TODAY WAS a big day. Early acceptance for various colleges were being announced at exact 4 that afternoon and Kalani wanted to at least hear good news from Brown or Dartmouth.
Those were her top choice while UCLA, NC State, and Duke were her safety nets.
She wasn't the only one who wanted to get into an Ivy league school. She had the potential to do it and she was determined to get into one of them... Brown specifically.
And she was accepted into UCLA, NC State, Duke, and Dartmouth.
She just had one more email to open and that was from Brown.
She had a 5.5% chance of getting in and she prayed that they just said yes.
But they didn't... they didn't say no either.
They had deferred her just like Devi with Princeton.
Kalani sighed. She wasn't going to take this as a set back. It wasn't a yes and it wasn't a no. She still had that 5.5% chance of getting in.
She just needed to wait.
Unlike Fabiola who told Kalani that she had been accepted into Princeton.
"Holt shit!" Kalani smiled, pulling the girl into a hug, "Congratulations, Fab!"
Fabiola, for the longest time, had been holding back the she even applied to Princeton and the relief that she had when one of her closest friends had praised her for it was a small weight off of her shoulders.
She relaxed into Kalani's hug before she pulled away. She had realized that she still had one person to tell. The one person who, oh so desperately wanted to get into Princeton.
"What do I do?" Fabiola asked, "Should I confess?"
"I think it's best to tell her. She'd be proud of you, Fab." Kalani smiled.
Devi was indeed, not proud of Fabiola.
She was pissed that Fabiola has applied, pissed that Princeton had even accepted her in the first place.
And Fabiola was heavily apologetic, but Devi didn't want to hear any of it.
But Eleanor really need everyone to be friends again... for a reason she had yet to disclose.
"Since when do you wanna do to Princeton?" Devi asked.
"I wanted to tell you, but how could I?"
"I don't know, maybe with words?" Devi scoffed, "I can't believe you'd lie about something so important to me."
"I know. I am so, so sorry."
"You know what? Being deferred was already a stab in the heart. I didn't also need to be stabbed y the back."
Devi stormed off and Ms. Warner approached the three friends in the hallway.
"Stitch still a little tender, huh?" She questioned, "I actually came to talk to Eleanor. So contrary to the email, we're gonna need you here at 6 on Friday, not 7. That's when everyone's lining up for—"
Eleanor quickly shushed Ms. Warner and she quickly looked over at Kalani and Fabiola.
Ms. Warner took a deep inhale, "Okay, this little friend group needs to do a much better job of communicating."
Ms. Warner walked off and Kalani turned, "What was she talking about?"
Eleanor didn't say anything and quickly left the duos side.
Ms. Warner was right, this friend group really needed to work on communicating better.
THE NEXT everything seemed to be okay with the friend group. Devi and Fabiola made up and Eleanor was graduating in two days.
Kalani, on the other hand, began digging through her locker when Ben approached.
"Hey." He called, "I heard about Brown."
Kalani sighed, shutting her locker, "It's whatever."
"Whatever?" Ben questioned, "That's your dream school."
"I was deferred. It's not bad thing."
"It's okay to be sad, Kalani."
"I am." She confessed, "I'm very sad about it, but like I said, it's not a bad thing. All my friends were having their own thing happen and I just took my sadness out on Jodie Sweetin."
Ben smiled, "I figured. You've always liked her."
"More than you know." She sighed, "Congrats on Columbia, by the way. Did you and Margot celebrate?"
"Yeah, uh, we broke up." Ben sighed.
"Oh, shit. I'm sorry."
"Yeah, I guess we both took an L this week." Ben paused, "Uh, well, all right, I'll, uh, see you after winter break. And good luck with Brown."
And just like that, Ben Gross was single and winter break and begun.
AND AS quickly as it came, it left, and everyone was back into school (minus Eleanor) for the spring semester.
And apparently, Devi had been accepted into every single Ivy school. Meanwhile, Kalani hadn't heard back from Brown since.
"Devi Delishwakumar, you saucy little genius!" Eleanor smiled as she wrapped the girl into her arm, "Congratulations!"
"What?"
"You got into every single Ivy." Kalani smiled, "That's impressive."
"Your mom called my mom. That's unbelievable." Fabiola said, "You guys, look at us. Eleanor is basically seconds away from being a Hollywood star, and Devi and I are gonna be roomies at Princeton."
Fabiola turned, giving Kalani a small smile, "Still nothing from Brown?"
"No." She sighed, turning towards Devi, "But I'm happy for you, David. It's crazy how you got accepted into every Ivy."
"We've all basically turned into the people we wanted to be freshman year, and now tonight, we get to celebrate at our freakin' senior prom." Fabiola smiled, "How perfect is that?"
Kalani smiled at her friends. Yes, being deferred sucked, but this was going to be the night of nights. Just like on High School Musical 3: Senior Year.
She was going to make prom her bitch.
LATER THAT day, Kalani was making her way down the hall when she spotted Ben sitting in a classroom room with textbooks and paper surrounding him.
"What happened here, Einstein?" She asked.
"I started slacking."
Kalani raised her brows, "You're kidding me. What possessed you to do that?"
"Trent. He said that once I was accepted into Princeton that they wouldn't look back, so why should I keep the work up."
"And you believed him?"
Ben held a tight lip, "At the time. But I have a ton a work to catch up on and Ms. Warner said I couldn't go to prom, so—"
"Seriously?" She asked, "Jesus, Ben." She sighed, "Do you want some help? It'll get the work done faster."
Ben gave her a small smile, "Sure."
Kalani sat down next to him and grabbed a pen from her bag (she hated pencils more than anything) and began working out the equations on the paper.
Ben could only watch her from time to time. She was ten times better at math and AP Lit compared to him, but he wouldn't admit that out loud. She would only laugh and say that she was lying, but she had the highest grades in both of those classes... so he wasn't wrong.
In the moment, he was heavily grateful. Kalani had done a lot for him and it took this moment for him to realize that.
She dated him for starters. She was there for him when he needed her the most. They could've been kidnapped by the guy they met on Reddit that one time and she willingly went with him because she cared about him.
Jesus Christ... oh wait, he was Jewish.
Whatever, did Ben Gross like Kalani Wang?
Obviously, she was Kalani fucking Wang.
KALANI FINALLY made it home and began getting ready for prom and by the time she grabbed her Fenty Beauty lipgloss, she had gotten a text from Fabiola saying that they were outside in a tacky ass limo.
But Kalani didn't care, she wanted her mind off Brown and onto that tacky-ass dance floor known as the schools gym.
She played with the fabric of her red prom dress as she listened to the driver spell his name for her and her friends.
But the silence was defying. Each of them had been going through their own shit.
Fabiola with Howard versus Princeton.
Eleanor with Hollywood.
Devi with no college plans... other than her waitlist from Princeton.
And Kalani, with only a couple of weeks left to hear back from Brown before she sadly pressed accept on her Dartmouth admission.
"Hey, Devi." Fabiola called, "Since we're heading off to a milestone, just thinking about milestones to come, and I was wondering how important it is that I be your roommate at Princeton."
Devi had been drowning in the glass of vodka she'd poured and looked over at Fabiola.
"Um, what. Yeah, super important."
"Samesies. I also want that, which is why it's good it's happening. Could I also get some vodka?"
And one by one each of them were drowning down in the vodka left in the back of the limo.
Eleanor have a speech about their futures and cheered... but unfortunately Devi screamed and the driver, Stoo, spelled the normal way, turned and crashed into a ditch.
Kalani sat her glass down, "Are you hurt, Devi? What's wrong?"
The girl had been crying, almost sobbing.
"I didn't get into college." She cried, "I didn't get in anywhere."
The girls exited the limo at the sound of Stoo's frustrations. He moaned and groaned at the thought of getting a spare tire from Pep Boys.
But he did so anyway, leaving the girls alone.
"Wanna talk about it?" Fabiola asked Devi.
"Maybe... bring out the vodka?"
Nightfall fell upon the friends as they sat on the hood of the limo, waiting for Stoo to return.
"I am so sorry, guys." Devi sighed, "I didn't mean for this lie to get around. I just didn't wanna tell my mom the truth."
"It's okay. We get it." Eleanor reassured.
"I should probably tell Principal Grubbs before she books me on The Today Show. God, why do I have to be a psycho all the time?" She asked.
"This isn't a psycho moment, Devi." Kalani said, "You're a person, who makes mistakes. It makes things interesting."
"I'm really sorry we're not gonna be roommates, Fab."
Fabiola sighed, "Actually, I've been trying to figure out a way to tell you that I don't wanna go to Princeton. I wanna go to Howard."
"I'm really happy for you."
"So, what's the plan Devi?" Kalani asked.
"I'm supposed to write this essay to get myself off the waitlist, but the admissions officer basically said that my chances are slim to none."
"I'd still do it if I were you." Kalani said, "Trust me, if it's the dream, you'd do anything to get there. And if someone at Brown called me and told me to write and essay, I'd do it in a heartbeat."
The conversation stirred to Eleanor and how she was going to take some directing classes. The idea coming from Trent.
"Hold up." Fabiola smiled, "You're talking to Trent?"
Eleanor chuckled, "It's not a big deal."
"El, it's so obvious. You love Trent. You should tell him." Devi smiled.
Soon, a truck pulled up and Stoo sat in the passengers seat. He explained that he had fallen two times and that they were gonna have to tow the limo.
But the group decided to head home, while Eleanor made her way towards Trent's.
Kalani opened her front door, slipping her heeled shoes, and making her way into her bedroom.
She grabbed a makeup wipe, taking off her makeup and slumping down into her seat.
She was exhausted and drunk... more drunk than exhausted at this point.
She dropped her hair from its updo and looked over at the Brown banner she hand sitting next to her.
There was a suddenly a knock on her bedroom window and it quickly opened, Ben making his way inside.
"I've gotta lock my windows." She sighed, "What are you doing here?"
"Heard that you still haven't heard back from Brown."
Kalani sighed, throwing the Brown banner down and sitting on her bed; Ben soon joining her side.
"I shouldn't feel so sad about it, I guess. I got into all my other schools."
"But Brown's the dream, isn't it?"
"It is."
Kalani sighed, laying down, Ben following her actions.
"Look, if anyone gets how badly you wanted to go to Brown and much you killed yourself to try to make that happen, it's me. I mean, if I were you, I'd want someone to put me in, like, a medically-induced coma."
"I'm sad. I'm not criminally insane." She sighed, "But thank you, for coming over and trying make me feel better. I really appreciate it."
"Did it work?"
She chuckled, "Not really." She sighed, "But I'm not going to give up on the dream."
She soon shut her eyes, flipping over on her side as Ben began to speak.
"You know, maybe I was wrong, Lani." He sighed, "You've done a lot for me... too much maybe. And maybe I was wrong about us."
He turned, seeing that Kalani had fallen asleep (more likely passing out from being drunk) and he softly smiled.
And in the morning Ben was still there, he and Kalani still asleep.
Meredith knocked on the door softly and peaked inside, seeing the duo in bed.
She held a tight lip and shut the door behind her.
Maybe, just maybe, things were going to be different.
— lucy has something to say !!
one more chapter... let's all cry
bye :))))