Read Online By a Thread by R. L. Griffin - Free Book Online Page B

First, Jamie had been gone for a year. Second, she hadn’t talked to her dad in almost as long. She reached for her phone and took a deep breath. Stella punched her dad’s number and waited.
    “Stella?” Her eyes pricked with tears just hearing his voice. “Are you alright?”
    “Hey, Dad,” she barely whispered.
    “Wow, it’s good to hear your voice, baby girl.”
    “I’m sorry it’s been so long, I just couldn’t...”
    “Oh Stella, it’s okay. I’m just glad to hear your voice.”
    The phone was silent for a couple of beats. “It’s my first day of law school today.”
    “I know.”
    “How?” Stella was taken aback that her dad had any information about what she was doing.
    “Patrick has kept your mother and me informed about your life since you haven’t been able to.”
    “Oh really?” It took a minute for Stella to go from pissed to understanding Patrick’s motive and let the irritation pass over her. “Well, I just thought you might want to know.” She was about to hang up.
    “Mom and I have been so worried...” Her dad’s voice broke.
    “Hey, have you seen the show about the rednecks in Georgia where the little girl is in pageants or something?” Stella changed the subject to something neutral.
    Her dad laughed and she realized how much she had missed him over the last year. “Yes, your mom and I were watching the other day.”
    They talked about everything from Sugar Bear to the problems with the two-party political system. She told him about her job and all the books she had been reading. He told her about all the things going on with him and with her mom. Life in their world was the same as it had been last year. Her life was drastically different. That was the biggest lesson she learned this year; it doesn’t matter if you are falling apart, shit keeps moving. The world didn’t stop because she did.
    After they hung up, with a promise to talk again soon, she closed her eyes while stopped in traffic. She smiled, feeling a little more settled than she had in quite some time. This next chapter in her life was a complete unknown, but she was moving forward. It was progress.

    Stella pulled into the parking lot assigned to first-year law students. It was on the main campus, instead of the law school campus. Everything about law school so far had been unpleasant. The application process, now the parking: it was like they were hazing first-year students. In the future, she would either have to catch the bus to the law school or walk the mile from the lot to school. Checking her watch, she realized she better just park and start walking. After a brisk fifteen-minute walk, she made it to American University, Washington College of Law. Smiling when she saw the Starbucks across the street, she bet the law students kept the owner of that coffee shop loaded.
    As she walked through the law school doors, sweat started dripping down her back. Having worn layered tank tops, she shed one in the bathroom and used it to wipe the sweat from her face and back. She took the elevator to the third floor for her first class. She walked in and surveyed the room. There were a few other students there already, and she took a seat in the back row.
    Pulling out her laptop and her Property book, she released a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. This was it. She was starting over. A girl with caramel-colored hair opened the door and look around. She made her way to a seat at the table next to Stella and pulled out her things. The class was starting to fill up.
    “Hi. I’m Millie. I mean it’s really Camille Rodriguez, but I go by Millie.” She smiled at Stella and held out her hand. Stella shook it. “Where are you from? I’m from Arizona, but I moved up here this summer. I love DC. How about you? Have you been to...” Stella tuned out at this point. The girl was talking a mile a minute, not even waiting for a response to the questions she asked. The class was almost full. She’d be with