**JULIANA**

“Does being broke and unlucky come in one package?”

I murmured the question under my breath as I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the screen of my phone for the fifth time. The letter was still there. A bold F in Professor Kayden’s course. The one class I had actually poured everything into. The one I needed to pass more than any other.

I refreshed the page again, as if some miracle would suddenly rewrite the grade while I watched. Nothing changed. The F stayed right where it was, mocking me.

My father had been sick for five straight months. Five months of hospital bills,...