I hadn’t chosen to abandon my future.
I had chosen to protect my sister.
Those were not the same thing.
The next morning, I called the college admissions office.
I explained my situation.
Then I asked a question I hadn’t allowed myself to ask for months.
“What options do I still have?”
There was a pause.
Then the admissions counselor began explaining what might be possible.
For the first time since the fire, I felt something I thought I had lost.
Hope.
Later that day, Vicky found the college envelope beside my laptop.
She looked at it.
Then she looked at me.
“Are you doing homework?”
I laughed.
“Something like that.”
She reached into her box of crayons and pulled out a handful.
Then she placed half of them beside my laptop.
