“What’s that, Danika?”
“My application to medical school.”
“Medical school? You’re not smart enough to get into medical school. What are you talking about?”
I roll my eyes as I think back to my time spent last week in South Carolina. Christmas went about the same as it always does in the Freeman household.
Mom’s eyes lit up when I came down the stairs, as if I were seven years old. She handed me a cinnamon bun on a plate and I was thankful for it but I put it down in search of coffee to make it through that day.
My father was nowhere in sight—a fact I was overjoyed about—and mom and I sat on the couch by the decorated tree and traded gifts. I always get my mom a gift for Christmas, but I can’t remember the last time I purchased something for my dad.
This year, mom got me a new jacket that’s too big but I thanked you for it anyway. By mid-afternoon, my father had stumbled through the door, placing a sloppy kiss on my mom’s cheek and ignoring me completely. Which is fine by me.
Mom slaved over the stove for our Christmas meal while her husband sat on his ass and didn’t offer to help once. The next day, I went back to campus without saying goodbye to either of them.
I’m not sure why I even go home for the holidays anymore.
I spent the rest of the break back on campus at our apartment by myself. Margot stayed with Alex, and Sydney was with her parents and little sister. It was lonely but better than the alternative of being at my parent’s house for a month.
Blinking my eyes, I look down at my phone, remembering there’s a life-changing situation that’s unfolding right in front of me. I put my coffee cup down on the counter to really think this through.
Maybe I don’t need to open it right this second. No one is even on campus yet. Do I really want to open this potential rejection email without anyone around to catch me when I pass out? No, I should wait. At least until Margot and Sydney get back. We can open it together and then split a bottle of wine, no matter the outcome.
But maybe I should just open it and I break the news to them myself. It could be cathartic to—
“Would you just open it already?”
His voice scares the ever loving shit out of me and my phone goes flying out of my hand as I whip around to face him. Arden catches the phone swiftly, without spilling a drop of his coffee.
“What the hell are you doing standing over my shoulder like that? You almost gave me a heart attack!” I clutch my palm to my chest.
Arden gestures behind me. “You’re blocking the milk.” I move out of the way, and Arden puts his cup down to add milk to his coffee.
“Are you going to give me my phone back?”
“Are you going to open that email?”
I huff. “What are you even doing here?”
Arden grins as he pours the milk into his cup. “I go here.”
“Go…where?”
With my phone in his hand, Arden silently gestures to our surroundings.
“You go…to the cafe?”
With an exasperated chuckle, he rolls his eyes. “I applied for the mechanical engineering program, and I got in. I’m taking classes starting this semester. And you,” He hands me the phone. “are going to get in, too. Just open the email.”
I have no time to eventhinkabout the fact that Arden Davis just told me that he’s going to be on campus taking classes right alongside us. No, I can’t possibly fathom it this second because in all the chaos of my phone flying out of my hand and into Arden’s, somehow the email notification got clicked and its contents are spread out right in front of my eyes.
My eyes widen and I read it aloud—more so that I can confirm it’s actually real. “Dear Danika Freeman, it is with great pleasure that we offer you—”
Before I know it, I’m hoisted into the air, being spun like a horse on a merry-go-round. “You did it!” Arden cheers in my ear and I hold onto him for dear life but honestly, I’m ecstatic. I got into medical school! I get to stay in the Northeast at my dream school, studying something that’s been important to me for as long as I can remember.
Arden sets me down and I grab onto his forearms to steady myself, giddy with excitement and sudden dizziness. “I did it,” I sigh in contentment, catching my breath. Arden looks down at me like he’s the most proud he’s ever been in his life and the thought softens me to him just a teensy bit.
But then it hits me, I’ll be here on campus for another four years. And so will Arden Davis. The boy who built his sister and me a treehouse when we were twelve, only for him to tear it down the very next year after I accidentally fell down the ladder one day. The man who came to visit his sister last year and did things to me that we both swore we’d never mention again.