novelnext Chapter 3: Borrowing Money
Chapter 3: Borrowing Money
"Well, come on in. We’ll talk inside!" Tess led Leslie through the door. It so happened that Mrs. Westin was also at home today.
Seeing Leslie come in, she greeted her cheerfully. "Oh hi, Leslie!"
"Hello, Mrs. Westin," Leslie said as she sat down on the sofa.
Unlike her family, the Westins were rich and Tess was their little princess.
Tess looked at Leslie. "You said you needed my help, what's the matter?"
Leslie shook her hands nervously and turned to Mrs. Westin. "I wanted to ask Mrs. Westin if she could lend me some money."
Leslie felt really embarrassed. She and Tess had been classmates for three years, but she’d never tried to borrow money from her.
If it weren’t because of her urgent need for tuition, Leslie wouldn't have brought this matter up.
Of course, it was also because she knew the Westin family had this financial capability.
Tess and her mother fell silent upon hearing this.
Leslie explained, "I really want to go to college, but my mother won't let me. I’ll definitely pay back the money, so please help me, Mrs. Westin."
Mrs. Westin looked at Leslie and said, "Well... Leslie, I'm really sorry. We’d love to help you if we could, but our family doesn’t have that kind of money right now. I'm really sorry!"
The Westins were very much aware of Leslie's family and their financial situation. They knew that she lived in Cherry Creek and that her parents had unstable jobs. If they lent her the money, they could potentially end up losing all of it.
Tess looked at Leslie and said, "Leslie, I'm really sorry. Why don’t you go back and talk to your mother? Your grades are good, I’m sure she’ll let you go to college."
"Okay…" Leslie’s voice was a bit stiff. She knew that the Westin family wasn’t short of money, but she couldn’t force an unwilling party when they had already made their stance clear.
The air conditioner in the living room was on full blast, but the cold Leslie felt came from deep inside. She said, "I’ll be heading back then, I have some stuff to take care of."
"I'll see you off." Tess accompanied her out, but as soon as the two arrived at the door, they ran into a handsome boy getting out of the car.
It was a sweltering summer day, but the boy in the white shirt made it seem like it wasn’t all that hot.
“James!” Leslie sounded surprised.
James McKenzie was Leslie's boyfriend.
At school, James was the class president while she was a student committee member. They were also deskmates.
His family was pretty well off. Perhaps it was out of pride, but Leslie didn't tell him about her own situation.
“Oh, you still remember me?” James looked at Leslie with indifferent eyes, his tone sarcastic.
Leslie froze for a moment. She remembered that James had asked her out several times after the college entrance examination, but she refused him.
It wasn’t that she didn't want to see him, but she was simply too busy. She’d been working all this time and Cherry Creek was a bit far away.
She looked at James. "Are you angry? Sorry, I’ve been really busy."
"I know," James cut her short. "You’ve been busy trying to avoid me! Leslie, if you want to break up, just say so. Why all these excuses?"
"Break up?" Leslie didn't understand why he would think that. "That wasn’t my intention. I really am busy."
"Let's break up!" James said, "Then you won't have to avoid me anymore."
Break up?
Leslie looked at him in disbelief, "James, you’ve really misunderstood me. I wasn’t trying to avoid you. If you don't believe me, ask Tess. I was really busy every day."