This is the seventh part in a series, so if you haven’t done so already, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, and Part VI before continuing.
Eliza had been in the habit for a few weeks now of checking the mailbox as soon as she got home. Since she was usually the first one home, she was the one to pull out the thick envelope with the Juilliard emblem. She ran inside, dropped her bag on the floor with the rest of the mail and took the envelope to the dining room table where she could rip it open and examine its contents. She knew a large envelope like this was too big for a rejection, but she still held her breath until she read the actual words “… happy to offer you a place at our institution.”
She jumped up and down, pumping her arms and squealing. She reached for her cell phone to call Angela and that’s when she hesitated. This was it. She would have to tell her friend she wasn’t going to Ithaca with her. She didn’t want to hurt Angela’s feelings, but she also wanted someone to celebrate with. She started tapping out a text and then gave up and called her.
“I got into Juilliard!”
“What? Seriously?”
“Would I joke about something like this?”
“I don’t know. Maybe? Oh my god, Eliza, that’s amazing! Congratulations!”
“Thanks. Oh man, I am so relieved.”
There was a pause while Eliza regained her breath. Before it could get awkward, Angela said. “So, I guess this means you’re going to Juilliard, huh?”
Eliza heard the disappointment in Angela’s voice, but she wasn’t going to lie to her any more. “Yeah. I am.” There was another pause and Eliza was about to apologize when Angela broke the silence again.
“You got into Ithaca, didn’t you?”
Eliza stopped breathing. When Angela didn’t say anything else Eliza said, “Yes. I found out last week.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t want to get your hopes up in case I got into Juilliard. It’s my top choice.”
“Of course it is. It’s Juilliard. But you shouldn’t have lied to me.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Besides. Ithaca isn’t that far from New York City.”
“Of course not. New York is a tiny state. We’ll probably see each other every weekend.”
“And go to each other’s shows.”
“That would be so cool!”
“And there’s always the summer.
“And winter break.”
“And spring break.”
“And fall break.”
“What?”
Eliza giggled. “We were listing off seasons. I just didn’t want fall to be left out.”
“We’ll make our own fall break,” said Angela. “Take a long weekend or something and run off together.”
“You’re already planning road trips, aren’t you?”
“Planning? Girl, I’ve already determined the fastest route and all the best places to eat along the way. We are gonna have so much fun!”
To be continued…
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