All Chapters of She Stole My Acceptance Letter: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

I stared at Claire Vale, certain I'd heard her wrong."What did you just say?""I said I have your acceptance letter from Northbridge."Not a flicker of guilt crossed her face."Miles, Dylan did badly on his entrance exams. He's in a really fragile place right now. I can't let him spend a whole year preparing to reapply by himself. He'd be miserable."I laughed, too angry to do anything else.She wanted to ruin my future so Dylan Keene wouldn't feel lonely?What kind of reason was that?Claire hadn't always been like this.Our families lived next door to each other. We'd grown up together, and in my earliest memories, she was always following me around, saving the best of everything for me.Whenever a new snack appeared at the school store, she'd buy one and press it into my hand. She insisted on carrying my backpack home. On rainy days, she'd tilt our umbrella toward me until one of her own shoulders was soaked through.In eighth grade, I came down with a terrible flu. My f

A clear voice rang out through the door."Miles? Is that you?"Dylan Keene.My blood ran cold."What are you doing here?" I demanded through the door.He chuckled, doing nothing to hide his satisfaction."I brought Claire her favorite iced coffee. She said you weren't feeling well and were resting in her room."After a pause, he continued in that maddeningly sweet voice."Come on, Miles. Don't be stubborn. Claire's only looking out for you. She doesn't want you moving so far north on your own. If we both take a year to prepare and apply again, we'll have each other. Wouldn't that be nice?"I refused to give him the satisfaction of an answer.Then I heard Claire, her voice soft with affection."Dylan, leave him alone. Let him sit there by himself. Come on, give me my coffee. Let's watch something."Their footsteps retreated down the hallway.Dylan laughed, loud enough to make sure I heard."Claire, you're so good to me..."I lost track of time.By the time daylight crept

"We came to apologize on Claire's behalf," her father began. He at least sounded sincere.Her mother forced a stiff smile."Yes, the kids got carried away with their little joke. They didn't realize how far they'd gone. We're terribly sorry for the trouble."The word "joke" made my mother's temper explode.She planted herself in the doorway."Locking my son in a room and nearly destroying his future is a joke to you? That's some sense of humor your family has!"Mr. Vale's face flushed. He cleared his throat."Linda, we know we were wrong. Please, these gifts are just a small gesture. And about Claire's future..."He paused, then pressed on."Could you put in a good word with the university? She can't just go without a college education."My father appeared from the kitchen, still holding the knife he'd been using to prepare dinner.He didn't say a word at first. He simply pointed toward the hallway."Take your gifts and leave. We don't want them."His voice was flat."My

At the end of my first semester, I finished at the top of my program.My academic adviser called me into her office and smiled."Miles, you've done exceptional work. You're the first student I'm recommending for our university's top merit scholarship."The moment the award came through, I called my parents.My mother fell silent on the other end of the line. Then I heard her trying, and failing, to hold back tears of happiness.My father took the phone, his voice thick with pride."That's my boy. That's my boy!"After hanging up, I stood alone on the balcony outside my dorm and looked down at the lights and students moving across campus.The people and events that had once made it hard to breathe seemed to belong to another lifetime.My world was no longer a room with a locked door.It had grown big enough to hold the whole world.I'd become the person I used to dream of being: confident, independent, and unafraid to shine.And this was only the beginning.Four undergradua