Maya Hart is 18 now, ready to be done with high school. Josh is 21, a junior in college at NYU. When he asks Maya out, she says yes. But then the letter that changes everything for them. Josh has applied for college out of the United States, and has...
After Maya left, I went down to check the mail, looking for a sign that CELSA had gotten back to me. Flipping through the stack of mail, my heart sped up as I saw the familiar-looking logo on it.
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"Wait, I'm hearing back from them already? Should I open it?" I asked myself, preparing myself for either outcome. I scanned the letter hopefully, my eyes darting back and forth across the page. Here is what it read:
"Mr. Matthews,
While we are glad to have someone as great and talented as you apply to our school, unfortunately, we are full at the moment. You have potential to be a great student here, we just don't have the room to accommodate you. If someone drops out, you will be the first to know. We would love to have you here this fall term, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Sincerely,
CELSA"
My heart skipped a beat. I was waitlisted. Getting into NYU was easier than getting into CELSA, apparently. At least I wasn't waitlisted at NYU. I knew my odds, I just thought it would either be a straight dismissal, or a straight, "You're-in-Welcome-to-CELSA!" Nope, that wasn't happening. Why I bothered to apply, I have no idea. It's not like I'm going to get into CELSA anyways.
"Josh, what is that?" I heard Maya's voice behind me ask. I tensed, not wanting her to know that I applied for a college outside of the United States.
"Um, it's a letter from an old buddy of mine. His name is Daniel." I said, tucking the letter into my pocket. Knowing that she'd want more details, I thanked whoever made me a quick thinker under pressure. "Me and him went to school together in kindergarten, and then he moved. Well, he mailed me a letter one day. He was doing fine in his new school, and he had heard something that reminded him of me. Well, since I crossed his mind, he figured that he should check in, see how I was doing after all those years. We were in 8th grade when I received the letter. Ah, Daniel Ashford."
"Oh, alright, Josh. Hey, the four of us are going to TOPANGA'S to hang out. You wanna come?" Maya asked, and I shrugged.
"You go ahead, I'll catch up." I said, and she headed out the door. Man, I had to get better at acting. But hey, I'm not an actor, ya know?
Maya's POV:
Is it just me, or is Josh acting, I don't know, kind of strange? He seemed almost nervous to tell me it was from his friend. Unless it wasn't from Daniel. But who sends letters anymore? Unless it was a college, but it couldn't be. He was already accepted into NYU, and unless he applied to another college-
"Maya, GET IN HERE AND HELP!" Riley said, pulling me from my thoughts. I smiled as I saw her trying to operate the ice cream machine. I pulled her off it, and got her favorite kind of ice cream. She grabbed for it, but I held out my hand. She paid the $1, since we got the "We-know-the-owner-because-we're-her-daughter's-friends" discount, and the "My-mother-owns-this-place" discount.
