The Bride Test(73)

This was important. This meant something big. But her mind was too busy with this explosive happiness to grasp it all.

Her phone buzzed a few times, and when she looked at the screen, she saw she’d received text messages from Angelika.

I passed!

We’re celebrating at the boba shop by school.


Come!!!!!!!

Why not? She wanted to share her news, but it was the wrong time to call home, and talking to Kh?i was out.

She punched in a quick response, checked her spelling twice, and sent it. Congratulations! See you there. :)

After she finished closing down the restaurant, she untied her apron from her waist, put it away, and waved good-bye to C? Nga. It took three minutes to cross the street and walk to the bubble-tea shop, and when she stepped inside, the humidity wrapped around her like a blanket. Small flat-screen TVs were mounted on the walls by different groupings of tables. One played a Taiwanese drama. One played a football game. The one by the small group of Esme’s classmates played a golf game.

Esme waved at everyone, ordered and paid for a plain black tea with milk and pearls, and helped herself to the seat next to Angelika. The space across from her was taken by Miss Q, who was wearing jeans, a relaxed button-down shirt, and, of course, a scarf. Stylish as ever.

“I knew you would pass,” Miss Q said with a wide smile.

“Of course she passed.” Angelika flipped her hand like it was a foregone conclusion, and Esme grinned.

“I passed, thank you. Congratulations to you, too. Congratulations to everyone.”

The other seats at the table were occupied by three male classmates, Juan, Javier, and John, and they congratulated her back before they got up.

“We have to go, but glad to see you,” Juan said. “Time for college now, eh?”

She blinked in shock. The idea had never occurred to her. “Maybe.” She grinned in unexpected excitement before reality caught up with her, and the smile drooped off her lips as she waved at the men. “Bye.”

“Why the look?” Miss Q asked once the guys had left the shop.

“I can’t go to college.”

“Why?” Miss Q and Angelika asked at the same time.

Esme flinched. “Because I have to go back to Vi?t Nam on August ninth.” And there was no way she could afford to go to school back home. They needed her income too much, and that didn’t factor in the bribes she’d need to pay to move her paperwork and get accepted anywhere good.

“What kind of visa do you have?” Miss Q asked.

Esme looked down at her ugly fingers on the table. “Tourist visa.”

“Me, too.” Angelika covered Esme’s hand with her own and squeezed. Something sparkly caught Esme’s attention, but Angelika pulled her hand out of sight before Esme could take a closer look.

“There are other kinds of visas, you know,” Miss Q pointed out. “If you get accepted by a college or university here, they’ll grant you a student visa. They’ll even let you bring your family here for the duration. After you get a degree, you could try for a work visa.”

The air punched out of Esme’s lungs. “Could I get accepted to a college or university here?”

Her GED scores flashed in her mind’s eye. PASS GED College Ready + Credit.

“Of course you could. Were your scores good?” Miss Q asked.

She nodded, trying to keep the smile off her face and failing, and showed Miss Q her transcript on her phone. “Thank you for teaching me.” She’d earned each of those scores by herself. They were hers.

And maybe they were the key to belonging here.

Miss Q grinned and kept on grinning and her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “The pleasure is mine.”

Excitement bubbled in Esme’s blood like champagne right after they popped the cork. If what Miss Q was saying was true, she actually could become a real accountant. Or maybe something else. She could be anything. She could be sophisticated and educated someday and hold her chin up—even in front of Kh?i.

Except there was one problem. “How much is college?” she asked hesitantly.

“It depends on the school. Anywhere from ten thousand dollars a year to fifty thousand for undergraduates, but there are loan programs and scholarships,” Miss Q said.

Tension stole through Esme’s muscles. Ten thousand American dollars was more than she’d made in her whole lifetime. If a job here wasn’t guaranteed, she didn’t know if she dared to take out a loan like that once, let alone four times. But if she could keep working at C? Nga’s, she could probably manage. It would be tight, but that wouldn’t be anything new.

She was mentally doing the math, figuring out how many shifts she could take and subtracting the costs of rent, food, and tuition, when Miss Q added, “In your case, you’d have to get a scholarship because you’re not allowed to work on a student visa, but I know schools nearby that offer them, even to international students. With your GED scores and personal experience, you have a chance, Esme. I’m going to contact the people I know and see if they’ll consider you as a special case.”

Esme’s lips moved without making sound. She understood the individual meanings of the words spoken, but she was in too much shock to interpret their overall message. She knew about failure and struggling to earn her way. Generosity of this magnitude didn’t make sense to her.