“When you're with someone, you trust in never needing to pretend; someone who helps you to know yourself, you know you're among friends.” Amanda Bradley
It was December sixteenth. There was one week left in school before Christmas Break. Elizabeth could hardly contain her excitement. She imagined sleeping in every morning, making cinnamon French toast, eating colorfully decorated Christmas cookies that turned her teeth colors and watching lots of movies.
Now that the weather was cooler, Elizabeth had put on the soft cover to her Jeep Wrangler. It felt like she was driving any other vehicle on the road. She felt boxed in, just like she did in her own life sometimes. She parked her car in front of her house, in her usual spot and ran to the mailbox. She had been checking the mail every day for the last few weeks looking for her early decision letter from Duke. Elizabeth was so mentally exhausted worrying about the decision that she was ready to give up and start applying to other schools. She opened the mailbox, and to her excitement, there was a large envelope from Duke University in her mailbox.
Elizabeth stood frozen, holding the envelope in her hands. Now that the moment she had anticipated for so long was here, she didn’t know what to do with it. What if she got in? All of her hard work would have been worth it! What if she didn’t get in? She would be an epic failure. Where would she go? This was her dream. She didn’t have more time to create new dreams.
“Open it you wimp,” said Jack walking up his front lawn towards her.
“What if it’s a rejection letter?”
“Rejection letters only come in small envelopes. They’re not going to send you a bunch of brochures and waste postage if they’re rejecting you.”
“You do it,” she said handing him the envelope.
“Elizabeth, you should be the one to open it,” said Jack shaking his head. “You’ve been waiting for this for years. That Duke University pennant has been hanging in your room since you were ten.”
Elizabeth was shocked. “You know when I got that?”
“Just open it already,” said Jack. “You’re starting to make me nervous!”
Elizabeth took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and felt the glued flap of the envelope with her thumb. She slid her thumb in the tiny opening on the side and quickly tore open the envelope discarding it on the grass below her. Carefully, she held the paper and waited.
“You have to open your eyes to see what it says.”
“Just tell me,” she begged.
“No,” he laughed. “Do it!”
Elizabeth opened one eye and looked down at the paper on top. “I got in,” she said quietly. “Oh my gosh, I got in. I GOT IN!”
Jack picked her up and swung her around in a circle. “I knew you could do it!”
“I really did it! I got into Duke! I have to call Angela and Kate!”
Jack put her down. “And Bob?” he asked.
“Bob?”
“Your boyfriend,” he said looking at her curiously.
“I know who Bob is,” she defended. “I guess he wasn’t really on the list. I don’t really think he’s going to be happy for me.”
“Okay, no Bob then. You better go start on your phone calls.”
“Yeah! Thanks! Oh wait!” Jack stopped walking. “Do you have a pair of scissors I can borrow?”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” he said.
“It’s for Christmas presents. My mom got me child proof ones. They cut paper just fine but I’m making something that I need to cut fabric with and I need real scissors.”
“Hold on,” he said. He came back out with a pair of scissors. “You better be using them for Christmas.”
Elizabeth hugged Jack. “I promise. I’m not doing that anymore. I’m good.”
CHAPTER 21
“There are millions of people in this world, but in the end it all comes down to one.” Crazy/Beautiful