“Sure. Sure it is. Hi, Linda. Hi, Brad. Um, could I just…Dad, can I talk to you for a minute? In the kitchen?”
He got a look on his face, like he was bracing himself for bad news. My stomach fizzed, like a bath bomb that had been set off and wouldn’t stop. I fidgeted with my hands, hearing my dad’s sharp intake of breath as he followed me to the kitchen and closed the door.
“What’s this all about?” he asked me gravely.
“It’s about college.” I took a deep breath. Today was a day for saying goodbye to things and looking forward. Today was a day to put everything right. Or as right as it could be. I closed my eyes for a second to compose myself, and then met Dad’s serious, worried gaze before launching into the speech I’d prepared in the car.
“I’ve decided not to go to Harvard. I know you’re going to be disappointed, but I’ve made my decision. I didn’t pick it for the right reasons and I don’t think I really evenwantto go there. And it was the same with Berkeley—I didn’t pick it for the right reasons. But I’ve looked into it, and I’ve put in a late application to USC. I can start in the fall. Majoring in video game design. I know Berkeley and Harvard are great schools, but I really think this is what I want to do, and USC is the top school in the country for game development. Plus, I’ve already spoken to May and I can keep my job at Dunes while I’m studying, and I’ll be around to help out here when you need, around my class schedule. I’ve got it all worked out.”
There were several long, awful moments of silence when I finally stopped for breath. Dad blinked owlishly at me from behind his glasses, his mouth slack.
I bit my lip, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. “Dad? Dad, come on, please say something. I know it’s not what you were expecting—”
“I’ll say!” he interrupted with a burst of laughter that caught me completely off guard. He sighed, shaking his head. “Elle, the look on your face, acting so serious…I thought you were going to say you were pregnant! God!”
“Oh my God,no.” My cheeks burned.
Placing his hands on my shoulders, he said, “Bud, listen. I’m proud of you for getting into Harvard, of course I am, but you go to college wherever you think is best for you. Hell, if you hadn’t wanted to go to college…well, I wouldn’t have been happy, but there’s not much I can do, hmm? USC’s a great school. And video game design…I mean…it does sound right up your alley.”
“So…so you’re not mad? You’re not mad I turned down Harvard?”
“Absolutely not. Although this will be fun to explain in the office. I might have bragged. A lot.”
I laughed, but felt my body sag with relief. Ever since my conversation with June, she’d gotten me thinking—and after she’d planted the ridiculous idea in my head that I could make a career out ofMario Kart,I hadn’t been able to let go of the idea. It made me excited for college in a way I hadn’t been yet.
Lee would love it. Especially since it’d mean we’d both be in California and it’d be so much easier to hang out.
“This isn’t just because Noah and I broke up,” I told my dad. “I don’t think I was everreallya fan of leaving you guys to fend for yourselves. I know you’ve got Linda now, but…”
“Oh, bud. Come here.” He pulled me in for a bear hug and laughed again. “We’re perfectly capable of ‘fending for ourselves,’ but it’ll be nice to have you around from time to time. I’m really proud of you, you know that?”
“Even though I turned down Harvard?”
“Especiallybecause you turned down Harvard.”
• • •
Levi still wasn’t answering my calls, so I pulled out the big guns and called his landline. His dad answered with a cheerful, “Elle! We haven’t heard from you in a while! How’s everything?”
He told me Levi was at work, so after dinner with my family and Linda, I got in the car and headed out to the 7-Eleven.
There he was, behind the counter, slouched over his phone, not even looking up at the sound of someone coming in.
I grabbed the nearest bag of candy and walked up to the cash register. I slid the candy across the counter and cleared my throat. Levi glanced up and did a double take, his eyes bugging wide.
“I come in peace,” I said.
“Elle. I…I didn’t…What’re you doing here?”
“Visiting one of my best friends, because he’s been ghosting me for the last, like, month?”
He flushed, ears turning red, and glanced away. “I’m sorry. I thought…”
“Oh, you messed up big-time,” I told him with a smile and a nod. “But you’re still my friend, and I still care about you. Even if you’re a big idiot.”
“I heard you and Noah broke up,” he mumbled.
“That issonot why I’m here.” I heard how harsh I sounded and winced. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to burst your bubble or whatever.”
