The Ivy League

The Ivy League Part 4

In the quiet, one of the figures sitting there detached itself, descended slowly down the stairs, and ever-so-slowly made its way.

Over to me.

The closer the figure got, the more I got to see that she was a girl. A tear-streaked girl who was looking down at the floor and trying to figure out the most possible steps it would take to reach me. There was no doubt anymore that it was me she was aiming for; I was the only one standing beside Grace, and Grace had hastily stepped back.

Finally, after an excruciatingly long silence, she reached me.

"Courtney M-Meyers?" she asked in a shaky voice that barely held back sobs.

"Yeah?"

"This is for- for you," she choked out, thrusting a thin sheet of elegant paper at me.

"Um, thanks," I said, taking it for her. The whole school was still watching this.

"You're welcome," she said suddenly with so much sarcasm and bitterness that my eyes widened; I didn't even know this girl, what had I ever done to her? She finally looked up at me and glared.

"You're burning a hole in my face. What did I do to you?" I snapped, not liking her continued glaring at all.

She ignored me and turned to Grace. "You're allowed to sit with the candidate today; you are excused."

The girl whirled around, thrust her chin out and stalked out of the cafeteria on shaky legs. Someone started laughing and clapping and the whole room joined in. Before the door closed behind her, I thought I heard a sob.

I glanced up at the booths, where the girl had come from to deliver me the letter. The girl sitting in the middle, surrounded by other girls, was in the obvious seat of glory. And she was smiling.

Bewildered, I turned around to Grace who was looking miserably at the floor.

"Oh, let's get out of here. Grow up," she snapped at the nearby table of hooting and clapping guys. Taking me by the arm, she pulled me out of the cafeteria.

Once we had left the chaos behind, I yanked my arm out of her grip. I was still clutching the paper, but that wasn't on my mind right now.

"What was that all about?" I asked angrily, not caring whether I overreacting."What happened to that girl?"

Grace sighed and looked at me. "Read the invitation."

"The-?" then I remembered the note. It was an invitation? To what?

I unfolded it and read. It was a delicate piece of paper with some sort of prestigious-looking watermark. A branch of ivy curled around the left edge, and at the top was written in felt scripting letters: The Ivy League.

"Courtney Meyers," it read, "You are hereby invited as a possible Ivy League candidate. This is an honor bestowed upon select few; the amount of members is limited. Your inclusion ceremony during which you will be initiated into our hallowed circle will take place today at 3:30 p.m. in the front foyer."

"Futurus lego est futurus elite!"

I finished reading it with a grin as wide as my face. "Ha! This is the dumbest thing I've ever read! What melodramatic snobs!" I fell to the ground laughing and clutching my side. "Initiated into our hallowed circle!" I cackled, tears of mirth sliding down my face. "And the girl was upset I was going to be a part of it? Fat chance!" I lapsed into more laughter.

Grace snatched the paper and scanned it quickly. "Wow, it's today? They usually let you sweat it out for a few days. They must really want you a lot."

I stopped laughing and sat up on the floor, frowning. "Me? Why on earth would I want to become a d-" but Grace cut me off.

"Well maybe you don't want to be a Leaguer, but you have no idea how many people would give everything they own to get an invitation like this. And for the record," she continued when she saw me open my mouth to pour forth sarcasm, "that girl was crying because she's the one to be kicked out of the Ivy League so that you can take her place."

I snapped my mouth shut, processing this. "How rude. No wonder she looked like she was contemplating drowning me in a porta-potty."

Grace looked down at me sadly, where I was still sprawled.

"But I think that's a bit rich of them to assume that I'll immediately and gladly accept. I think they should've waited a bit to kick out the girl. Get my answer first."

Grace grinned. "Well like I said, hundreds of girls and plenty of guys would jump at the chance; I don't think they're expecting you to take this kind of attitude concerning their hallowed circle."

I snorted derisively.

"But technically, Missy still isn't kicked out. She'll only be kicked out if you accept today after school. It's quite horrible, really. Not only does the replaced person have to deliver the invitation to the new candidate, they also have to be present at the ceremony of inclusion where they will most likely be humiliated by everyone spilling the dirt on whatever they know about her."

I seethed. "Poor Missy. No wonder she looked so miserable. I didn't know it was the walk of shame; I wouldn't have been so rude to her."

Grace shrugged glumly, plopping down beside me in the deserted hallway. "I never said the Ivy League was a good thing."

"But are you a part of it?" I asked suspiciously.

Grace flushed. "Yeah. Don't judge me though, I've wanted to quit for ages."

"Well why in the name of all things pure and beautiful haven't you done so already, you dumb blonde?"

"You may have noticed, but they enjoy ceremonies. Especially humiliating ones. And you have to pass through one of those if you want to leave."

I frowned. "Just tell them to deal with it and ignore them."

Grace laughed humorlessly. "You don't just ignore Ellen."

"Well Ellen can just deal with it, too."

We sat there for a while, and then I got a thought. A very evil, very nasty very tempting thought. I turned around to grin at Grace who looked mildly alarmed.

"Grace, do you have any idea how much fun I'm going to have today after school?"

She shook her head. "Don't make those kinds of enemies, Courtney."

I disregarded that and laughed. "Like I said, let it come. This is the funnest thing that's happened to me since my move here. And I'm gonna make it GOOD!"

I settled back comfortably against the wall and pulled out a cookie. "Yep. Boy are they every going to regret offering Courtney Elizabeth Zed Meyers an invitation to their League!"

**I know this wasn't a funny one, but it's necessary and a development as she finds out about the Ivy League. Hope you liked it anyway! Let me know what you think so far :) **