Page 7 of No Place Left to Hide

Application:Received.

Teacher Recommendation:Received.

Teacher Recommendation:Received.

Counselor Recommendation:Received.

School Report (High School Transcript):Received.

Official Standardized Test Results (SAT, SAT-R with Essay, or ACT with Writing):Received.

Common Application:Received.

Three minutes left.

“What if I don’t get in?” I whisper, my bone-deep fear finally vocalized.

Jena bounces out of my closet, having rid herself of her Waldorf uniform in favor of my brand-new, three-hundred-dollar velvet halter jumpsuit—looking better in it than I did in the dressing room. The fabric is the same color as her braids. She’s so beautiful I want to punch her in the face.

She comes to a stop at my back, a sentinel behind my chair, and puts her hands on my shoulders. “Impossible.”

“But what if I don’t?”

“But what if youdo?”

Then everything gets better. My parents start looking me in the eye again. I escape No Caller ID. I start fresh in a place where not a single person within a thousand miles knows anything about me. I can reinvent my whole self. I can stop working so hard to overcompensate for my mistakes.

The thought is almost euphoric.

One minute.

I take a deep breath and down half my water before I prepare to refresh.

“Just breathe,” Jena says. “And remember, you deserve this.”

The “Pending” on the screen mocks me. I watch the clock hover at 3:59 for approximately ten thousand years. It finally flashes to four p.m. and I refresh the hell out of my browser, not daring to take a single breath until…

A status update appears at the top of the page.

New updates to your application were posted on March 28th at 7 p.m. EST

I move the mouse to the link, and my entire arm is shaking.

“Oh my god,” Jena whispers.

I click the link. Still not breathing.

A video screen pops up with a blue background and multiple dancing bulldogs under…

CONGRATULATIONS

“Oh my god!” Jena screams in my ear.

The video ends, and behind it appears the official letter.

Dear Brooke,

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