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too ashamed of what it revealed. She probably still had makeup strewn down her cheeks. It was not a good look.
    As Alex ran across the courtyard, she heard her phone start ringing in her backpack. She considered ignoring it but decid ed against it at the last second and answered an incoming call from her mother.
    “Hey , Mom,” Alex panted, tired from running to class.
    “Hey , sweetheart.” Jackie’s warm voice came filtering through the handset. “You’re not in class yet, are you?”
    “No, not yet. Going there now, got a few minutes to spare.” Alex slowed her pace so she could talk to her mother.
    “Well, I put a dollar’s worth of quarters into the payphone, so we should have ten minutes to talk,” Jackie informed her.
    “Great .” Alex forced a smile, the doors to her class loomed up before her, closed and foreboding.
    “How is everything going? I haven’t heard from you for a while.” Her mother sounded hurt by this, which made Alex feel guilty.
    “I’m just super busy, Mom. Classes are really intense.” In Alex’s defence, classes were intense, when she actually managed to attend them.
    “I’m so proud of you. You’re working so hard.”
    “Uh huh.”
    “And Andy is doing really well. He got straight As on his report card. Can you believe that? Maybe both of my children will go on to college!” Jackie said proudly.
    “Yeah, that’d be awesome.”
    “Are you eating right?”
    “Yes, Mom.”
    “Getting enough sleep?”
    “Yes, Mom.”
    “It’s just, you know how I worry.”
    “Yes, Mom. But you don’t need to worry, I’m fine.” Alex tried to reassure her mother.
    “Do you have enough money?” Jackie asked anxiously.
    “Yeah, yeah , I’m fine for money.” Alex was fortunate that her scholarship included accommodation and on-campus meals, and next year her sorority dues would be covering similar things. She had considered getting a part-time job just to earn some extra cash, but felt she currently didn’t have the time to spare.
    “I’ve worked some extra shifts so could always send you some if you need it,” Jackie offered.
    Alex suddenly stopped fretting about her class and focused solely on the conversation she was having with her mother and smiled warmly. Her mother tried so very hard to be there for her, and it wasn’t easy. It warmed Alex’s heart to hear such selflessness. She hoped that if she were to ever have children, she’d be as willing to take care of them as her own mother was.
    “That’s really kind of you, Mom, but I’m okay, really I am. Why don’t you take that money and treat yourself to something nice? Like a new dress or something. You deserve it ,” Alex told her softly.
    There was silence on the line , and Alex feared that she’d made her mother cry. Before losing her father, Alex knew he’d taken such good care of all of them, especially her mother. He’d regularly take her out to fancy dinners and buy her new dresses and jewelry. If Alex was his princess, then Jackie was definitely his queen. Alex forgot sometimes that it wasn’t just her who’d lost her hero; her brother and mother had too.
    “You okay , Mom?”
    “Yeah, yes , I’m fine.” Jackie sniffed a little.
    “I’m sorry , but I’ve got to go to class now.”
    “Oh , that’s fine, honey. You go and learn and be great.”
    “I’ll try.”
    “I’m so very proud of you, Alexandra.”
    “Thanks, Mom.”
    “I miss you,” Jackie whispered.
    “I miss you too, Mom.”
    Alex hung up and steeled herself for her entrance into class.
     
    ****
     
    Alex tried to be as stealthy as possible as she walked in late to the lecture hall. She spotted a vacant seat near the aisle that she quickly occupied. She could feel people looking at her, but she didn’t turn to absorb their judgement. She knew what they’d be thinking, and she was too tired to care.
    The class was being taught by a young female professor. She wore her blonde hair atop her head in a tight bun and had on a