Page 158 of Filthy Liar

I just didn’t want to see it.

The sound of tearing paper made me look over to find Ander opening a letter, panic filling me. “What are you doing?”

“Finding out which better place you’re going to. Ashburn will get you your degree, but you’re more hirable if you go elsewhere. The school you attend will open doors for you,” he explained, making me snort.

“I don’t think Hawthorne Heights High is that fussy with their teachers. They’d be happy with anyone with a degree.”

“Shoot for the stars, Bluebird,” he grunted, skimming the page before offering it to me. “See? You’re going to Yale.”

“What?” I asked, snatching the letter and reading it.

Sure enough, I saw the wordscongratulationsat the top of the letter, and I wanted to throw up a little.

“Yale?” I croaked out, and Logan whooped loudly and fist pumped the air.

“My girl’s going to fucking Yale!”

“No, I’m not,” I huffed, almost dropping the paper as my hands shook, and I didn’t miss the look on Reid’s face. He was forcing his smile, so damn proud, but terrified at the same time. “Reid, I’m not going.”

“Why not? It’s a great opportunity, baby,” he encouraged, a strain in his voice.

“I don’t want to go that far. I want to live here. If I can’t drive to it, I’m not going,” I said, giving Ander a dirty look when he snatched another one. “Dammit, Ander!”

“Congratulations on being accepted into Harvard. Doesn’t Beckett’s baby sister and cousin go there? At least you’ll have someone there.”

“I’m not going to fucking Harvard either. Are you listening to me?” I snapped, ignoring Logan’s whooping.

I was pretty sure he had zero idea how far away they were or he wouldn’t be celebrating.

“You got into Princeton,” Zavier offered, drawing my attention to the letter in his hand that I hadn’t known he’d opened.

“Zav—”

“Fairview too,” Reid mumbled, and I threw my hands up in the air in defeat.

“By all means, open my mail, guys.”

Logan reached out and snagged one, opening it with a grin. “And Kingslake! Do you know the connections you can form there? It’s huge. Some of the biggest names around here send their kids there.”

This was way too overwhelming, anxiety kicking in. How could I go to any of those places? Kids had applied for those when they were still in diapers and only got in because of their family name.

I didn’t fit in with those people, I never would.

“Josh would be so damn proud of you, Raven,” Reid said, snapping me out of my internal panic. I looked over to find him watching me, some of the tension gone from his face. “I mean, Raven Pierce got accepted into the top three universities? And has so many other options that she can literally choose whichever one she wants? He would’ve gone door knocking to tell everyone in the fucking neighborhood.”

He would’ve too.

“I only got in because they were too scared to say no,” I replied dryly.

“Who cares? You got in, that’s all that matters.”

“How do I choose?” I asked quietly, staring at the opened letters. There were ten universities total, all of them wanting me.

“You wanted something close, right?” Zavier asked, grabbing all the letters and flipping through them, holding onto most of them while handing me a few. “These are all within driving distance. Less to choose from, and they’re definitely not the best, but Logan is right. Kingslake is a fantastic school and a lot of big names came from there. The Reyes family from Crestford all went there, the Blackwater family, and?—”

“How do you even know all that?” I cut in, and he shrugged.

“I’m nosey, but half of those families did business with my dad and Penn’s dad over the years. They’re all a bunch of corrupt rich assholes, mostly old money. Penn’s family name is one of the biggest in Kingslake, so things got shaken up when her father died and she didn’t make a home there. Maybe ask Rory about the professors and president for the local universities so you know if there’s any to avoid.”

---