All Chapters of The Scholarship Girl : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Elora’s POVI watched as everyone stood up with their iPads in hand and began filing out of the science lab.“The assignment is due on Friday!” the teacher called over the noisy chatter.Well… good thing I heard that.I stood, picked up my bag, and quickly set a reminder on my phone so I wouldn’t forget to do it later.Just as I finished, Josh approached me.“Hey,” he said with a warm smile.I looked up and smiled back. “Hey.”“From the look on your face, it doesn’t seem like you understood much from class.”“Looks can be quite deceiving, Josh” I laughed. “Math and science have always been my thing.”“For real? I’m more of a science person. I kinda hate math.” He shrugged. “That’s beside the point. Are you going for lunch?”“It’s lunch time already?”“Yeah. According to the timetable.”“Timetable?” even I could hear the confusion in my voice.“It’s on your iPad.”I slapped a hand to my forehead. “I forgot about that.”“That’s fine. You’ll get used to it.” He motioned toward the door.

Elora’s POVThe rest of the school day went by in a blur.I had never been so eager for school to end in my life—and to think it was still only my first day.My mind was too occupied with thoughts of my mom to pay attention to anything else. I barely noticed that Julian ditched the rest of the classes after Math.Okay… maybe I did notice.Just a little.But that was his business.I spent the rest of the day counting down the minutes until the final siren would go off.The moment it did, I jumped to my feet and started gathering my things, ignoring the stares Belle and Josh sent my way.I zipped up my backpack and headed for the door, only to be stopped half way—by Dina.“Not so fast, Puppy.”“What do you want?” I asked tiredly, irritation clear in my voice.“Where’s Julian?”“And how the fuck am I supposed to know that?” I asked sharply, annoyed.“You’d want to lower that tone, girl. You don’t want to get me pissed.”This was my first day, and for the second time today, I was crossing

“You do realize you’re in deep shit right now, yeah?” Belle said, strolling around the massive office table like she owned the place before dropping into the owner’s chair with careless elegance.She spun slightly in it, one leg crossed over the other.“I have to go,” I said, voice shaky as I looked from Josh to Belle.Neither of them seemed to understand.No—Belle didn’t care to understand.“I really need to leave, Belle. It’s important,” I said, desperation slipping into my voice.“This is like the two hundred and seventh time you’ve said that in five minutes. Girl, you just finished crying. Get a grip of yourself.” Belle rolled her eyes and continued flipping through a magazine she’d picked up from her brother’s desk, clearly waiting for me to give in and sit.“At this point, you’re becoming background noise.”“I have somewhere—”“—you need to be?” Belle cut in, lifting one brow. “Then go already.” she gestured to the door.I walked to the door, fingers trembling as I grabbed the ha

I heaved a sigh of relief as I slumped to the ground.She survived. Mom survived.She’s alive. Weak, but alive.This has never happened before. First, she was unconscious for days—and now… now I felt it in my soul while I was in school, like she was about to leave me for good.I felt the weight of the doctor's voice when he said ‘we could have lost her’ and deep down within me, I knew that was true.Thank God she’s still here.I don’t know what I would have done if I lost her. I don’t know how I would survive. I’d still have Dad… but Dad could never make up for Mom. No one could.Speaking of Dad, I pulled my phone out of my blazer pocket and dialed his number, still slumped on the ground, my body heavy with exhaustion and relief.“Hey baby, I was just about to call you. I was hoping you’d be back home so you could go to the hos—”“Mum just came out of surgery,” I cut him off.“What?” His voice sharpened instantly. I could hear the panic in it. “Oh my God—I’m coming over right now. Is

*ELORA*Josh, Belle, and I sat at a table, waiting for our orders to arrive. As usual, Josh and Belle were busy teasing each other, while I just sat there, quietly replaying how unbelievably eventful my day had been.Josh had dropped me off earlier and waited at the porch until I walked into the house, like he was scared that if he drove off too soon, I’d run straight back to the hospital.I found that funny.Because really… what happened to the possibility of running back after he left?I didn’t, though.I slipped off my shoes at the doorstep, changed into my indoor slippers, and went straight to my room.The plan was simple: shower, rest, put a call across to my best friend, Maya, then meet up for dinner.I got into the shower and let the hot water run over me, easing the tension that had built up from everything that happened today.By the time I stepped out, I had a towel wrapped around my head and another loosely around my body.Without thinking, I flopped onto my bed.The weight