Adrian stared at his phone for ten minutes after reading Dr. Morrison's text, finger hovering over the call button.
What could Dante's father want? Why now? Why urgent?
But the Stanford deadline loomed—two days left—and he couldn't make that decision while drowning in panic about whatever crisis Dr. Morrison was hinting at.
He needed to think.
Actually think, not just spiral.
He opened his laptop, pulled up the Stanford acceptance letter for the hundredth time, and did something he should have done days ago.
He emailed the program director.
Dr. Kavita Patel responded within three hours, which surprised him.
Available for video call tomorrow 2pm EST? - Dr. P
Adrian confirmed, then spent the entire night rehearsing what to say, how to phrase it, whether he was about to make the biggest mistake of his life.
Dante didn't come back that night. Didn't text. Didn't call.
The silence felt like a preview of what three thousand miles would actually mean.
