All in my Mind

XIX.

Okay, so I know I was being a little bit dramatic last week, but we're still coming out of it, so let's talk about something happy for a change.

It does get rather sad by the end, but it starts happy. It's like I'm padding your for the impact. No need to thank me, but you're welcome. And I'm sorry. I don't think it's fair to bum you out and get you all riled up like that unless there's an apology involved.

Anyways...

Alexander and his friends got their college acceptance letters all in the same week. Parker was applying to the local universities because he didn't want to leave home. He liked living in his house, even if he was alone all the time. He liked the reminders of his mom.

Addison and Alexander were a bit more adventurous. They also had slightly better transcripts. They went for the big ones; the competitive programs, and the Ivy Leagues, and other big names. Their applications took big essays and recommendations and work. So much work. They were contenders and they knew it.

It was the first week of April when they all gathered up their envelopes and made their way over to Parker's for the big reveals.

Alexander was holding a big bundle of envelopes. More than both of his friends. He was an over achiever about the college thing too, although he was thankful that application season had mostly ended before the misfirings in his brain had taken off.

They all sat down on the carpet in the living room like usual. Alexander tried to pretend he hadn't had a breakdown on the floor there a few weeks prior. For once, Parker's dad was actually present, but he'd retired to his room to let them make their discoveries in peace. Alexander noted he was seemingly pretending not to notice the champagne bottle that Parker had procured. Addison was eyeing it like it was almost equal to the prize of the envelopes in their hands.

They opened them simultaneously. Alexander and Addison committed to opening them in order from least important to most. Parker tore into all of his at once so that he was gleefully holding an acceptance letter in his hands by the time Alexander and Addison had finished with their safety schools. None of those acceptances were a surprise to either of them. Alexander had only applied to those to pad the impact if he were to find out he was less special than he thought. And Stanford. He'd applied to them because he still thought they were impressive, even without the word "Ivy" attached.

He still had a whole bundle of letters, but he was mostly focused on the ones with the Ivy League logos. He'd applied to three of those. So had Addison. They both had identical envelopes from them.

They opened up the Brown University one together. When they both saw the word accepted, they screamed. Then they opened the Yale one. Accepted again. More screaming.

The one that Alexander cared about the most was Harvard. It wasn't because he was particularly impressed by Harvards programming, but the prestige of it was beyond the norm. Everybody knew of Harvard. It was an iconic symbol of the countries best in education. His ego needed that acceptance. He needed it despite the knowledge that it was a highly competitive school, and that he and Addison were both from a small coastal highschool, and that normally accepting two students from the same little school like that was highly unlikely.

Addison scooted closer to him on the floor until their knees were touching. Parker was already working the cork out of the champagne bottle as they both held up their envelopes. They took a deep breath. Addison gave him a look and they both tore into them.

Accepted.

Both of them.

They were both accepted and heavily laden with scholarship options. The screaming was enough to burst eardrums.