Dear Ms. Adelaide R. Monroe,
Ref: Music and Fine Art
I am pleased to inform you that your application for admission as a graduate student has been accepted and we would like to offer you a place to read for the above programme of study beginning October 2013.
Your attention is drawn to the attached statement about University and College fees.
If you accept the place at Oxford, please send the enclosed University acceptance form duly completed to the address given.
Congratulations on your success; we hope that you will achieve the required grades and subsequently enjoy your time at Oxford University.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Ingrid Lunt
"I got in! Mom! I got in!" I read the letter over and over, pinching myself. My whole life I've wanted to be a part of Oxford University's student body. I wanted to adventure, see the world through a new perspective. "I have to call Hayden."
And that's exactly what I did. "Please tell me you got your letter because I got mine!" I didn't give her a second to say hello, the news was too perfect to exchange a hello.
"I did! I haven't read it, though." Typical. Hayden wasn't the kind of girl who would run around afraid of everything. But, if she was going to study psychology anywhere, it was going to be at Oxford. If there was one thing we both equally hated, it was being separated. I watched her cry once in high school because we had different cosmetology instructors. Seems silly, I know, but we did everything together, that includes the same vocational tech classes. Now, here we are, working our bloody asses off in a salon where we're just making enough to send ourselves to London, England so we can go to college.
"Open it!" I begged, "I've got to know, I'm dying."
"Okay, okay. I'm opening it." In the background, I can hear her tearing the envelope opening and her breathing hitch. "Addie - oh my god! Addie, I'm in!"
"Oh good, I was terrified I'd be traveling to London alone!" I exclaimed, happily.
"We're going to Oxford! We're really going to Oxford!" She abruptly stopped her chanting and grew more serious, "I'm coming over." The line went dead.
~
"I can't believe we're going to London!" Hayden squealed, she laid across my bed with her head dangling upside down off my bed with her legs against my wall. My phone vibrated against my wooden desk, catching our attention. I hoisted myself up from the floor and stalked over to it, I picked it up lazily and read the lengthy message from my kinda-of-boyfriend, Zach.
From: Zach x
Hey, I heard about your acceptance into Oxford and I just wanted to congratulate you. I'd hate to ruin your mood but I'm going to anyway to tell you that I'm not doing any long distance bullshit. It's a waste of time.
To: Zach x
Well, you certainly didn't ruin my mood. Fuck you, too then! I'm sure I'll find a lovely boy in Oxford.
"I can't believe Zach just kind of broke up with me!" I mimicked her squeal but she soon went from happy to extremely angry.
"He did what?"
"He basically told me that because I'm going to Oxford, we can't be together because he doesn't want to do long distance but I don't care! We're really going to Oxford University!" I carelessly jumped around my room out of pure joy.
I heard my bedroom door squeak open and my mom peak her head around the door, "Hey Ads, I can hear you from the kitchen. Shut up and book your flights, it'll be here before you know it."
"Oh right!" I turned to Hayden, "We should do that."
"Yeah. Maybe a place near campus? I don't like other people." As I grabbed my laptop, I nodded at her suggestion and opened United Airlines's website to order our tickets from Boston, Massachusetts to London, England.
"I'll get the plane tickets, you get to pay first month's rent." I negotiated and she nodded while looking for a two bedroom flat for the both of us. "June 2, 2013, at 5:50 p.m. and our ETA is 9:50 p.m."
"Look at this! It's just five minutes from campus and ten from the fraternity! Just like $1,000 U.S. dollars, that's like 825 pounds! We could do it, right?" Hayden turned the laptop so I could see the flat before I made my decision, it was 546 square-feet. A large dining area, a medium sized kitchen with gray cabinets and a white tile black splash, two bedrooms; one 12'1 x 8'10, one 9'8 x 9', one bathroom and a cupboard. It was perfect for us.
"We'll take it. I love it, this is perfect. Not too big or small, just right. But I'm taking the bigger room." I nudged her. We both knew I had tons of things I just couldn't part with, like my six-foot teddy bear my dad gave me for my seventeenth birthday or my queen size bed and my fairy lights.
"With all your shit, be my guest."
We laughed for hours that night, we cried because high school was finally over, we were liable to leave the Great Cuts we spent a year and a half working at, and mostly because we were going to the university we've dreamt of going to our whole lives. It was surreal, I couldn't quite picture it, I've only ever seen Oxford through pictures but just in two short weeks, I'll be there.
~~
The two weeks Hayden and I had left with our families and friends, flew by. Tomorrow we graduate, then two days later, we're off to London, the city of fashion. The city of fog. I'm packing, my mother bought me an oversized suitcase so I didn't have to bring several small ones and I must say, this is exactly what I need. Unfortunately, I have to express mail my teddy to our flat; which we were approved for yesterday, I decided I'll just get a new mattress when I get there. All my clothes were packed except my graduation outfit and my traveling outfit, the days in between will be spent wearing my mother's clothes she let borrow me so I wouldn't forget anything.
I packed a folder full of things about Oxford that any newcomer should know: parties, dances, orientation, etc. All my jewelry, perfumes, books and toiletries were packed in a small baggie in the netted pocket on the inside. My acceptance letter and scrapbook were in the large pocket in the front while my new Louis Vuitton back was packed safely under all my clothes. My room looked barren, I knew that as soon as my mom walked in here, she will cry and I will cry so I'll need to avoid her coming in here at all costs.
"Adelaide! Your plane tickets are here!" That's all I needed to hear for me to run out of my room and to the front door.
"Give me! Give me!" I jumped up to reach my tickets but my dad was 6'7" and I couldn't jump that high. "Dad," I whined and he handed me the envelope.
"I just can't believe my little rose is going away to London for, what? Four years?" I winced at the use of my nickname that was also my middle name. Adelaide Rose. During my father's time in the military, my grandmother passed away and due to his level of guilt, her name became mine.
"Yes, four years. But it's not like I won't ever see you again. I'll be home on significant holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving. There are breaks for spring and summer too. Dad, this is my dream. You can do without me, I'm eighteen, I'll be fine. You have Ezra and mom is still young enough to have kids. So please, don't worry about me. Worry about Ezra's GPA."
"I have a 3.2 GPA, Addie! I have two years to fix it!" I turn to my little brother who isn't so little standing behind me, the pout on his face was absolutely wonderful.
"Oh, Ezra, sweet Ezra. When you have a 4.0 GPA and planning to move your whole life out to London so you can go to the British version of Harvard, come to me." I cockily raised my eyebrow and gloated.
I walked away with my airline tickets in hand, this adventure was sure to be one I'll never fail to tell my grandchildren.
