On making choices (Part 1).

Mr. Knight seemed taken aback. I wasn’t entirely sure, but as far as I understood, Mr. Aliev and Mr. Knight had a fairly good relationship, at least from having worked together a few times. Mila’s dad was also quite younger, but that didn’t seem to prevent the big man from talking to Alice’s dad as an equal.

“The girl made her choice and is ready for the consequences. You can either support her or not, but you can’t change her mind,” Mr. Aliev said.

Mr. Knight frowned, not with hostility, yet in clear disagreement. “I just want what’s best for her. I’ve lived longer, made my mistakes. I don’t want her to make the same ones.”

“We’ve all made mistakes. These kids will, too, no matter how much you try to stop them,” Mr. Aliev argued back.

Mr. West slid into the conversation, nodding in agreement. “Our job as their parents is not to **** them down a path we choose, but to help them get up after they fall. Of course, we should try our best to guide them, but towards the path that’s best for them as their own individuals, not who we believe they are.”

“Are you saying I raised my kids wrong?” Mr. Knight asked, scowling, offended.

“Of course not. In fact, that Alice disagrees with what you want for her yet still so considerate of your feelings shows just how much respect she has for you. But she’s a grown woman already, capable of making her own decisions.”

“So we should just let her waste her talents in a subpar university?” Mrs. Knight asked, apparently of the same mind as her husband.

My eye twitched.

“Excuse me, but… what ARE her talents?” my own mother asked. “Her diligence? Her intelligence? Her passion? I don’t see any of that being wasted.”

“She could be doing so much more, BE so much more!” Mr. Knight said, beginning to raise his voice.

“...” Alice herself had been keeping her head down, embarrassed that her situation had become the topic of conversation for the whole table. But even so, in a quiet voice, she had to ask. “Is my success dependent on how much money I make?”

“Yes!” her father blatantly said. “You can do what you want after you have all your needs covered! Do you think you’d be able to live here with your boyfriend and your friends if it wasn’t for money?”

I bit my lip and tried to swallow the knot in my throat. There was so much I wanted to say, but I was sure that anything I did way would sound like whining and complaining. I hadn’t formed any sound arguments against that, because it still stung that we had what we did because of luck and the generosity of a rich man.

“...” Alice also bit her lip. “So… Is Alex a failure, then?”

Mr. Knight flinched. “That’s…”

“And what’s the point of money if I can’t do what I really want? I’m already here, with the people I want to be, and you’re telling me to leave?”

“Alice, a relationship can break apart in a single night!”

The whole table went cold at that. Dead quiet. And yet I was boiling inside.

“...” Alice took a deep breath, stood up from her seat and walked into the house without saying a word or looking back.

I stood up as well, but not before locking eyes with Mr. Knight. “One day, when you’re older, you’ll wonder why she doesn’t call, why she doesn’t visit, what you did to lose her. You may genuinely not understand.” I shook my head. “This is why.”

I briefly locked eyes with Isabelle. She looked like she wanted to follow, but I shook my head. I was hoping she’d stay here and listen to where the conversation went without us.

I followed Alice into the house, and I wasn’t the only one. Funnily enough, Cake went before me, but Mila, Grace, Sarah, Noelle and Diana were close behind me.

We went into the house, but we’d already lost sight of her.

“Did she go to her bedroom?” Mila asked.

“No,” I said, walking confidently towards the front door, out the house and into the garage. The lights were on, and Alice was sitting inside her car, feet on the seat, knees close to her chest as she held Cake in her arms.

She wasn’t crying, though, nor hiding her face. She was looking forward with steel in her eyes. Her sharp gaze softened when she saw us. She sighed, smiled and lowered her window.

“Sorry,” she said. “I had to leave before I said anything I’d regret,” she explained.

“And that makes you a better person than me,” Sarah said, with Grace nodding in agreement. “I was so damn close to exploding…”

“I had to hold myself back, too,” Grace said. “I was worried I’d make things worse for you. Should I go back?”

Alice shook her head. “I know my dad wants what’s best for me. The problem is he doesn’t understand what that is. And now… It’s clear he believes you all shouldn’t be my priority.”

“Alice…” I swallowed. “If you want to leave the house and study somewhere far from here, do it.” Everyone, even Alice, looked at me like I was insane. But I didn’t stop there. “If you want to stay here with us and continue to study Law at Hyogen as a compromise to your family, do it. And if you want to drop out entirely and do your own thing, do it, whether that be studying something else or working as a mechanic. No matter what you choose to do, we’ll be here, either waiting or supporting you. It’s not just words, either. University isn’t a priority for me. Dropping out to focus on work would hardly be a sacrifice. Hell, it was my original plan.”

“I’m moving in with you all next week, if you’ll have me,” Diana said, suddenly dropping the bomb then and there. “I wanted to talk about it with Oliver later on our way to work, but I better say it here. If you want to drop out and follow your true passion, I’ll also be here to back you up. Add my pay to the pile.”

“I’ll find a part-time job, too,” Mila said. “I’d already been thinking about it, since I have more free time than all of you. It won’t matter if your dad won’t support you with money anymore.”

“I’ve started making more, too,” Noelle said, swallowing. “Alice… between all of us, we can more than take care of ourselves. Like Oliver said, we’re here to help you, like you’ve always helped us. Unless… you d-don’t want us to?”

“...” Alice smiled wryly. She turned her eyes from us to Cake, who was purring in her arms.

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