“MOTHER. FATHER,” Wilona called from the bottom floor of her house. Several floors above, she heard thumping and rustling.

“Wilona?”

“What’s happening, Dear?”

“I need to speak with both of you!” Wilona yelled.

“That’s fine, Dear, but please refrain from shouting.”

Julla appeared in the far doorway.

“Miss Haynes! That is quite enough shouting!”

“It’s alright, Julla,” Mother said. “Wilona was just practicing being a bullhorn.”

Father chuckled.

“Dining room, please,” Wilona said and she marched through the double doors. Mother and Father exchanged curious looks and followed.

“Is this about what school you’re choosing because I think–”

“Nope. Now please have a seat,” Wilona said, gesturing to the trouble. They obliged but Wilona did not sit. Instead pacing.

“Wilona, don’t pace. You look like a maniac.”

“Hush Father. I’m forming the words.”

She pace for a few more seconds, then turned and slammed her hands on the table.

“Wilona!”

“Don’t damage the table!”

She ignored this.

“I have a request,” she said. “As you know… I didn’t finish the Track meet and so my chances of receiving the Allerton Scholarship have dried up.”

“Allerton? Like our neighbor Mr. Allerton?”

“Mother, please focus… but honestly I don’t know. I’d never considered that. It’s not important right now. What is important is that was my best shot at funding school myself. However…”

“You need our help. Of course! We are totally here for you.”

“That’s very gracious, Father, however… there’s more.”

Mother and Father exchanged nervous looks.

“As you probably don’t know… I’m seeing someone.”

“A psychiatrist?” Father offered.

“What? No, a boyfriend.”

“A BOYFRIEND?!”

“You have a bigger problem with your daughter having a boyfriend than a psychiatrist?”

“Psychiatrists don’t distract from important life choices.”

Wilona knew this was getting off track. She stepped back and took a breath.

“His name is Odion Uba. He goes to Margaret Merkle,” Wilona said.

The outrage was predictable.

“A PUBLIC SCHOOL?!”

“WILONA HAYNES HAVE YOU NO SHAME?! UNCROSSING YOUR LEGS FOR ANY OLD BOY?!”

Wilona’s blood boiled.

“Uncross—?! HE IS NOT, ‘ANY OLD BOY’,” Wilona shouted. “He is the smartest, kindest man I have ever met. He pushed me to be so much better than I was… and I DID NOT ‘uncross my legs’ for him.”

Wilona glared into each of her parents eyes. She, for once, was grateful to have her mother’s eyes. They caused a lot of unwanted attention but they were powerful when expressing.

“You are going to meet him. You are going to meet him, learn about him, get to know him and then…”

“… and then?”

“… I’m going to ask you to fund his tuition as well.”

To her surprise, Mother laughed in relief.

“Oh I thought you were going to ask to marry the boy.”

Wilona’s face went a deep crimson.

“But sweetie, we can’t fund some stranger’s tuition.”

“But—”

“No,” Father said as he stood. “Even if we meet this boy, he is just a boy. You will grow out of him. You will meet someone else. Probably someone at the University you go to. And we will be stuck paying the tuition for you ex out of pity and guilt. No. I refuse.”

Father walked swiftly from the room leaving Wilona in shock. Mother stood as well.

“I’m sure he’s a sweet boy, but you can’t have expected us to be ok with this.”

“I just thought… if you got to know him…”

“I’m sorry, Dear.”

–––––

Mr. Allerton stared at the pile of essays on his desk. Dr. Edden had been by earlier to drop them off. She handed him the stack, smiled, and said something very curious.

“There’s a couple you might find interesting.”

Then she turned on her heel and headed up the street.

Allerton sighed. Reading a hundred essays was always his least favorite part of the selection process. Sure, there were plenty of entries through the years that really tugged at his heart but after a couple decades, the pattern of self-aggrandizement…

“A couple I might find interesting…,” Allerton mumbled.

He picked the first essay from the stack.

      A Case for a Friend by Odion Uba

Odion Uba? Odd name. Allerton nearly set the essay aside when a scribble in the corner caught his eye. Edden had drawn a small winking face and signed her initials. Well, well, here was one of them.

He settled back in his chair and began to read…

Curious. Very curious. Mr. Allerton had not read an essay quite like that before… and yet–

Edden mentioned there was a couple he might be interested in… a couple… no. No, it couldn’t be.

He shuffled through he stack until he found an essay a another doodle in the corner of the cover. This time it was a pair of seahorses. The title seemed somewhat familiar

      Someone Else Deserves a Chance by Wilona Haynes

Allerton chuckled. He flipped open the title page and began to read…