Page 119 of Spearcrest Knight

MyHarvardacceptancelettercomes the following morning. I’m barely recovered from everything that happened at the party and after it, I’ve not even discussed any of it with the girls yet. Then the letter comes. It fills me with such a sickening mixture of elation and anxiety I don’t eat for the rest of the day.

That evening, Audrey, Araminta and I meet for a much-needed debrief in Araminta’s room.

Every flat surface is covered with bottles of perfume, face mists, skincare products and boxes full of make-up. Her bed is strewn with clothes and books so we settle on the cream carpet flooring, sharing Araminta’s impressive collection of decorative cushions.

“Right,” Araminta says, clapping her hands together. She’s in tiny silk pyjamas and looking radiant. “I know we all want to discuss what happened at the party, but—” She pulls an envelope out from behind her. “Look what I got today!”

Audrey covers her mouth with her hands. “No!”

“Yes!” Araminta hands her the letter with a flourish. “I'm studying Neuroscience at Harvard, baby!”

Audrey lets out a giddy cry. I crawl over to Araminta to wrap my arms around her. Audrey joins in, wrapping herself around us.

“You did it! You actually did it!” Audrey squeals.

“I did it!”Araminta lets out a muffled giggle. “I fucking did it!”

They finally let go and we all stand apart, staring at Araminta, grinning like idiots. Audrey takes the letter and looks at it, shaking her head slowly. “Fuck. It’s really starting to feel real, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Araminta sits back down on the bed. “Spearcrest is almost over. It’s actually sinking in now.”

“Things are going to be so different,” Audrey says softly.

“We’ll still see each other all the time,” I reassure her, hoping it’ll be true.

Audrey nods. “I hope so.”

“Well, hopefully I get to see Sophie a lot,” Araminta says, widening her eyes at me. “Maybe you’ll hear from Harvard next week now they’re sending out admission letters?”

I bite my lip, trying to suppress a smile. “I got my letter today too.”

Araminta’s mouth drops open.

“What?” Audrey says, sitting up. “You did? And?”

“And Araminta and I will probably get to see each other a lot, yes.”

“Get the fuck out of here!” Araminta screeches, and launches herself at me. “You got accepted?”

I barely get to nod before it’s my turn to be swallowed into a multi-layered embrace by the girls.

“Aw,” Audrey whispers against my hair. “I’m so jealous of you two! I want to go to Harvard too, for fuck’s sake.”

After the news of our acceptance letters settle, our conversation turns back to the party. Turns out Evan’s fight with Luca is just one of a few that went down. A lot seems to have happened after I left. By the sounds of it, people were either fighting or hooking up or both.

“Which one were you doing, Minty?” I ask, raising an eyebrow at her.

“Hooking up, of course. With a prefect, no less!”

“A prefect?” I ask. “Check you out! Which one?”

“Percy Bainbridge.”

“Percy Bainbridge?” Audrey says. “He’s not your usual type.”

“No, but…” Araminta smirks. “I came…” She pauses, and then lifts two fingers. “Twice!”

“Well, at least one of us got some action,” Audrey says with a pout.

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