Learning to Fall (One Direction Fanfic)

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

We drove into the driveway of my house, slamming on the breaks so hard that everyone was thrust against their seatbelts. Niall had sped the entire way over here and it was a wonder that he hadn't gotten pulled over.

"Go, go, go!" he shouted, opening the door and practically bouncing in his shoes waiting for us to leave the car.

"You know, it's a little funny how you seem more excited than Jax," Zayn noted. Niall punched his shoulder and then grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the house.

"Get out your key," Niall said, impatiently tapping his foot.

"I'm going! Calm down!" I shouted excitedly.

After several seconds of jumbling for the right key, I unlocked the door and stuck my hand into the mail slot on the back of the door.

"I feel envelopes!" I yelled.

I pulled out a stack of mail and started to riffle through it.

"Bills, bills, magazine, bills, Danny, bills, Jessica, catalogue...here we are!" I said, triumphantly holding up five envelopes of varying sizes.

Just as I made to open the first envelope, Niall snatched them out of my hands.

"What the fuck, Ni!" I cried.

"We need to sit down in the living room," he said stubbornly.

I rolled my eyes but didn't waste time in running into the adjacent room and sitting down on the couch.

Niall sat on my right, Zayn on my left, and Liam on the ottoman in front of us.

"Can I have them now, please?" I asked Niall, holding my hand out expectantly.

He nodded, placing the stack of letters in my open hand.

"Okay, first one is Duke," I said, placing the bottom four envelopes on my lap and holding the top one with the blue D on the upper left hand corner.

I tore it open quickly and pulled out the sheet of paper.

"Ms. Jacqueline Lexington...we are sorry to inform you that your application to Duke University has been declined," I read slowly, the words taking a moment to register.

My stomach, one moment ago bursting with excitement, sank. The letter felt like lead in my hands and I dropped it on my lap.

"Hey, Jax, it's okay. I'm so sorry. You have four others; it's only one school. And Duke is stupid for not accepting you, okay? They're absolute idiots and-"

"Niall, I get it," I said softly.

He opened his mouth to continue but closed it after a second thought and nodded, taking my hand and squeezing it once before letting it be.

University of Michigan and Hamilton had similar outcomes and within a minute I was left with two envelopes in my lap to decide my future. It's funny how much stock is put into these letters. They're so flimsy, but they have the power to decide your entire life.

"I don't want to open them," I said, defeated.

 "Jax, come on," Liam encouraged.

"Yeah, I'm sure these are the ones," Zayn added with a strained smile.

"No. I didn't even get into Michigan, and they have a much higher acceptance rate than Amherst or Richmond. I don't want to deal with more rejections today," I said, crossing my arms.

"Want me to read them then? You won't have to see it, but I know you want to find out, Jax," Niall offered.

After a moment's hesitation I placed the last two envelops in his hands.