Summer Letters

Chapter 22

Lena and Jensen had more mail in their boxes at the front office than they expected. They went to Lena's room and spread out the mail on the floor. They sat next to each other and helped each other sort through it. Lena put letters from her family aside to read later and kept the letters from colleges in front of her.

"Which ones do we open first?" Lena asked Jensen.

Jensen answered, "Let's just open them in alphabetical order."

One by one Jensen and Lena opened their letters together. To their disappointment their first letters were rejection letters, but the other two they received were acceptance letters. Harvard and Yale accepted both Jensen and Lena. As soon as Lena read the words she threw her arms around Jensen, causing him to fall back on the ground.

"Can you believe it?!" She exclaimed. "We got in! I'm going to Harvard!"

He laughed, "I'm proud of you."

"I'm proud of you too," she smiled.

"So, we're going to Harvard."

"Are you sure you want to go there too?" she asked, "We can finish opening letters and research the others."

"No," he shook his head, "I don't need to look at the others. We're going to Harvard."

"We're going to Harvard," Lena continued smiling. "It's what I've been working so hard for. I can't believe I forgot to check my mail."

"We have been distracted lately," Jensen said.

Jensen sat up, taking Lena with him. He kept his arms around her and she looked through her others letters. "I got one from my parents," Lena said. "They always try to check in. I don't usually read them."

"Why not?" Jensen asked.

"I'm not even sure when I last had a real conversation with my parents. They do their job, check in once and a while, and sometimes go to my sister's school events, but they don't do much beyond that. I've tried talking to them before, but it's always a short conversation."

"Maybe they explain more in the letters," he said. "Maybe they're not talkers."

She sighed, "Maybe, but I doubt it. I love them, but they're always too far away even if they're in the same room."

"I'm sorry, but you still have me."

"I know," she smiled, "and now we have Harvard too."

He chuckled, "That's right. That's the only piece of mail that matters anyway."

"Did you get anything else?" Lena asked.

He shook his head, "My family isn't into sending mail other than my allowance and that's all that was with the other letters."

"Jensen, how do I tell my sister?"

He replied, "I'm not sure. Do you know where she's going?"

Lena shook her head, "She has no idea what she wants to do. She got mad when I wouldn't come home for Thanksgiving. What do you think she's going to say when she finds out that I'm moving out of state for college?"

"I think you and your sister are long overdue for a conversation, and that conversation should probably happen when you go home for Christmas. When are you leaving?"

"In two days," Lena sighed. "My exams are tomorrow and the day after. My parents are picking me up a few hours after my exam ends."

"Talk to your sister the day after you get home."