The planning table.

“Okay, then let’s clear something up first,” Diana started. “What is your goal here? What is the one thing you need to achieve? That’s where you need to start.”

We looked at each other at the table, my eyes meeting the girls’ directly.

“We don’t want to be apart,” Sarah said. “It doesn’t really matter where we are so long as we can still be together.”

“But now that Diana is with us, we also can’t be too far from her.” Mila said it in such a way that didn’t leave the older woman room to argue.

“But what does it mean to stay together?” Diana asked further. “Studying in the same university? Living together? Staying in the same city? The way you’ll approach this is different depending on what you want. You need to narrow it down more.”

“Like Grace said, even if we can cover our university fees on our own, we’ll still face pushback from our families,” Alice said. “And… despite that, it’s not like I hate them. I don’t want to be on bad terms with them.”

Grace clicked her tongue. “...Same. I have a lot of issues with my parents, but I still love them at the end of the day. So… I think I’d like to move away but still study engineering like they want me to, only someplace else.”

The two girls looked at each other, then directly at me.

“Oliver, Grace and I can cover our own university expenses,” Alice said.

“Huh? Really?”

Grace nodded. “If we go to Hyogen, at least. We both were offered full scholarships. But as you know, our parents won’t like that decision. They don’t think that place is good enough for their standards.”

“The problem is that we’d still need our parents to sign some documents to accept the scholarship,” Alice said. “But… we can convince them, I think. If we have some leverage.”

“What would you need?”

“A place to live, basically,” Grace said. “You know how it is, right? Their house, their rules. But if we can show them that we have other options, we can make them agree to some compromises.”

“If they don’t like me going to Hyogen, I’ll just not go to university and I’ll work with my brother in his shop,” Alice said. “I’ve talked about this with him already. He’s always supported me on this.”

“I don’t have as clear a plan as Alice, but I can also start working instead of going to university. Still, that’s our backup plan. I’m confident our parents would rather sign for us than have us go on our own.”

I also didn’t want them to be on bad terms with their families. If they could somehow convince them to accept their terms, that would be the best case scenario.

“And how about you, Noelle?” I asked her. “Your parents also want you to go someplace specific, right?”

“A-Ah, well… Yes.” She fidgeted, lips pursed and gaze cast down. “They want me to study medicine, too.”

“But that’s not what you want, right?” Sarah asked.

Slowly, Noelle nodded. “I’d like to be a vet. I mean… If I could choose.” Her voice became weaker and more of a whisper with each word. “I’m not… really against the idea of being a doctor, or a surgeon like my dad wants me to. I just… like… animals. That’s it. So… I’ll also try to convince them to let me go to Hyogen. I think their biology courses are actually pretty good.”

I stopped myself from making promises too soon. I wanted to offer to pay for her studies so she could be a vet, but that would have to wait until I was 100% sure I could. For now, we were coordinating our goals.

Sarah groaned. “Damn, you girls make me feel bad for how good I have it. My parents even left my choice of school up to me, mostly. At least that means I can go along with whatever we decide. I don’t mind going to a suboptimal school if I have to. Hell, it’ll probably be easier for me.”

“And I’m…” Mila began, then took a deep breath. “I’m going to university, but where and majoring in what is up to me. I talked to my parents and told them I was considering accepting the modeling offers I got. They support me, but they’re still worried and would like me to have a backup plan. So… yeah, I’ll be going to university, taking modeling classes and working.” She smiled nervously. “I think I ended up choosing a really hard path.”

“You can do it,” I told Mila. “Yes, you’ll need to… um… well…”

“Get off your lazy ass,” Sarah finished bluntly for me.

I winced and smiled wryly at Mila. “I was looking for a better way to say it, but yes…”

“Oh, I know,” Mila laughed, unoffended. “My parents said the same to me. But if it’s what I have to do, then I will. I’m not letting you all leave me behind.”

“Then, to sum up, your plan is to stay in the city and live together, right?” Diana asked. “Considering your situation, whether you succeed in convincing your families of your plans or not, that’s still your best bet to stay together.”

I remembered something Mr. Allen told me. He said that if I wanted something specific, he would help me get it. Did he know I’d be looking for a house? I doubted it. Still, I’d bring it up to him next time we talked. A house big enough for six… No, seven people, just in case.

We kept discussing it for a while longer, ironing out the details. We had a plan, mostly, but now we had to make sure we could see it through. The girls needed to talk to their parents, and I needed to confirm my deal with Mr. Allen.

…

A house. There was no way I’d be able to bullshit my way out of that with my own family. Mom would ask where all the money was coming from.

…

There was no more avoiding it. Before I went to talk to Mr. Allen, I would have to tell Isabelle and mom everything. They would need to know about Frey and about the deal I was striking with Mr. Allen.

It wasn’t a conversation I was looking forward to, but it was one I couldn’t put off any longer.

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