Because of You, Well, Us

Kate

A few months later The Letters came in the mail. The ones that would decide my educational fate. My college acceptance letters, I guess I can't forget the rejections as well, though a few of those counted as inevitable. I got the big packets form Yale, Harvard and Brown. Princeton declined my application, but as my dad said over and over as I sobbed into his shoulder, I deserved better than them anyway.

He held his breath as I opened the letter from Brown, his Alma matter. Quickly scanning, I smiled.

"Dear Ms. Jackson, we are pleased to offer you..."

"I got in, daddy!" I cried, and he let out a whoop of glee.

"Open the other ones?" He asked after we had both calmed down. Yale said yes, as did Harvard.

"Well, it's obviously Brown. It's where you want me to go. It's where you went. That means I'd have awesome connections to-"

"Kate." Dad cut in. "Forget about me. What do you want?"

My mind flashed back to eighth grade. Chase and I had both just gotten our Saraville acceptance letters, and I recalled a promise we both made.

"Well, we both got in." Chase said in a voice nowhere near puberty.

"Yeah." I sighed, leaning back on the porch swing.

"Maybe dad's Ivy League dream for me will come true after all."

"My dad will want Brown. That's where he went." I closed my eyes. College seemed too far away now.

When I opened my eyes again, Chase leaned back and looking at me. "We should promise to go to the same college. Then we can stay best friends forever. I'm going to Yale, just letting you know now."

"You got yourself a deal, Underhill."

"Kate, are you alright?" My dad asked.

"Yale. I think it's Yale."

After a bit more paper shuffling, dad agreed. "They've got a good looking English program, the best financial aid, not to mention that the scholarships you're up for can go towards it as well. We'll figure it out when that time comes."

"I guess I should tell Andy." I turned to head up to my room.

Opening my door, I saw my open window. I wondered if Chase had gotten into Yale or even remembered my promise. Quickly, I pushed all thoughts of Chase aside and called Andy.

"Kate, hey." His voice sounded smooth, but cheery like it usually was.

"Andy, guess what came in the mail!" I exclaimed.

"Princeton decided to reconsider your rejection so that you can go to college with your boyfriend?" That's where Andy had decided to go. Despite our agreement to not let the other get in the way of college and try long distance if we had to, Andy had seemed pretty upset that I hadn't gotten into Princeton.

I shut my bedroom door for privacy, "No, but Yale, Harvard and Brown want me!"

"Well, you're going to go to Brown, right?" I heard something that sounded like typing on keyboard keys, "It's not too far away, just cut through Connecticut and a bit of New York, and you'd arrive at Princeton to visit me in no time. Or vice versa."

Sighing as I flopped onto my bed I said, "No, I'm thinking Yale actually. Crazy right?"

Andy laughed, but there wasn't much depth to it. I heard some clicking and more typing on a keyboard. Then it all stopped as suddenly as it had started. "Yale." He whispered. "Isn't that where Chase Underhill is going? I heard him stressing about other people getting accepted the other day because he hasn't heard back yet."

My breath caught in my throat. "Yes. At least when we went into high school."

Andy coughed, something I knew he did when he had to say or ask something he knew would be uncomfortable, "I have to ask you this, Kate. Is he why you want to go to Yale?"

My stomach clenched in nerves. "No." I said, doing my best to have conviction. "I chose Yale because that's where my mom wanted me to go." Somehow I knew Andy wouldn't accept that answer.

"Are you sure?"

I said "Positive."

Andy took a deep breath, "I don't believe you Kate. If you want my opinion, you have feelings for him and you're just using me to make him jealous."

"No, I don't. Andy, I'm with you. Why would you think something like that?" I knew that what he said wasn't true, but spot on at the same time.

Andy sighed, "Chase and I were close. I know stuff because he told me things. I mean, I knew he liked you, but I didn't think you liked him."

"What makes you say that?"

"The way you reacted at the soccer game last summer. You barely waited for the game to stop before you stormed onto the field to help him."

"He's my best friend, Andy. You knew that before we started dating. He had gotten hurt. I reacted." I tried to keep my voice as neutral as possible because I knew that if I gave Andy any sort of emotion in regards to Chase, he'd call it quits.

"But I never see you two together anymore, and suddenly Chase was over you. I was surprised when he told me he was over you."

"I don't know what to tell you to make you trust me." I didn't like who this conversation headded. I may have not had the best intentions when it came to how our relationship started, but I had truly started caring for Andy.

"I don't either." Andy's voice got soft, and the fact that he wasn't believing me started going from hurting me to making me angry. I knewI didn't have feelings Chase, but I wasn't going to spend the rest of my relationship constantly proving that to someone.

"Believe and think what you want, but I'm with you, and that's where I want to be. I want to date with you and go to Yale. It's for myself and the memory of my mom. She went to Yale, and that's where she wanted me to go if I got the chance." I meant to keep my tone even, but I could feel myself get more rushed and emotional as I went on.

"Not anymore." Andy snapped. Then the line went dead.

"Andy? Andy?" I slammed my phone shut, crawled into bed, and cried.