In 1988 when Dylan Montgomery moves to Beverly Hills after her mother remarries, she must navigate the challenges of fitting into a glamorous but daunting upper-class life. Living across from the charmingly cocky Nicholas and his introspective broth...
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UPPER CLASS | cherriasian
march '89
Dylan's alarm buzzed softly, pulling her from restless sleep. She groaned, rolling over to silence it. The early morning sunlight filtered through the blinds, streaking her room in soft gold. Max, her beagle, perked up from his spot at the foot of her bed, wagging his tail lazily as she sat up.
Her eyes landed on the small pile of envelopes she'd tossed on her desk last night. The sight made her stomach flip. She'd been too emotionally drained to open them after everything that had happened with Christian.
Dragging herself out of bed, Dylan padded across the room and picked up the stack. Her heart pounded as she scanned the return addresses: all California schools, all safety options. She'd applied to them just to have a backup plan, knowing in the back of her mind that Princeton was her dream.
She sank into her chair and tore open the first envelope.
Congratulations! On behalf of the...
The second envelope was the same: acceptance. And the third.
Dylan exhaled, running a hand through her hair. She should've felt excited—proud, even—but instead, there was a hollowness in her chest. These weren't the schools she'd dreamed about. They were good schools, sure, but they weren't Princeton.
Her eyes drifted to the corner of her desk, where a pristine pamphlet for Princeton sat under a stack of papers. She imagined herself walking those ivy-lined pathways, starting fresh in a place where no one knew her as the girl from Springfield but instead the girl from Beverly Hills.
But then, her thoughts wandered to Christian.
If she got into Princeton, and he got into Harvard—what would happen to them? Aa across the coast relationship? She tried to picture it: late-night phone calls, letters back and forth, visits on long weekends. Would it even work? Christian could barely hold things together when they were in the same city, let alone on opposite coasts.
A part of her wondered if he'd even want to try.
The thought made her chest tighten, and she pushed the envelopes aside, not wanting to dwell on it any longer. She stood, grabbing the phone from her bedside table.
After a few rings, Katie picked up. "Hello?"
"Hey, it's me," Dylan said, sinking into her chair.
"Dylan! Oh my god, what happened last night? I thought you'd call once you got home but..."
Dylan let out a sigh. "It's... complicated."
"Start from the beginning," Katie urged. "Was he mad about us bringing Nicholas and Eric in? I mean, it's not like we had much of a choice! The tickets were sold out!"
