Chapter 2 - Left in the Rain
The sky on graduation day was a churning, violent gray that threatened severe storms.
It attacked the sprawling university campus with freezing rain and biting, relentless winds.
I stood shivering near the grand hall, my wet hair plastered painfully to my face.
My scrubs were soaked through, making me look exactly like the lowly assistant they thought I was.
Suddenly, a sleek black taxi pulled up to the exclusive VIP curb just a few feet away.
Out stepped my father, my stepmother, and Haley, completely shielded from the elements.
My stepsister twirled in a lavish designer coat, excitedly waving the gold-embossed VIP ticket.
"This VIP access is going to make my photos go totally viral!" she squealed to her mother.
I took a deep breath and stepped purposefully toward the guarded security doors.
I needed to explain to the guards that I didn't need a physical ticket because I was part of the graduating class.
But before I could even open my mouth to speak, my father’s heavy hand shot out.
His thick fingers dug painfully into my arm, bruising the skin beneath my wet sleeve.
He physically dragged me backward, pulling me out of the shelter and into the freezing downpour.
"What the hell are you doing?" Thomas hissed, his eyes narrowed in fury.
He sneered at my soaked, shivering appearance with utter and complete disgust.
"You are going to ruin Haley’s photos by standing in the background looking like a drowned rat!"
"You are just a low-level assistant, so do not embarrass us in front of these wealthy doctors."
"Go wait in the car until we are done celebrating your sister."
My stepmother walked past, her face twisted in pure, unadulterated contempt.
"Listen to your father for once in your life, Clara," she scoffed.
"Let your sister have her moment, and go hide somewhere out of sight where you belong."
With a final, violent shove, Thomas pushed me backward toward the wet concrete steps.
They walked proudly through the magnificent bronze doors, leaving me completely alone in the storm.
Wiping hot tears from my face, I was about to walk away and give up on the grant entirely.
But suddenly, the relentless rain stopped hitting my freezing shoulders.
A massive black umbrella shadowed my head, blocking out the fierce wind.
I looked up, startled, to find Dean Jonathan Bradley standing right beside me.
The head of the university's medical board was wearing his flawless, heavy velvet academic regalia.
He stared at me in absolute, bewildered shock as he took in my disheveled appearance.
"Dr. Hensley?!" the Dean’s resonant voice cut sharply through the howling storm.
"Why on earth are you standing out here in the freezing rain like a common spectator?"
"The entire Board of Trustees has been frantically looking for you backstage to prepare your speech."
As he spoke those words, the heavy bronze doors of the hall cracked open.
May you like
My father stepped back out into the cold to look for the car keys he had dropped.
Thomas froze on the top step, his eyes going wide as he heard the Dean utter my actual title.
