Life as a Dreamer - ON HOLD

Dreaming of Adventure

I was feeling slightly upset and more than slightly irritated. Mostly appalled.

Milla had just enlightened me to the shocking news of Cole’s apparent acceptance to Spencer Academy. Now, that wouldn’t have bothered me so badly if it weren’t for just one thing: He hadn’t even applied. He hadn’t even applied! Here I was, honestly and righteously accepted after the arduous process of completing the Academy’s rather long application requirements, and then there was Cole. Cole, who had been accepted without hardly even lifting a finger.

But that wasn’t all. Then came the final punchline: he wasn’t even planning on attending.

It was just utterly ridiculous. Unbelievable. Horribly wrong. The world was completely unfair. Completely.

The second Cole entered my field of vision that morning in Gram’s kitchen, I pounced. “You! I need to speak with you. It’s urgent.”

He raised his eyebrows expectantly, nodding at me to continue.

I crossed my arms and glared at him accusingly. “Milla told me. She told me she found out you got into Spencer Academy, and she told me that you said you didn’t want to go. Is that all that true?”

Cole’s eyes were wide with surprise. He hadn’t been expecting the strong confrontation. “I guess. That sounds about right. Except, what exactly makes this matter urgent?”

My jaw dropped in disbelief. “Let me get this straight. So you’re telling me that you were accepted to Spencer Academy without even having to apply, and you aren’t going to go. None of this sounds urgent to you?”

“Um. Not particularly,” he said, shifting his weight and looking down at his feet. He looked rather uncomfortable, but that was no matter to me.

“Unbelievable! Give me one good reason not to attend,” I growled through my teeth.

Cole shrugged. “Well, I just have more reasons to stay here than to transfer. For one thing, my parents need my help on the farm. I can’t help if I’m in New York. And I think they need me more than I need Spencer Academy.”

I chewed on my lip, considering this. I had to admit, it was a pretty legitimate reason. But still, there was no excuse that was good enough to justify not attending Spencer Academy after being accepted. Spencer Academy was going to be great. It would be the best thing to happen to any of us. I shook my head. “So that means you actually do want to go, but you just feel like you can’t under your circumstances?”

Cole hesitated for a moment before answering. “I’m not sure. I still really like it here at home. I just… Staying home just feels right. Let’s leave it at that.”

I rolled my eyes. There was no way anyone in his right mind would choose to stay in a place like this over Spencer Academy. Cole was merely avoiding the truth, most definitely. I refused to let a matter like this go so easily. “But you’re giving up an opportunity of a lifetime.”

“There’s plenty of opportunities in a lifetime. Missing one won’t ruin it,” he said, smiling reassuringly. He had the nerve to actually smile. How could he just act like this wasn’t a big deal? Choosing not to attend the Academy was pretty much the worst decision he could make for his life. I had to convince him to take the offer. He would thank me for it later, I was sure of it.

I narrowed my eyes and thought for a moment. In the past couple days that I’d been here, it had still seemed as though he hadn’t yet lost that weird infatuation he had with me. That could work to my advantage. If I couldn’t convince him with logic, maybe I had to resort to other means. “You like me, don’t you?”