Novels by Jennifer Kletzli

That day, I walked out of the venue unnoticed while everyone had sat there shocked and covered in cake. I spent my summer with the Harlands, who helped me to open up my own bank account to put away all the money I had earned. There were quite a few more zeroes than I had thought there would be, and I had the feeling that they had added some funds to it, but I took the money with grace. The Harland family was the closest thing to a family that I’d had, and they even flew with me to find my own place and get settled in. Their final gift to me was the car that I had been denied along with driving lessons. They were going well, although I terrified the heck out of my teacher. When the semester started, I poured myself into my studies, focusing on all of the classes that I knew were going to be hard. Although I didn’t need to get a job, I picked one up anyways. It was at a little café around the corner of the place I had gotten near the school. A lot of people I went to class with st

Our parents had set up a grand party at an event center that they owned. It had been decorated in various shades of pinks that had been chosen by Kylee. I was only there because I needed to be by default. There was no doubt that this had been turned into Kylee’s day, not mine. There were pink flowers everywhere. Round tables were adorned with sparkly white tablecloths that had pastel pink table settings with vivid floral centerpieces. The entire class had been invited, and the majority of them were all showing up not just for Kylee, but for the glitz and glam of the whole thing. Mom and dad had made sure that a sound system was set up with all of Kylee’s favorite music. There were video monitors set up to show pictures and videos of Kylee as she grew up. The crew had gotten everything set up. There was only one thing missing. I reached into my dress and pulled out a thumb drive from between my breasts. Opening the files for the slideshow, I inserted a file and found myself a cor

My graduating class sat next to the stage, pumped and ready for the ceremony to start. Everyone sat there conversing with one another. The main topic of the chatter was who might the mystery valedictorian be. I smiled to myself, knowing that they were all about to be surprised. The opening ceremony started, and Mr. Cunningham took his place at the stage. He gave his commencement speech, and then moved on to introducing me. “This years valedictorian has shown what hard work and dedication is all about. Despite facing an unusual amount of stress from both her family and her peers, this student has shown what it takes to persevere and come out on top. She has already been accepted into a pristine university with a full ride scholarship, and I couldn’t be more proud of this student. I now introduce your Senior Class valedictorian. Ms. Sarah Lewiston. The crowd gasped as I stood up. The echoes of my heels clacking on the ground were the only thing that anyone could hear as I took my p

It couldn’t come fast enough. Not only was today my graduation day, but it was also my birthday. Ever since Kylee had moved in, she had made sure that I got into enough trouble to ruin my day. My parents had all but forgotten that it was also my birthday. “A rotten child doesn’t deserve to be put on a pedestal and celebrated.” My mother had said every year. I didn’t even get so much as a birthday cake anymore. Not that I had anybody to share one with anyways. The seniors had received the day off to prepare for the ceremony. I was at my desk at Harland International. My parents and I had gotten into a shouting match when I got home about me working there, and for once, my dad had managed to argue himself into a corner. In the end, I told him that I was about to be an adult, and I wasn’t going to quit, regardless of what he “ordered” me to do. It was nearing the end of the day when Mrs. Harland came in with a garment bag and handed it to me. “I may not have been able to get you

“I need you to try a few things on for me.” Mrs. Harland said. “Now, I know that your parents aren’t going to be getting you anything proper to wear for your graduation day. So I’m going to do it for you. You’re also going to need a few nice things to take with you to Harvard if you’re going to look the part. So I’ve got the black card, and Mr. Harland told me to spare nothing for you. Your job today is to go crazy and have fun.” I didn’t even know what to say. A doorman let us into the store, and she immediately led us me to the dress section. There were a lot of pretty dresses there. Too pretty for me, but Mrs. Harland was beaming so brightly that I couldn’t just say no to her. My eyes keyed in on a few that I liked. A silvery medusa drape dress, a lace trimmed satin mini dress, printed twill mini shirt dresses in light pink and blue. I loved the lace trimmed dress, but it was too short for my comfort. The mini shirt dresses were too casual. The medusa dress was too formal. My e

A fan hummed quietly in our principal, Mr. Cunningham’s office as I sat across from him at his desk. “I’ve reviewed your speech for Friday. It’s looking fantastic. The staff and I agree, you don’t need to make anymore modifications to it. Now, are you sure you don’t want to announce to the class that you’re valedictorian beforehand?” I shook my head. “No, Sir. I’m afraid that if we do, its going to cause problems for me. I just want to do my thing and walk out quietly.” Mr. Cunningham nodded in understanding. When I had started in my freshman year, Kylee had him and the other staff wrapped around his finger, believing that I was relentlessly bullying her. One day, near the end of that year, she played her little stair act. I begged Mr. Cunningham to review the footage before suspending me. He had been shocked to see that I was nowhere near Kylee when she fell down the entire flight of stairs. Ever since, he had worked with the staff to make sure I was as far away from her as p