Maya, 17.

6:40 a.m. Maya is at the kitchen table with her laptop open to her McGill acceptance email. She is re-reading the line about tuition. Last week it said "domestic rate." The university has not updated the page. She refreshes it anyway, twice.

Her older brother, who is in his second year at the U of A, is on the couch in pyjamas because his Tuesday classes are cancelled. He says, without looking up from his phone, "you should call them." Maya says, "call who?" He says, "that's the problem."

First period: AP Biology. Mr. Donnelly is doing meiosis. He is unusually focused on the material. Halfway through the period he stops, looks at the class, and says, "if any of you need to talk later today, my door is open." Then he goes back to the chromosomes.

Between periods, in the hallway, Maya's guidance counsellor Ms. Yiu catches her eye and waves her into the office. Ms. Yiu has a list of every grade 12 with out-of-province offers — twenty-three names. She is calling each of them in, one at a time, to say the same sentence: "we do not yet know what your tuition status will be, and you should not make any decisions this week."

Maya has applied for three federal scholarships — a Loran, a Schulich Leader nomination, and a Canada Student Grant. The Loran is administered by a private foundation. The Schulich is too. The Canada Student Grant is federal. She does not know, this morning, whether she is still eligible for any of them, or for one, or for two.

Lunch in the back stairwell with her best friend Hannah. Hannah's plan was Dalhousie for marine biology. Hannah's parents told her last night that Halifax is now "not realistic." Maya doesn't say anything for a long time. She passes Hannah half her sandwich. Hannah eats it.

Afternoon: spare. Maya goes to the library and opens a Google Doc titled "plan B." The doc is blank. She types: "U of C neuroscience." She stares at it. She closes the laptop. She opens it again and adds, beneath it, "is U of C still going to be a research university."

Last period: English. They are reading a Canadian short story she happens to love. The teacher, Mr. Cardinal, who is Cree and has taught here for nineteen years, asks them at the end what the word "Canadian" is doing in the title now. The class is quiet. A girl in the back row raises her hand and says, "it's doing a lot more work than it was last week." Mr. Cardinal nods slowly.

After school, in her bedroom, Maya opens the McGill email again. She drafts a reply asking about her tuition status. She does not send it. She thinks: if I send it, I might find out. She closes the laptop and goes downstairs for dinner.