A Trip To Remember

We Regret To Inform You

     I drove back to Alysa's house quickly where everyone else's cars were parked on the street. I jumped out of my truck, ran up the driveway, and threw open the door.
      "I got my letters too!" I exclaimed. We all cheered and shook the envelopes in the air. "No one opened theirs right?" I asked looking around at everyone.
       Everyone shook their heads. "How are we going to do this?" Sophia spoke up.
       Everyone thought for a minute, then I spoke up. "How about just the high school? In the parking lot. We had our best moments as friends there after all..." I said, laughing nervously and biting my lip.
Caleb rested his elbow on my head. "I think it's an awesome idea." He said smirking down at me as I narrowed my eyes at him.
      "It's a cute idea," Sophia commented with a smile.
      "Ok, let's bounce." I said running towards the door, grinning.

******

What is scary?
      Spiders? Heights? That monster under the bed we all remember?
      No.
      The true fears are the deep ones.
      The ones that you hide behind all the laughs and smiles and descaled fears.
      The ones that we all know, but are too afraid to talk about.
      What could possibly be that scary?
      College. Love. Marriage. Failure. McDonalds. All of the doubt.
      Doubt is a big one. Doubt is another word for fear basically. What if I don't make it? What if I fail? What if I disappoint everyone? What if I'm alone forever?
      The scariest part about college is not going. Sure that's scary, but the most terrifying part is when you begin your day like any other, and then you go to get the mail and you open the mailbox and there, staring you in the face is your entire future.
      Your whole life is basically enclosed within a thin sheet of paper. Kinda sounds messed up right? Anyway, that was always my biggest fear.
       What if I can't make it? What if all my years of work, stress, TEARS, and pain...wouldn't pay off?

*******

      We stood in a circle in the high school parking lot like a bunch of creeps. I'm pretty sure we weren't supposed to be there, but whatever.
      Anyway, we all stood there, holding our envelopes tightly in our hands by our sides, looking at each other for what felt like forever.
      "This is it." Alysa spoke up dreamily, after a few minutes.
      "Ok well who's gonna start? We're not getting any younger here." Rianna joked nervously, but she still didn't make a move.
      "Ok I'm gonna go first..." Tyler said tentatively with a nervous grin.
      He slowly opened each letter and read them all one at a time. He only had three, but he took long and we held our breaths
     "I—" he started staring at the papers. "I...I got in...I got in! Yes!" He cheered pumping his fist in the air with a big smile on his face.
      We all cheered. The girls group hugged him, the boys slapped him on the back, and bro hugged and other stuff boys do, and Rianna wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and kissed him on the cheek.
       "I'm so happy for you Ty, that's awesome!" She said smiling, making him break out into a boyish smile.
       "What did you get into?" Izzy asked.
       "Princeton!" He cheered, tears brimming his eyes.
       "Ok, I'm next." Jo said once the cheering died down. The silence turned weird and we all turned to him.
       "YOU TRIED OUT FOR COLLEGE?" Rianna said incredulously, gaping at him. He shot her a glare and we laughed. "No but I'm serious..." She said.
        "OKAY. Let's see..." he slowly opened a few letters and then turned them all over and read each one slowly with an unreadable expression. He sighed and looked up at us and smiled.
"Well, I got into California State University in Bakersfield!" He said throwing his hands up. We cheered and clapped, same as with Tyler.
         Soon, Sophia, Nathan, and Caleb, went. Sophia got into UCLA with an athletics scholarship, and University of Washington. Nathan got into Wayne State University in Michigan, and an athletics scholarship for Oregon University. Caleb got into University of the Pacific in California.
        The only people left were me, Alysa, and Rianna.
        We finished our round of applause for Caleb and then everyone looked to us. "Ok, who's next?" Alysa said clapping her hands together.
         "I'll go." Rianna said, shrugging. She had four letters probably from some fancy sophisticated schools. She opened each one and turned them all over at once.
         She read each one and grinned. "I got into Brown, Princeton, and Juliard! WOOOO!" She shouted running in circles and jumping. Rianna honestly acts really stupid, but she's in fact extremely smart. Obviously...Anyway Alysa and I caught her and held her hands up in victory. After we all calmed down a little, Alysa spoke next.
       "Ok I guess I'm up." She said, rubbing her hands on her shorts.
       She had tried out for David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, John Hopkins, and UW.
       Like the rest of us, she read each one slowly and her eyes widened with each one she read.
       "OH MY GOSH. OH MY GOSH! I GOT IN!" She said shaking her hands violently and looking at me with shocked eyes and a huge smile.
        "To what?!" I asked excitedly.
        "John Hopkins and UW! OH MY GOSH!! AHHHHH." She rambled excitedly jumping up and down. We all laughed and hugged, high fived, her and all that until she calmed down.
         "Ok, ok...woo..ok Ash your next." Alysa said fanning her face as tears fell, and I smirked at her. Her face was bright red.
         "Ok, let's do this..." I said looking down at the letters. I had applied for UW School of Medicine, and Colorado Denver School of Medicine, and University of Colorado in Boulder. Better safe than sorry right...
          I opened all the envelopes and left the letters turned upside down until I turned over them and read each one one at a time.
Dear Ms. Chamberlin,
With sincere regret, I apologize that you will not be joining our class of 2024... I felt my heart stopped I felt like I was going to faint.
     I read the rest of them slowly and then I looked up at Alysa and then Sophia and bit my lip.
     "...I didn't get in...they were all rejection letters..." I said avoiding eye contact, my face burning.
     Alysa paled, Rianna's mouth fell open, and everyone gasped and whispered and stuff.
     "WHAT?! HOW DID JOSEPH GET INTO COLLEGE AND YOU DIDNT?" Rianna shouted.
Jo glared at her. "Not the time!" He said.
      Unable to hold back, I broke into a fit of laughs. "I'm just kidding! I got into two!" I said between laughs.
       "WHAT." Sophia yelled, which made me laugh more.
       "I got into both in Colorado!" I cheered happily, my face heating up more as tears started forming in my eyes.
       We all cheered and I was being pulled different directions as I laughed while I heard Rianna trying to shout over the crowd. "THAT WASNT FUNNY. I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA BE A DEAD BEAT AND GROW OLD AND STUPID WITH FIFTY CATS LIVING IN AN ALLEY." She shouted at me, and everyone roared with laughter.
         "ICE CREEEEAAAAAMMMM!" Sophia exclaimed over the crowd with her fist in the air.
        We all jumped in our own cars and followed out of the school driveway and to get ice cream at Baskin Robins and I blasted the music singing along to Lauv all the way, with the windows rolled down, as did everyone else.