"Time to wake up."
I groan and nuzzle my face further into my pillow. Confident that my stepdad's talking to my mom, I ignore the sound of his voice in the hall.
Summer has begun. High school is over. College is waiting there at the end of this summer, like something that is sweet at first but has a bitter aftertaste.
College will be freedom. It will be Independence. But it will also leave me with debt. Huge debt.
My dad's got so much debt of his own that asking him for anything is laughable. He probably owes Mom enough back child support to pay for my entire college education twice.
Mom refuses to ask my stepdad, Matt, to help. I don't blame her. My stepdad's probably the hottest man I've ever seen in real life.
He's one of those guys who played baseball all through high school and
