Ariana's POV
I walked home from working at the flower shop trimming flowers and whatnot. I'm absolutely exhausted. Dalton was working at the skate shop extra hours so I decided to do it as well so I wouldn't feel as lonely.
My legs felt like they were giving out once I was walking on the yard. But before I walked in the house I checked the mail. Then one specific letter had my name on it and I screamed and ran into the house.
"ARI ARE YOU OKAY?" I hear my mom running from the kitchen and throw all of my stuff to the floor and sit on the couch.
"The letters in"
Her mouth falls agape and she yells for Frankie. I hear running footsteps down the stairs and I turn to see my brother Frankie wrapped in a towel.
"Well... are you gonna sit there or open it?" He asked while sitting next to me and wrapping his moist arm around my neck.
"Okay..." I use my nail to open the envelope and I can hear the sound of my heart beating faster... faster... and faster.
I open the letter and I read allowed.
"Dear Ms Grande, I am delighted to inform you that the committee on Admissions has admitted you to the class of 2028 under the early action program. Please accept my congratulations for your outstanding achievements." With those words all tears dropped from my eyes and Frankie and my mom held onto me and they cried as well.
"Ari I'm sooo proud of you" My mom sways me side to side and I smile but cry an ugly cry.
Frankie kissed my temple and just held onto me. "I'm so proud of you"
Y/n's POV
As I walk back to the foster home from work at the supermarket I hum along to the song I'm listening to.
"I am not my hair" by India Arie
I look through all of the mail to see me and Indya got letters from Harvard. My heart dropped to my ass and I ran upstairs to our room. She was laying down just reading a magazine.
"Our letters came in!!!" I handed her the letter with her name and She shot up and grabbed it.
I was expecting our foster mom to yell "shut the fuck up" but I'm guessing that horrible woman isn't here tonight.
Thank god.
I sat down on my bed looking at the picture of my mom on the wall. I've had this picture since I was a little kid. She was such a bad woman... to me and to everyone else. But at the end of the day that's my mother.
Two hands made their way on my shoulders and just held me.
"Y/n... let's read our letters"
"I'm nervous" it's true. My heart was beating 23 mph and it felt like it was going to stop any moment.
"Well calm down." She laughed and I chuckled as I leaned against her.
"Fine" I ripped open the top of the envelope and took out the letter.
The words read "Dear Ms Y/l/n, I am delighted to inform you that the committee on Admissions has admitted you to the class of 2028 under the early action program. Please accept my congratulations for your outstanding achievements." Those words managed to make me shed the tears I've been holding in for a long time.
"Congratulations" Indya kissed my head and I laughed at my mom on the wall.
"Look at me... accomplishing the shit you said I'd never do" I flipped her off but blew her a kiss afterwards.
"Did you get in?" I looked up at Indya and she was crying as well as she was nodding her head.
"I fucking got in y/n/n" she smiled and we both sat their crying and laughing our eyes out.
Once we settled down on our crying we put our letters into our drawers and I took off my shirt. "I'm gonna go take a shower. Is there food in the fridge?"
"No her foodstamps haven't came in yet."
"Alright well I got 16 dollars and..." I grabbed some change from my top drawer. "11 cents. If you have a 10 then maybe we could buy a pizza"
She reached over to the wooden nightstand between our two beds, to grab her purse. She reached in and found exactly a 10 inside the bag.
"Yesss" I looked up to the sky and clapped my hands. "Okay imma go take a shower, you order the pizza"
"Alright" she grabbed her phone and I walked off to the bathroom with my towel in hand. I took off my clothes and started taking a warm shower to wash away all the sweat I had on me. Working at the supermarket is just ugh. I usually stock the products or clean the isles. Today I was cleaning the isles and people are so nasty.
While the water was running down my body I just thought about everything I've been through. Years of feeling like I wasn't worth anything. Years of questioning my existence.
I'm finally proving my mom and younger self wrong.
I'm finally becoming who I'm meant to be.
I wiped away my tears and started washing myself off. When I was finished I wrapped the towel around my waist and walked to my room. Indya was scrolling on her phone and I grabbed my underwear along with a sports bra and some shorts.
"Indya can you turn around"
"Girl you act like I've never seen you naked" she turned around anyways and I just rolled my eyes.
I put on my underwear along with my sports bra and then put on some shorts.
"Okay you can turn back now" I said as I started putting on deodorant and then some lotion.
I stared at myself in the mirror looking at all the scars on my torso and I shook my head and put on a shirt.
Indya has seen all the scars on me and she always says that they tell a story. It may not be a happy one... but it's mine.
She got up and wrapped her arms around me and swayed us side to side.
"You don't have to hide those around me."
"I know" I rested my head on her shoulder and that's when the doorbell rang. I slipped on my slides and then grabbed the money to go downstairs. The delivery man handed me the pizza and I gave him the money.
"I'm sorry it's not that much of a tip. That's all I had"
"It's no problem. Have a goodnight" he waved as he walked to his bike and rode off.
I walked back upstairs to our room and she was standing looking for a movie to play in the DVD player.
"What about Back to the Future" I said as I opened the pizza box and sat on the floor of this small room.
She sat next to me as we ate and watched movies.
We watched Back to the Future, the goonies, Forrest Gump, and The Karate Kid.
We ate majority of the pizza and I walked downstairs to get us some bottled water... being as though that's all we had.
I walked back upstairs and gave Indya a water and I sat down and drank mine.
We sat here in this small room with two twin sized beds, some Christmas lights on the wall, a small boxed TV, a DVD player, and a box full of old movies. We've made it cozy in the time span of 3 years and I guess this is the only place I feel sort of at home and at peace... right here in this room with Indya. Who's more than just my best friend... but a sister.
Ariana's POV
~the next day~
Last night I called Doug and asked him if he got a letter and he was crying saying he also got in. I also called Dalton about the news and he said he got a letter too. Right now I was driving to his house to open the letter with him and his family.
Once I got there I knocked on the door and dalton opened the door with a nervous smile.
"Hey baby" I stood on my tippy toes to kiss him.
"Hey babe" he picked me up and carried me to the living room making me squeal.
"Dalton put Ari down" Dalton's mom said and he did so but threw me onto the couch.
I huffed and fixed up my outfit to stand up and hug everyone.
"Congratulations Ariana we heard the news"
"Thank you"
Once we all settled down Dalton had his letter in hand and I rubbed his bicep to calm down his nerves.
"Fuck it" he opened his letter and read it out loud. He read aloud the same words I read and I gave him a big hug along with a kiss.
"Congratulations babyyyyy" his family joined in on the hug and we all congratulated him.
I can't wait to start this journey.
_______
Excuse any errors 😩