All Chapters of The Many Crossroads In Life: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

When I rushed home from Escal, my family was sitting on the couch chatting.A large plate of cherries sat on the coffee table.Brannon picked out a few of the biggest ones and pressed them into Luna’s hand.“These are sure to be sweet. Try them.”Whenever I was home, such expensive fruit never once appeared on the fruit platter.At the sound of my arrival, all four of them turned their gazes toward me at once.Brannon sighed. His first words were a reproach. “You’re the only one who loves to sleep in. You didn’t even know we’d left.“But then again, you were the one who insisted on a graduation trip, back then.”I clutched my luggage. My fingertips went numb.It was true that I was the one who had insisted on a graduation trip. But the destination I chose was Colewa.When we arrived at the airport, I finally realized Brannon had bought three tickets to Escal.His reason was that Luna wanted to go to Escal to see the Northern Lights.To make sure she got to see the Norther

At the graduation ceremony the next day, I took to the stage to give a speech as valedictorian.My homeroom teacher, Ms. Sutton, looked very pleased. Her face was full of tender kindness.“You performed exceptionally well on the SATs. It’s a testament to all your hard work.“Go on, share your experience with the younger students.”I nodded to her. Then, I stepped up to the podium in the auditorium.It was not until I mentioned my parents’ support that I realized their eyes were not even on me.Instead, they were listening to Luna’s awkward spoken foreign language practice and showering her with praise.“That’s great! When we travel abroad in the future, we can count on Luna.”But my foreign language grades had always been at the top of the class. Yet, they had never once praised me.Just as I was about to continue, my phone on the podium vibrated.Brannon sent me a message. [The homeroom teacher let you give this speech just because you were class president for three years.

[I’m not going to Southshire University.][Brannon, let’s break up.]The two messages kept growing larger before his eyes until his vision blurred.Mom still could not believe it.“Attarport University?”“Ms. Sutton, are you sure you haven’t made a mistake? The cutoff score for Attarport University is very high. How could Meglena possibly qualify?”Ms. Sutton sighed, looking somewhat helpless.“As a parent, don’t you even know how many points your child scored?“She scored 1,500 points. That’s more than enough to get into Attarport University. She applied for the most competitive program, medicine.“Mrs. Hearn, don’t blame me for butting in, but you really should pay more attention to her. She’s so outstanding.”After saying that, Ms. Sutton hung up in disappointment.Mom stood there, completely stunned.“Meglena… scored that high?”Brannon, standing nearby, was stunned.“I thought she wouldn’t even beat Luna…”He stared at the two lines of text on the screen, feeling as

Having traveled all the way to Attarport University, I was amazed by the university’s state-of-the-art facilities.The senior I contacted in advance, Lisa, came to pick me up. She called three upperclassmen to help me carry my luggage too.“Meglena, if you ever run into any trouble, feel free to come to me. I’ll definitely help however I can.“With such high scores, you’ll have no trouble with your studies.”I scratched my head sheepishly.“Actually, becoming a doctor is my dream, so I’ll definitely study hard.”She treated us to a meal at the cafeteria. Then, she took me to complete my enrollment procedures.When I got back to the dorm, I realized that one of my roommates was a classmate from high school.“Meglena Hearn? Did you really apply to Attarport University?“I thought you’d follow Luna and your boyfriend to Southshire University. I even felt bad for you.”I smiled helplessly.“If I’d really followed them to Southshire University, that would’ve been the dumbest deci