fearless

xi, if this was a movie.

chapter eleven. if this was a movie.

angelina stood menacingly in her bathroom mirror, a pair of scissors held to her hair. what was stopping her? nothing, maybe except the fact that she was a little pussy who had never cut her hair shorter than her shoulders. but change was sometimes good.

and this change was going to be good. angelina needed a good change in her life, and this was going to be it. if it looked shit on her, hey - she learned her lesson.

about to make the cut, angelina was interrupted by the sound of her mother's voice calling from the ground floor. whatever, she was going to show up to school with a different hair length that day no matter what.

"angie, come down for a sec!" her mother shouted in a sing-song voice. everyone in the phan's family was on the early bird side, but angelina and aiden shared the best of both worlds. if angelina had a dollar for every time she ran into her brother in the kitchen at four am, she'd be rich. "you have mail!"

mail? angelina never got mail. the last time she did it was her drivers license, but that was quite some time ago. putting down the scissors on the sink quickly, angelina ran down the steps with a sort of rhythm, as she always did.

"mail? for me?" angelina furrowed her eyebrows, grabbing a green apple and taking a bite out of it. "who's it from?"

"says NYU, kiddo." angelina's dad raised his eyes and smiled.

angelina felt a spike of excitement rush through her. she'd only applied for a couple colleges like her backups, such as berkeley and brown, which she'd gotten accepted into. nyu still had not gotten back to her. this was a make or break moment for angelina phan.

the raven-haired girl's eyes bulged and put her apple in her mouth, biting it so it'd stay in it's place. angelina took the envelope out of her mom's hand and opened it carefully, as if it would explode at any given moment.

December 12, 2021

Dear Angelina Phan,

On behalf of the admissions committee, it is my honor and privilege to share with you that you have been admitted to the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and the NYU class of 2023. Congratulations!

Once you confirm your enrollment, it is your ethical obligation to withdraw any applications you may have submitted to other colleges or universities.

Please know that your offer of admission is contingent upon successful of your existing academic program at a performance level comparable to the one presented in your application. Visit the admitted student section of our website to review our expectations for admitted students.

Angelina, you should be extremely proud of your achievements and I encourage you to celebrate with your family and friends who have supported you thus far on your intellectual journey. We look forward to welcoming you to the NYU community, and invite you to connect with new classmates on the NYU Class of 2023 Facebook page.

Sincerely,

Dan Sandford
Director of Graduate Admissions
Tisch School of the Arts

"oh shit," angelina let out a quiet gasp, looking down at the letter. she reread it quickly multiple times. was life fucking real, right now? "OH SHIT."

"so? are you in?" angelina 's mother had her phone out, likely filming the girl's reaction.

angelina said nothing, just nodding and trying not to let out tears. she'd been working her whole life for this very moment. and now she finally could. this is what she worked her ass off for.