Chapter 38
The next few weeks crawled by with daily trips to the empty mailbox. With field hockey done and Chris starting lacrosse, the afternoons were lonely, but that all changed one afternoon in early March.
“Something came for you today,” Mom said as she passed me two thin white envelopes when I came in the door from school.
Oh no. I had heard about these. The dreaded thin-enveloped rejection letters.
Mom sat down at the kitchen table and waited impatiently for me to open them.
The first one was from Hollins University.
I had originally applied to play field hockey for them, but figured maybe I still had a shot at attending.
I took a deep breath and ripped it open.
As my eyes scanned the first sentence, my heart dropped.
Dear Ms. Wyatt,
We regret to inform you that we will not be able to offer you placement in our incoming freshman class at Hollins University this fall.
I stopped reading after that. I had no reason to read on. I passed the letter to my Mom and waited for her to read it. I could see her exhale quietly, trying to contain her disappointment as she looked at the other letter on the table.
“Well, go on, open it.”
I picked up the envelope and noticed the stamp in the top left corner.
Virginia Tech. I held up the envelope to show her, and she shrugged in confusion.
Why were they writing to me? Maybe it was an informational brochure.
I turned the envelope over and ripped it open slowly, then pulled out the letter.
Dear Ms. Wyatt,
We received your application for admission to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University’s incoming fall freshman class.
Here at Virginia Tech, we value innovation and thinking outside the box.
In addition to your application, we received the most impressive letter of recommendation from Coach DeLaney, who highlighted your acquisition of a full-ride athletic field hockey scholarship to Wake Forest University, which is to be commended.
She also explained your devastating situation and suggested that you would be an asset to our Bachelor of Landscape Architecture Program with a focus on Sports Development and Design.
It is always our goal to reward outstanding achievements, and, as such, it would be our honor to award you with a full academic scholarship to this program as an incoming freshman this fall.
We look forward to hearing your decision soon. Congratulations, Allie!
Respectfully,
The Dean of the College of Architecture,
Scott Parks
I dropped the letter onto the table. Had I read that right? I picked up the letter and read it again as my eyes welled up with tears.
“It’s okay, honey, there are always other schools,” she said with an encouraging smile.
“No, Mom. I got in,” I said, in shock, still staring at the page. I passed her the letter.
“What?” she said, as she quickly read it, then looked at me.
“Allie, you didn’t just get in; you have been offered a full academic scholarship for a very interesting program!”
“But mom, I didn’t submit an application to Virginia Tech,” I said, as I looked up at her in utter confusion. She looked back at me with a furrowed brow. Wait. Had Chris done this for me that afternoon as I took a nap?
“I am so proud of you, Allie, what an amazing accomplishment!” she said, as she got up from the table and hugged me as she stood behind my chair.
For the first time, I felt like I had made my Mom proud, and was finally going to prove my Dad wrong.
Not only that, but I could confidently step out from Amy’s academic shadow.
A tiny part of me, and I mean just a sliver, felt bad that she had lost her scholarship, but karma for what she had done still felt so sweet.
I impatiently waited until 5:00, when Chris would come visit me after his lacrosse practice was over.
The moment that I heard the rumble of his truck outside my house, I flung the front door open and waited on the steps as he cut the engine and came running across the driveway to greet me.
I held the letter out to him, and he stopped in his tracks, looking worried.
“Did you do this?” I asked as he climbed the steps slowly towards me.
“Do what?” he replied, staring at the paper.
“This,” I said, shaking the paper at him. He read it carefully, as his face grew an ear-to-ear grin.
“Maybe,” he said, still looking down at the letter.
I threw my arms around him before he looked up. He reached his arms around me and finished reading the letter, then whispered in my ear.
“I told you, you were amazing. I love you, Allie. I have a question, though,” he said, as he pulled away, and a lock of his hair that I loved so much fell into his eyes.
I tilted my head, waiting for his question, as I reached up to move it, and he grabbed my wrist, then he said, “Don’t start something you can’t finish, baby.
I got into Virginia Tech, too. Can I come with you? ”
As my heart throbbed hard for the boy I loved, he crashed his lips against mine, then he pulled away and waited for my answer, which took me no time at all.
“Yes,” I said, and the fire flashed within his eyes.