Chapter 40 Mariella
“And can anyone remember which area of the brain is considered the ‘personality center’?” asks our lecturer, glancing around the quiet lecture hall.
Anna’s elbow digs into my ribs, but I’m already holding my hand high above my head.
“Miss Adams?” he says, gesturing to my raised hand. He knows me by name, as do the rest of the psychology faculty.
Hundreds of heads turn in my direction. My heart rate jumps, but I raise my chin. “The prefrontal cortex,” I say, loud enough for my voice to carry to the front of the hall.
“Correct,” the lecturer says, with an astute grin. “As always.” He turns toward the lectern and continues his presentation.
“Show-off,” Anna whispers into my ear. A wide, open smile blooms over my face. “I’m proud of you, nerd.”
“Thanks, Anna.”
We settle back in our seats, Anna’s attention returning to our lecturer, but I let my gaze wander past our friends and peers sitting immediately around us, and across the mass of students filling the hall.
I pause on the empty chair in the third row from the front, thoughts consumed by the man who once sat there with golden hair and a mischievous grin.
The man who, along with the woman sitting beside me, showed me how to live.
How to fight. I twist the fabric of my sweater between my fingers.
Not a day goes by that I don’t think of Liam… or how much I’m going to miss him.
“I still can’t believe you’re leaving me,” Anna complains for the fifth time since I started packing. She plonks down beside me on my bed, the motion ruffling the contents in my suitcase. “If anyone’s going to drop out, it should be me.”
I lower the dress I’m folding into my lap. “I’m not leaving you, college just isn’t for me.” I don’t know what is, but unless I get out into the world and experience it now, I never will.
Since Liam, Rose and Silas left, something inside me has broken free.
I will never again be the scared woman letting others call the shots in my life.
Liam and Rose sacrificed too much of their lives trying to save mine, and it won’t be in vain.
I may have lost my powers, but in doing so I’ve been given a clean slate.
My life’s just beginning, and I won’t waste another second of it.
“Who are you, and what have you done with Mariella Adams?” Anna demands with a disbelieving grin.
“She’s still here, but I want to get out and see the world. Live a little. A lot.”
If the last few months have taught me anything, it’s how brief life is and, if mine were to be cut short, I’d want to have experienced as much of the world as I could prior to that moment.
“It’s not too late for you to come with me, you know?
My offer to pay stands.” The money I made selling my house could support us both for years.
Apparently land close to Harvard is in high demand, even with a fire-ravaged house occupying it.
I raise my brows and lean toward her. “Apparently, the clubs are amazing in Europe.”
Anna groans. “I so want to come with you, but I can’t join the family business until I complete a degree, so if I drop out now, I’m on my own.” She gestures to the pile of neatly folded hand-me-downs I’m yet to return to her wardrobe. “You know, you’re welcome to take those.”
“Are you sure?” I run my hand over the cashmere cardigan on top of the pile.
“Of course. Something to remember me by.” She eyes my brown leather jacket. “When you get sick of that old thing.” She places the pile of clothes into my suitcase and my chest expands.
How can I ever repay everything she’s done for me?
She’s boosted my confidence, showed me how to let loose and have fun.
Most of all, she’s been a true friend. I reach out and yank her into my chest, drawing in the comforting scent of strawberry lip gloss, peonies and her sweet perfume. “I’ll miss you, Anna.”
She laughs, wrapping her arms around me. “You too, Ella. Make sure you sleep with plenty of hot European men for me. I still can’t believe you’re giving up studying to go traveling. I thought if anyone was going to become a clinical psychologist, it’d be you.”
“Yeah, well…” Liam’s words play in my mind. “There’s no fun in living if you know how everything’s going to turn out.”