MIXED EMOTIONS

30. CAME A LONG WAY

6 Months Later....

I quickly parked the car and rushed out the house when I saw the mail man delivering today's mail.

"Hey!" I greeted the mail man. "I'll take those, please!"

The mail man smiled and handed me the mail. I thanked him and ran in the kitchen. I bumped into Charles on my to the kitchen and fell back on my butt.

"Oww!" I rubbed my head. I felt a headache coming on. Charles hovered over me, holding out his hand. I took his hand for support and stood up on my feet.

Charles chuckled. "You okay, kid?"

"Yeah..." I said still rubbing my head and picking up the mail from the floor. Charles didn't bother to at least help. "You could help, ya know."

He laughed. "What were you doing running around the house?" He asked, still not helping me.

"No reason." A smile crept on my face when I saw the big white folder with Parson School of Design written at the top margin.

I was too geeked to open it. You know what they say, when they send a package, most likely you got in. And the thinner the envelope, most likely you didn't get in. And this package had me extra excited.

I ran in the kitchen with Charles trailing behind, telling me to be careful and to stop running around the house.

My mom stood over the counter going through her something on her phone. I went over to her and kissed her on the cheek.

"Hey, momma." I greeted.

"Hey, baby. How was school?"

"Great." We both cheesed when I held up the package from Parsons. She knows how important it is for me to get accepted to Parsons. She knows how bad I've wanted this day to come. I had to the grades. If I had another 4.0 GPA for the last quarter, I could've be a Valedictorian. I even sent them the photos from the fashion show I organized a few months ago. I designed all the clothes with the help of Chris, my new friend who shares the same passion for fashion as I do.

Chris is amazing. He's already going to The Art Institute of California. Working with each other in the fashion business is what we both plan on doing.

"Open it already." Charles urged, clearly irritated at my mother and I's cheesing.

"No, you do it, Mom." I suggested. She shook her head. "No, you open it."

"I'll open it!" Charles snatched the package out of my hands.

He started to rip the edges when I stopped him. "Wait. What if I don't get in? What am I gonna do?"

"Oh, stop. You know you already got in, right?" My mom said.

I frowned. "How do you know?" I asked her.

"Because I do. Now open it." She demanded.

I let Charles rip the package apart. He took a smaller envelope and opened it. I held my breath.

'"Dear Chanel,

Congratulations! On behalf of the Committee on Admission I am very pleased to inform you that your application for admission to Parsons School of Design has been accepted. You have been admitted to the Design & Technology Department as a Freshman for the term beginning Fall of 2014 as a candidate for the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.'" Charles read the letter out loud.

I screamed at the top of my lungs and jumped up and down. I and went over to Charles and mom and attacked them with hugs and kisses.

They laughed at my reaction. It felt so good to know that everything I did in high school paid off for something. I was too happy and thankful.