Chapter 3 - The Campus Shock
Forty-five miles north, in the manicured, sun-drenched university district of Oakridge, Shay Vance sat in the velvet booth of *The Copper Pot*, an artisanal bistro where three-dollar drip coffee didn't exist, but eight-dollar oat-milk matcha lattes flowed like water.
Across the table sat Chloe and Megan, her two sorority sisters and roommates. They were splitting an avocado tartine and scrolling through their feeds, their manicured nails clicking rhythmically against their phone screens.
"I’m telling you, she’s completely unhinged," Shay was saying, her voice thick with the residual dramatism of her morning tears. She waved an unlit vape pen in the air for emphasis. "She literally called a tow truck to my dad’s house. Over nothing. My dad told her off, of course. He’s dealing with it right now. She’s probably crying in her walk-in closet while he makes her transfer the title back to me."
Megan looked up, blowing a bubble with her strawberry gum. "That’s so psycho, babe. Like, legally, can she even do that? It’s your car."
"It’s literally mine," Shay scoffed, taking a sip of her iced drink. "She just has her name on the paperwork because she’s an accountant and wanted some stupid tax write-off for her firm. My dad told me she does shady tax stuff like that all the time."
"Well, thank God your dad has a backbone," Chloe said, adjusting her designer sunglasses. "Are we still doing the weekend trip to the vineyard for Megan’s birthday? We need to book the Airbnb before the good one with the hot tub gets taken."
"Yeah, totally," Shay said, waving a hand dismissively. "Just put it on your card and Venmo request me. Or actually, I'll just pay for the whole deposit on my card and you guys can cover the wine tours. It gets me more travel points anyway."
"Ugh, you're an angel," Megan purred.
The waiter arrived a few minutes later, dropping the leather bill presenter onto the reclaimed wood table. The total was sixty-eight dollars and forty cents for three coffees and a shared plate of toast.
Shay didn't even look at the itemized receipt. She reached into her leather wallet, pulled out the sleek, heavy metal Chase Sapphire Reserve card that Laura had given her three years ago for "emergencies," and dropped it onto the tray.
"Whenever you're ready," Shay said, smiling with effortless confidence.
The waiter took the presenter and walked back to the terminal by the espresso machine. Shay turned back to her friends, launching into a critique of her senior seminar professor, when the waiter returned. His posture was noticeably stiffer, his smile professional but strained.
"Miss Vance?" he asked, holding the presenter open.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry, but this card was declined."
Shay frowned, her brow furrowing with mild annoyance. "That’s impossible. Run it again. It has an unlimited line."
"I ran it twice, ma’am," the waiter said quietly, conscious of the customers at adjacent tables. "The system returned an immediate code: *Cardholder Authorization Revoked.*"
A sudden prickle of heat crawled up Shay’s neck. Chloe and Megan both looked up, their eyes widening slightly.
"That's so weird," Shay muttered, her voice tight. "My dad must have been moving some funds between accounts. Here, let me give you my debit card."
She fished out her regional bank card—the one where Darcy deposited two hundred dollars every two weeks for her petty cash. She slid it across the table.
Two minutes later, the waiter returned. "I'm really sorry, miss. That one declined for insufficient funds."
Shay felt a cold drop of sweat slide down her spine. Her checking balance had been twenty-two dollars yesterday, but she had assumed Darcy had put money in this morning.
"I'll... I'll get it," Chloe said, her tone suddenly noticeably cooler, the warm camaraderie evaporating into an awkward, transactional chill. Chloe pulled a crumpled twenty and her own debit card from her purse. "You can just Venmo me your share, Shay."
"Yeah. Yeah, totally," Shay stammered, pulling her phone out. "I'll do it right now."
She unlocked her screen, tapped the blue Venmo icon, and typed in Chloe’s handle. She entered twenty-five dollars and hit *Pay*.
A red banner flashed across the top of her screen: *Transaction Failed. Your linked payment method has been deactivated by the issuing bank.*
Before Shay could process the error, a push notification from the official North State University student portal slid down over her screen.
**URGENT: Office of the University Registrar**
*Student ID: #8849201 - Shay M. Vance*
*Notice of Delinquent Tuition Balance: The automated payment scheduled for November 1st has been canceled by the account holder. A hold has been placed on your account. You are currently ineligible for Spring graduation clearance, diploma issuance, or official transcript distribution until the outstanding balance of $9,450.00 is remitted in full. Please report to Student Financial Services immediately.*
Shay stared at the screen, her breath catching in her throat. The noise of the bustling bistro faded into a muffled, distant drone.
Her phone buzzed in her hand. A text from her landlord, Mr. Henderson:
*Shay, I received formal ninety-day notice of lease termination from Laura Vance this morning regarding Unit 4B, along with the penalty fee. Since you are not a primary signer, you will need to submit a full application, proof of income showing 3x the monthly rent ($3,600/mo), and a new security deposit by Friday if you intend to remain in the unit next semester. Otherwise, move-out inspection is December 15th.*
Shay looked up. Chloe and Megan were watching her, their expressions stripped of their usual sugary affection, replaced by sharp, evaluating curiosity.
"Is everything okay, Shay?" Megan asked, her voice flat. "Because you're like, completely white."
"I... I have to make a call," Shay choked out, pushing herself out of the velvet booth and running out onto the sidewalk into the crisp autumn air.
She hit Darcy’s speed dial. Her hands were shaking so violently she nearly dropped the five-hundred-dollar device onto the concrete.
"Dad?" she screamed into the phone the second the line connected. "Dad, what is happening? My card got declined! The school just put a hold on my degree! The landlord is kicking me out of the apartment! Did you talk to her? Did you fix it?"
On the other end of the line, there was a long, suffocating silence. When Darcy finally spoke, the booming, confident authority he had used to intimidate Laura was completely absent. He sounded small, hollow, and utterly exhausted.
"Shay," he whispered. "I'm at the house. Laura... Laura isn't budging. She pulled all of it."
"Then do something!" Shay shrieked, tears finally spilling over her mascara, running down her cheeks in dark, ugly tracks. "You're my father! You're her husband! Make her pay it!"
"I can't make her do anything, Shay," Darcy said, his voice cracking with defeat. "She has her own lawyers. She has her own money. I don't have eighteen thousand dollars for your tuition. I don't even have enough to pay off the balance on your car."
"Then where am I supposed to live?" she wailed, collapsing onto a concrete bench outside the bistro, completely heedless of the students staring at her as they walked by. "Dad, where am I supposed to go?"
"You're going to have to come home," Darcy said softly. "You're going to have to pack your things and move back into your old room."
"No!" Shay screamed into the receiver. "I am not moving back into that psycho's house! I hate her! I'd rather die than live under her roof!"
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"You might not have a choice," Darcy replied, his voice sinking into a grim, terrifying whisper. "Because if I can't figure out how to pay the bills she just dropped on my desk... I might not be living here much longer either."
***
