Chapter 4

The next day, the McCarthy house was bustling from first thing in the morning.

Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy cheerfully greeted guests as they came and went.

Plenty of neighbors had already gathered there.

As the guest of honor, Claudia stood right in the middle of it all, beaming.

There was even an engagement party banner hanging off to one side, with a photo of Claudia and Mike beside it.

Mrs. McCarthy kept explaining to people, "The Greenwood boy was the one who called off the engagement. He said he wasn't good enough for our daughter.

"And he's right. He can't get into university and has to repeat a year. He and Claudia just won't have anything in common anymore."

I found the whole thing ridiculous.

When Claudia and I got engaged, our families had only exchanged tokens. There had never been an engagement party.

This time, Claudia was not only throwing one, she was combining it with her university send-off party. And on top of that, Mrs. McCarthy was pinning all the blame on me.

When I showed up, a lot of the neighbors started whispering.

"The Greenwood boy actually came? He looks like he's here to make trouble."

"You can't really blame the McCarthys. Claudia got into Kingsbridge, and the Greenwood boy didn't even get into university. And his father's a convict on top of that. Nobody would put up with that."

The more Claudia heard, the more smug she looked.

She hooked her arm through Mike's, walked up to me, and sneered, "Tim, I didn't think you'd actually come.

"Then again, it makes sense. This is probably the only time in your life you'll ever see a Kingsbridge acceptance letter with your own eyes."

Mike gave me a smug look, too. "Tim, I really have to thank you. If you hadn't been smart enough to call off the engagement, I never would've had a chance. Claudia even said she'd talk to the admissions office for me so I could go to Kingsbridge too.

"All of this was supposed to be yours, Tim. You were just too impulsive."

He shook his head with fake pity.

I just found it laughable. I'd had to work hard to convince Kingsbridge to take her.

Mike's scores were so bad he'd have to pay his way into even a diploma mill. And he was actually dreaming of riding Claudia's coattails into Kingsbridge.

I nearly laughed out loud.

Claudia looked at Mike, her eyes full of tenderness.

"You're the only one I'd go to this much trouble for, Mike. It's all my fault for coming to my senses so late. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made you hide for three years."

With that, she turned to me and said condescendingly, "Tim, once you've seen the Kingsbridge acceptance letter, you can leave. After all, we have nothing to do with each other anymore, and I don't want Mike to get the wrong idea.

"Of course, if you get down on your knees and apologize right now, I might give you another chance. Even though we'll be worlds apart from now on, I'm loyal to old ties. You can stay here and take care of my parents."

Before she could finish spouting her fantasy, a roar of noise rose from the street.

Car after car pulled up toward the McCarthy house.

A wall of cameras, the Kingsbridge admissions team, and a crowd of reporters all made their way over.

Claudia lit up with excitement. She hurried forward to greet them.

The next second, the crowd went right past her and headed straight for me.

The Kingsbridge admissions officer placed the acceptance letter in my hands with a smile. "Congratulations, Mr. Greenwood, on getting into Kingsbridge as the top scorer in the entire state!"