Chapter 3

"If my parents find out that I filled out my application for community college instead of Northrind, they'll beat me to death!"

"There's only one day left before the application deadline. Will we really end up in community college if we fill out the applications just like that?"

"Maybe we should think twice about this. Once we become elites in our respective fields, we can still take care of Mona even if she graduates from community college. She won't suffer in college at all."

"Yeah. If we don't amend our applications in time, we'll be done for."

Several classmates who came from middle-income families started to worry about the plan, but Mona suddenly bit her lip and looked at them, tears in her eyes. "Do all of you think Celeste is right and I'm not good enough to go to Northrind with you? I've always thought of you guys as my best friends…

"Forget about it. I don't need you to sacrifice anything for me. I'll go to community college on my own and promise never to bother any of you again."

James ran up to her right away to pull her into his arms. He pointed at us and sneered. "What's there to be afraid of when we've all got 4.0 GPAs? Northrind has already informed us that if we agree to attend the university, we'll get scholarships even for our Master's Degrees and PhDs! If we refuse to apply for Northrind, they won't be able to achieve their admission target!"

"He's right. Northrind will give in if we protest as a group."

I knew very well that they had gotten full of themselves because of their excellence. The school was willing to give in to them, and their parents and teachers had been showering them with praise since they were young. When they achieved excellent results in school, universities began competing for them, and they ended up being ignorant of the rules of the real world.

Even if they were top scorers, university admissions had deadlines, and this was about our future. Top scorers in other states were hungry for those spots, and it chilled me to see how this naive bunch of children was acting.

I pinched myself hard on the thigh to force myself to clear my head. "Let me go home and amend my admission to Northrind. I promise I won't tell on you."

"Don't even think about it!"

James and others dragged me to the train station and took a group picture of everyone, claiming it was their last crazy act as youths and that they had to make the most of it.

My voice started trembling when I saw the train's departing time getting closer. "I promise I won't say a word. Just let me go home now, or I'll yell loud enough to get the police here!"

They were all geniuses who could afford to take their future lightly, but I was different. It took me a lot of hard work to become a high achiever like them. My father had broken a leg at his construction site while my mother worked hard as a sanitation worker who cleaned the streets. I knew at a very young age that the only way to change my fate was through education.

I woke up every morning at 5 AM to study and did practice tests that stacked up as high as a tower. It had not been easy for me to qualify for Northrind, and I could not give up so easily, much less go to community college. I could not accept it.

If I failed to make it to Northrind, my whole family would be crushed. My parents' financial situation did not allow me to repeat another year. I felt cold all over, and I knelt in front of everyone to beg them. "P-please let me go back to amend my application to Northrind. I swear I'll keep this a secret."

This shocked my classmates. "Did we go too far? Maybe we should let her amend her application…"

James narrowed his eyes and shot daggers at me. "Why are you in such a hurry to return? Something doesn't seem right. You must be up to something."

Mona's eyes turned red once again as she cried. "We can't let Celeste get away with this! She's going to tell our parents and the school about this and ruin our plan! She must be trying to stall us and get us to miss the train. We timed this perfectly, and we'll be able to make it back on tomorrow's train to amend our applications if everything goes without a hitch. She's making a fuss right now because she's up to something!

"Celeste probably doesn't want any of you to get back in time because she can't wait for all of you to end up in community college with me!"

The moment Mona said this, the classmate who tried to talk everyone into letting me go suddenly stopped. I watched as everyone turned to look away from me, and I clenched my fists so hard that my fingernails dug into my flesh.

As the sky darkened, it grew closer and closer to the train's departure time.