habits of my heart (h.s.)

twenty-nine

PREVIOUSLY...

"Oh my God, Aly."

I frowned at the expression on his face. "What happened?"

Niall blinked. "It's from UCLA Medical School. It says that a decision has been made on your application."

+++

I immediately snatched my phone from Niall, pulling it close to my chest. I wasn't sure why I was trying to be so secretive about it--everyone already knew the contents of the email. Looking around at the wide-eyed expressions around me, though, I realized I didn't want to open it in front of my roommates. I wasn't prepared for that kind of pressure. I hadn't even expected the decision to come out this early.

Natasha broke the silence first. "I didn't know that you applied to UCLA, Aly." I knew she didn't mean it as an accusation, but I couldn't help but feel that way.

"It was kind of, like, a random, last minute decision," I stammered. "I don't know. I just wanted to maximize my chances, I guess. I'm sure they rejected me."

"Don't say that!" Niall exclaimed. "You're going to jinx it."

"There's nothing to jinx. I'm literally holding the decision in my hand," I reminded him.

Harry was the only one who hadn't said a word yet. I glanced over at him, swallowing at the unreadable expression on his face. We hadn't even been dating for a day yet, and now I might be moving across the country. I mean, probably not. But...I might.

Finally, he asked me, "Are you going to open it now? We can give you some space."

"I think..." I hesitated. "I think I'm just going to go to my room and open it. If that's okay?"

"Of course that's okay," he smiled, but it looked slightly forced. Before I could dwell on it any further, he pressed a light kiss to my forehead, and then he nudged me off the couch.

I practically raced into my room, and I immediately made a beeline for my bed. I took a deep breath before opening up the email again. I followed the link to my decision and I squeezed my eyes shut before pressing it.

Just breathe, Aly. You still have ten other schools to hear back from. It's not the end of the world if you don't get in.

I slowly opened my eyes, only to be bombarded by the sight of confetti falling down on my screen. Paragraphs filtered across the screen, but all I could focus on was the enormous "CONGRATULATIONS" at the top of the page.

I was in. UCLA was one of the top ten medical schools in the United States--and I had made it. I was actually in. It didn't even matter if I got in nowhere else, because I had somewhere else to fall back on--and that somewhere else just happened to be extremely prestigious.

But it also happened to be on the other side of the country.

+++

With every month that passed, a new decision came in. By the end of the semester, I had amassed a total of eight rejections. Unsurprisingly, I had gotten rejected from Harvard, Hopkins, and Stanford, among others--NYU included, which had stung a bit more than the others. Aside from UCLA, I'd also gotten accepted into the University of Pittsburgh, and Tufts, which was the closest, in Massachusetts.

"Don't factor me into your decision," Harry told me over and over again. "You can't, Alyson."

"Of course I'm going to factor you into it," I hissed. "You're my boyfriend, Harry. I don't want to just..." I unsuccessfully attempted to blink back my tears of frustration, who had become a rather unwelcome guest as of recently.