Todos os capítulos de Three's a Crowd, so I'll Back Out: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 8

When I rushed home from Chanont, my family was chatting on the couch. A large plate of cherries sat on the coffee table. My girlfriend, Evelyn Keate, picked out a few of the biggest ones and placed them into the hand of my adopted brother, Marvin Needham. "These are sure to be sweet. Try them," she said. When I was at home, we never had fruit this expensive. At the sound of the door opening, all four of them turned to look at me. Evelyn let out a sigh, and the first thing she said was a complaint. "You always sleep in. We left, and you didn't even notice. You're the one who insisted on going on this graduation trip in the first place." I gripped the handle of my suitcase, my fingertips numb. I was indeed the one who wanted a graduation trip, but I chose Olsgen as the destination. It was only after I arrived at the airport that I found out Evelyn had bought three tickets to Chanont, all because Marvin wanted to see the northern lights. I had spent eight hours waiting i

The next day, at our graduation ceremony, I was set to give a speech as the student representative. My homeroom teacher, Lauren Jackson, looked proud and touched. "You did exceptionally well on the SAT. All your hard work paid off. Now, go up there and share a few words with other students." I thanked her deeply before walking up to the podium. But when I talked about how much my parents had done for me, I realized they weren't even looking my way. Instead, they were listening to Marvin practice a foreign language and showering him with praise. "Marvin, that's wonderful. We'll be relying on you whenever we travel abroad," Mom said. I'd always excelled in foreign languages, yet they had never praised me once. Just as I was about to continue, my phone on the podium buzzed. It was a message from Evelyn. "Ms. Jackson only asked you to give a speech because you were class president for three years. There's no need to drag it out. Wrap it up already. Marvin's getting tired."

"I'm not going to Solridge University." "Evelyn, we're over." Evelyn stared at the two messages until the words seemed to blur together. Mom couldn't believe what she had just heard. "Harburt University? Ms. Jackson, are you sure there isn't some mistake? Harburt's admissions standards are insanely high. There's no way Chris scored high enough to get in," she asked. Ms. Jackson sighed and said, "You really don't know how well your son did? He scored 1580. That's more than enough for Harburt. And he applied for their most competitive program—medicine. "Mrs. Needham, I don't mean to overstep, but you really should pay more attention to Chris. He's an exceptional student." With that, Ms. Jackson ended the call, clearly disappointed. Mom was stunned. "Chris… scored that high?" she murmured. Evelyn stared at the two messages on her phone, still unable to make sense of them. "I thought he didn't score as well as Marvin… Why did he suddenly decide not to go to Solridge?

When I arrived at Harburt University, I was blown away by the campus and its facilities.Adam Field, the senior I'd contacted beforehand, came to meet me and even brought three other students along to help with my suitcase."Chris, if you ever need anything, just let me know. I'll help however I can. With grades like yours, I'm sure you'll do great here," Adam said with a warm smile.I scratched the back of my head awkwardly and replied, "Becoming a doctor has always been my dream. I'll work hard."Adam took me to the dining hall for lunch, then showed me around and helped me get through the enrollment process.When I finally got back to my dorm, I realized one of my roommates was Daniel Perry, someone I'd gone to high school with."Chris? You actually came to Harburt? Man, I thought for sure you were going to Solridge with Marvin and your girlfriend. I felt kind of bad for you back then," Daniel said.I gave him a helpless smile. "Honestly, going to Solridge with them would've