Most Likely (Most Likely #1) - Sarah Watson Page 0,46

eventually give up. The counselor did. Her mom, however, did not. She came to Ava frustrated and impatient, and stood over her while she sent an e-mail to Ms. Fischer to reschedule the appointment. Ava’s mom put it into her own calendar. There would be no missing this one.

The first thing Ava noticed about the college counselor was her flowy turquoise infinity scarf. It was the only pop of color on her otherwise all-black outfit. She wore round tortoiseshell glasses that gave her an air of intellectualism mixed with hipster elitism. Ava was immediately intimidated. She felt the anxiety spread across her entire body, and it made her think about her mother. Not Lynn. She was thinking about the one whose face was a smeared blur in the background of her painting. She wondered if her birth mom’s heart raced and her palms got sweaty before big meetings too.

“Ava?” said Ms. Fischer, extending a hand. “Come on in.”

Ava limply shook the offered hand. “Hi,” she said, in a voice as weak as her handshake.

“Have a seat.”

Ms. Fischer angled a chair for Ava and another one for herself. After the counselor sat down, she leaned forward—a gesture that was supposed to be welcoming but that Ava found off-putting—and said, “So, are we waiting for your mom?”

“My mom?” Ava was still thinking about her biological mom, so it took her a minute to realize what Ms. Fischer was asking. “Oh. My mom. No. Are parents supposed to be here? I thought it was just me.”

“Generally, yes. But if a parent wants to be involved, I’m not opposed. And your mom has e-mailed a few times.”

Ava cringed as something that had happened that morning suddenly made sense. She remembered her mom asking about this meeting. She wanted to make sure Ava hadn’t forgotten, and maybe she did say something about planning on being there. Ava had been in a rush and was only half listening, since CJ kept honking at her from the driveway. They were trying to carpool more because of climate change and CJ was always early on her days.

Right then, there was a quick knock on the door. Before Ms. Fischer even finished saying, “Come in,” it opened.

“Hi, hi,” said Lynn. “Sorry I’m late. I didn’t miss anything, did I?”

“Not at all.” Ms. Fischer rose and Ava’s mom shook her hand firmly. It was the kind of impressive grip that Ava could never manage.

“Sorry for being late. I was coming from downtown and traffic was murder.”

Ms. Fischer grabbed a third chair and arranged them into a triangle. Like they were about to have a séance. Maybe they were. Ava wouldn’t put it past her mom to employ a medium to get her into college. Ms. Fischer kicked off the meeting by talking a little bit about herself. She went over her credentials as if they couldn’t see the diploma framed on the wall behind her. She also had a master’s in education from Penn. At the mention of that, Ava’s mom practically wet herself.

“I was there for law school.”

Then there was a back-and-forth about their Penn glory days, and Ava wondered if they would even notice if she left the room. Before she could test that theory, her mom got a moony look on her face, and said, “It would be such a dream for Ava to go there. I know it might be a bit unrealistic.” Ava crammed her toes into her shoes. “Ava is such a special girl. Incredible, really. I know everyone says that about their kid, but it’s true. She’s worked so hard, and…” Her mom was getting emotional. Ava turned to look at her. Her mom never got emotional. “You have, Ava. And you deserve to go anywhere you dream.”

The compliments were so unexpected and felt so wonderful that Ava almost whispered the truth. My dream is RISD. The words were there on her tongue, but she couldn’t get them out of her mouth.

Ms. Fischer removed her glasses and wiped them clean with her infinity scarf. “I’ve been looking at Ava’s grades, her test scores, and extracurriculars, and here’s the thing: Ava is an ideal candidate to shoot high.”

Ava’s mom turned to her. “I knew it. Didn’t I tell you not to limit yourself?” She turned back to Ms. Fischer, waiting expectantly.

“Ava, you’ve got one tricky semester on your report card, but you did exactly what universities want to see. You pulled yourself up and you kept your grades high. You should be incredibly proud