The Son They Betrayed

Despite scoring 1580 on the SAT, the acceptance letter I received was from a community college. Mom glanced at it and smiled. "Both brothers going to the same school? You can look after each other. That's great." All the color drained from my face. "Mom, did you change my college application to a vocational college? With my score, I could've gotten into Bellwether University!" Mom turned her head and explained casually, "Do I not know you? Getting that score was pure luck. After all, you've never been as smart as your brother, even when you were little. "I'm only thinking of what's best for you. I was afraid you'd go to Bellwether University and get crushed by all those geniuses. You're better off being a big fish in a small pond at a community college, where you can win scholarships and help support the family." She said it as though it were perfectly reasonable. With one casual remark about how she was only looking out for me, she'd turned ten years of hard work into a joke. My head spun. I grabbed the edge of the table and saw my younger brother, Mikael, playing with his newly purchased Apple bundle. The familiar figure on the receipt caught my eye: $10,000. Exactly the amount of scholarship money my school had awarded me. My voice trembling, I turned to my parents. Mom merely clicked her tongue. "What's wrong with an older brother spending a little money on his younger brother?" Dad looked up and placed a phone case in my hand. "I got you a gift too. You did well on the exam this time. Keep it up." I stared blankly at the cheap phone case in my hand. It wasn't even the right size for my phone. Tears spilled uncontrollably from my eyes. My parents acted as though they hadn't noticed. They patted my shoulders and reminded me to take good care of my younger brother when we got to school. I wiped my tears and silently returned to my room. Then I called Bellwether University's admissions office. "About the early admission offer you mentioned before... Is it still possible for me to accept it?"