Read Breaking Through (The Breaking Series Book 3) for Free Online Page B

She handed me an envelope. “This one is for you.”
    Frowning, I took it. It was an off-white envelope made of thick paper with a watermarked F and W on the front—I had seen this logo before—and my name and dorm address stamped in golden ink on the back, surrounded by elegant swirls. Very elegant, very expensive.
    Biting my lip, I opened it.
     
    Dear Hilary Taylor,
     
    Every spring, students from all over the United States send me their portfolios in hopes to secure a summer internship with me. Even though you didn’t send me a portfolio, I recently came to know your work and was impressed.
    If you would be interested in an internship with me during the summer, please come to my studio for an interview next Friday at 11 a.m. Please bring your portfolio.
     
    Best regards,
    Fallon White
     
    I hugged the letter and let out a squeal.
    Mariah stopped whatever she was doing and stared at me as if I had grown a second head.
    “Did you just squeal?” she asked, skeptical. I nodded. “You never squeal. Okay, spill. What’s in that letter?”
    “An invitation for an interview with a famous fashion designer whose studio is in Santa Barbara!”
    “Oh, wow. That sounds cool. Congrats!”
    “It is!” I looked at the letter again. Wow, this was unexpectedly great.
    My mother had taken Hannah and I to have dresses done by Fallon White a couple of times—our christenings, our debutante balls, and our sweet sixteen—and Hannah was talking about having her wedding dress done with her too. If I got an internship there this summer, maybe Fallon White would let me help with it.
    There was only one problem. I had my first final exam on Friday morning. Crap.
    Praying for my professor to be nice for once, I pulled out my cell phone from my tote and sent him an email, saying I had an emergency and had to head to Santa Barbara on early Friday morning.
    I bit my nails until he answered later that day, saying he had another session of the same class on Monday and, if I wanted, I could go to that final exam instead. After checking my schedule and making sure I didn’t have another class at that same time, I squealed once more and emailed him, confirming the switch.
    It had been so long since I had felt this good, this satisfied. I held on to that feeling with both hands, hoping it wouldn’t be able to escape me so soon.
     
    ***
    In the sunlight, the white building shone bright, almost blindingly, in the warm Friday morning. It wasn’t massive, but suddenly, the three stories had become intimidating. The first story had floor-to-ceiling windows displaying the newest collection, a huge silver F and W logo hung in the middle of the second story, and asymmetrical long, but thin windows decorated the third story.
    I gulped, wishing I could swallow my nervousness.
    While driving here, I had called my therapist. Not because I was on the verge of having a panic attack—exactly the contrary. For the first time in three years, I felt good. I felt confident, powerful, in control. I could do this. I could live my life. I could let go of my fears. I wanted to tell her that, make her proud of me.
    “I’m proud of you,” she had said, “and I’ll be even more if you tell me you’re proud of yourself.”
    Was I proud of myself? I guess so. I was still curious about how Fallon White found out about me, but did it really matter? Bottom line was she had found me, and now I was here to sweep her off her feet. Who knew? Maybe she would love me so much, she would ask me to come back every summer. Then she would offer me a permanent position within her studio, one that I would gladly accept—for some time, just to learn more and more with the best. Then, when I felt ready, I would open my own studio.
    I had never told anyone about this dream, not in three years, though I guess people assumed I would like to have my own studio since I was working in the fashion industry. My only doubt was, to open it in Santa Barbara and be near my family but have