Read Online Summer Forever by Amy Sparling - Free Book Online Page A

degree. You can’t exactly get a job with that, and right now I’m not doing great in my classes and I kind of hate it. I think I can have a better career with my art.”
    “I’m listening.” Those are the words Mom says to me, but the look on her face indicates the exact opposite.
    “I’m making money with my art.”
    “Honey, artists never make money. That’s exactly where the term ‘starving artist’ comes from.”
    I take out my phone and open up my Etsy store to the page with how much money I’ve made this month. “I made almost two thousand dollars last month and I’m already at fifteen hundred now. The month is only half over so I might end up with three thousand dollars.”
    “Wow. That’s impressive, honey.” She scrolls through the website on my phone. “You should charge more than thirty five dollars though.”
    “That’s what Park thinks too. I’ll consider it.” Hopefully by agreeing with her, she’ll see things my way. After a few minutes of me nervously watching her look through my Etsy account, she slides the phone back to me. “Don’t you think it’s a good idea?” I ask.
    “No.”
    “But, Mom—I’m making a lot of money. If I quit college I can work harder on my art and sell even more. Park thinks I should expand into prints on coffee mugs and stuff.”
    “I absolutely agree that you should expand your business, but honey you take two classes just two days a week. Work on your art during the other five days.”
    I stir my spoon around in my cereal which is now so soggy I don’t want to eat it. “But Mom, I hate college.”
    “I don’t care, Becca. Your father and I are paying for you to get an education and that’s what you’re going to do. Stop sighing like that.”
    I close my eyes and bite my tongue. The last thing I need to do is get into an argument with my mom, but I was really hoping she’d be more open to the idea. “You know this is my dream, right?” I say, in one last desperate bid to win her over to my way of thinking. “Isn’t that the whole point of life? Following your dreams. Finding what makes you happy and doing it? I’ve found that, Mom. It’s my art. I don’t need a college degree to create something that people want to buy.”
    “Even so, you’ll need a business degree to run your own business. You’ll need education on taxes and bookkeeping. All of that is something you learn in college, not by following your gut.”
    “What if I just take a year off?” I ask. She gets up and pours herself another cup of coffee and I expand on my idea. “Just one year away from college so I can focus on my art and if it takes off like I want it to, then I’ll go back to college. And if it doesn’t, and these last two months were just a fluke, then I’ll know and at least I would have tried. Then I’ll go back to college. See? It works out both ways.”
    It’s a lie. It’s a total lie and I hope Mom doesn’t see it that way. The truth is, if I succeed with my art, I’ll be able to hire someone to do my bookkeeping and my taxes. If I end up making a living with my art, then I will do what’s best for me when it’s time for it. But Mom doesn’t need to know all of that. She just needs to agree to let me drop out.
    “Honey, I appreciate your effort here, but you’re not quitting college. As long as you live under my roof, you will attend Lawson Community College.”
     
     
    Since Park is meeting with Jace all day to work on their new business, I rode with him to Mixon to hang out with Bayleigh. The boys are in the living room with paperwork and calculators and we’re in Bayleigh’s room, playing with Jett.
    Bayleigh’s eyes light up when I recount the talk with my mom from this morning. “Looks like we know what that means,” she says, punching my arm playfully.
    “It means I’m freaking screwed,” I mutter.
    “No…” She draws out the word so long that I look up at her and lift an eyebrow.
    “Uh, yes?” I say. “She’s not