Kristen's POV:
"It's here." I say, nervously, biting my lower lip.
My dad walks in and kisses the top of my head like he used to do when I was a little girl. "Everything's going to be alright."
"Just get it over with sweetheart, you'll see what we mean." My mum adds, smiling reassuringly.
The beige envelope remains on the kitchen table until she picks it up and places it into my shaking hands. I open them slowly, noting the insignia of each college and how the letter always starts with "Congratulations on your acceptance to" and ends with "We look forward to seeing you". I got acceptances from Wesleyan, Pomona, Sarah Lawrence, Durham and Columbia. I didn't get in to the University of Edinburgh however, which confuses me. I then remember the interview I had there and burst into a fit of laughter. Of course I didn't get in. A tall, hot guy was showing me around and so when he was nice to me, I let my guard down, dropping the formal tone in the process and even flirted a bit. Later I found out that the 'hot guy' was actually the dean. He took two sets of interviews, one casual and one formal, the casual being a surprise interview.
"Congratulations Sweetie." My parents are practically yelling by now, and grinning like Cheshire cats, as am I. I got accepted into Columbia, my favorite amongst those I applied to.
"Aren't you going to go over and tell Ray?" My dad asks, winking.
"Maybe later." I say, smiling.
"Kris, honey, he'd want to know!" Confusion registers on my dad's face because normally I'd run over before the words were even out of his mouth.
"I'll go now." I say, faking a certain chirpiness.
"Ray." I yell, knocking on the front door.
"Mel, He's in his room." yells Mrs. Parker.
"It's not Mel, it's Kris." I say, softly.
She comes out, holding a stack of envelopes. So Ray hasn't opened them yet, I note.
"Kristen sweetie, where have you been?" She scolds, not waiting for an answer. "Ray hasn't been the same without you. He's grumpy and sad, even though Roc tries his best to cheer him up. He argues with me about everything and has nightmares 5 out of 7 nights in a week."
"I'm sorry to hear that." I mumble, annoyed by the fact that my boyfriend, usually so polite and such a gentleman, has been arguing with his mother. Mrs. Parker, normally so composed and rosy cheeked, looks like she's had many sleepless nights and is thoroughly exhausted.
"It's not your fault sweetie." She says, smiling. Why do I feel so guilty then?
"It is." I say, sadly, burrowing my head in her shoulder. She ushers me into her house, reassuring me that it isn't.
"Who's Mel?" I ask, biting my lip, a thousand thoughts rushing through my head.
"Just a cousin." She laughs, like she can read my mind. "Ray's made it pretty obvious that you're the only girl he likes."
I blush. "Oh." Ray happens to walk down just then, shirtless, in his boxers and yawning. I blush, a bright red this time.
Ray see's me and his eyes widen. "Uh, Hi Kristen." He says, embarrassed.
"Put on some pants and a shirt and then come back down Ray." She says, waving about the stack of college letters.
He mumbles an okay, glancing at me and smirking at the blush which refuses to leave my face.
When Ray comes back down, we go through all his letters. He got yes's from most but a deferral from his dream college Columbia.. He's shocked and unhappy. He worked really hard for this and his football was a major part of it, the waiting is agony.
"How did you do?" He asks, faking a smile to hide his disappointment about the deferral, I'd know better though.
I don't reply. Now wouldn't be the best time to tell him that I got accepted to Columbia.
"Kristen?" He probes.
"I don't want a break anymore." I say, instead of answering him, to divert the topic.
He grins and takes my hand, kissing it. "Good, I missed you."
I smile back at him, congratulating him on his acceptances and tell him I have to get going to which he does his famous puppy dog face, causing me to melt and say I'll meet him later in the day.
Ray's POV:
My alarm goes off and I wake up grumpy, realizing it's Saturday and that my alarm for school woke me up because I forgot to switch it off. I lie in bed for a couple of hours, and then wake up because I hear sounds downstairs. My mum's laughing, that's good, I've been fighting her for weeks and so her laughter's been scarce lately. I wander down, forgetting that I'm still in my boxers because I'm in a daze from lack of sleep and from the nightmares I've been having. Nightmares about Kristen, about the person I will become. I look at her, she's sitting on the couch, next to Kristen and letters from all the colleges I've applied to lay in a stack on the table. The first thing that pops into my mind is "What is she doing here?"
"Uh, Hi Kristen."
She blushes and I smirk, going up to change into a pair of pants and a shirt. I got acceptances from most colleges and a deferral from Columbia which really bums me out. I worked incredibly hard to get into Columbia, and my football was supposed to help because Columbia has a superb football team. I try not to let it show though, and ask Kristen how she did. For some odd reason, she doesn't answer but instead tells me she doesn't want a break anymore. Good, I've been going mad without her.
I take her hand, and kiss it. "Good, I missed you."
She needs to go and so I tell her to meet me later in the day and while she's gone I work things out with my mom. I call Roc immediately and he's relieved to hear that I'm back to normal and mentions that he got accepted into NYU, one of his top choices. I congratulate him and he asks about Columbia.
"Deferral." I say, my excited tone of a few seconds ago, disappearing.
"You'll get in. Don't sweat the small stuff man. You've worked hard, they'll see that." He answers, reassuringly.
I hang up feeling better than I have in weeks. It's amazing how I got so much off my chest in just one day.
