get some rest",

    "No, it's okay, I want to be here_",

    "Alright then",

The professor went back to teaching, and almost everyone turned their heads front, but she still felt eyes all over her. When she decided to take a look at who was staring at her, it was 2 dudes and her roommate, Borah. She didn't mind the other guys talking about her, it was her roommate. She wanted to know what they were talking about and why they were looking at her as if she did something embarrassing, and why Borah, who was like a friend to her suddenly became her anti.

…..

Evening

Dormitory

Fania's and Borah's room.

It was just her in the room, Borah was not back yet. She hanged her bag on the chair and threw herself on the bed, the best place in the whole school. She had to take a deep breath and exhale all the things she went through that day. Nothing was going on her way, and whenever she felt like that, she remembered her parents and couldn't help but realize they're going through more tough times than her. A thought of them made her remember the text her mother sent her earlier, she took out her phone and dialed her number

    "Fany?", said her mother as soon as she picked up the phone

    "Wow, it's like you were waiting for me to call, what's up mom?",

    "Uh-are you okay? Are you somewhere private?",

    "Yeah, I'm alone in my room, what's going on? Is dad okay? Are you okay?",

    "Yeah, we are, your dad is actually here with me right now, we want to talk to you about something",

    "Oh, okay, hi dad",

    "Hi honey", replied the dad and said nothing else after that

    "So, what do you want to talk to me about?",

    "Fany, this is so hard for us to say, but we have been thinking about it for weeks now, we know it won't be easy for you-we haven't slept for days just -just thinking about it", her mom said, she sounded very worried and embarrassed but she was trying so hard to say it

    "Just say it mom, I had a stressful day, I don't mind one more",

    "So-um-there is this program which our church introduced a month ago, it provides maximum assistance to families and a person who is-who is-um-pregnant, they fix the house or even place them in new shelters if the condition of their current house is terrible, and if-and if the pregnant lady is still young, they pay for her education maximum 3 years, 4 if her academic performance is great",

There was a total silence after her mother finished explaining. Fania said nothing. Her mother's hands were trembling, and her eyes were teary as she stared at her husband, she could imagine how hard it was for their daughter to hear such news, especially from them. It pained her as a woman and as a mother to put her daughter into that situation, she hated herself but that was the only way

    "Honey, are you-still there?", asked the father since his wife couldn't say any other word due to the shame,

    "I am dad, so-what you're saying is I have to get pregnant, right?",

    "You can say no, we totally understand, no pressure, it was just an_",

    "I will do it!",

Although they were hoping she agrees they were still shocked by the way she agreed. This time it was them who were silent, they were so shocked that no right words came out of their mouths.