Chapter One
Halley's POV
There were three groups you could belong to if you graduated. There were the ones who didn't go to college (about 60% of the graduates), the ones who went to Lakeview Community College (30%) and then the ten percent who got the hell out of Lakeview. When I was young, I wanted to live in my parents' house forever - but things had certainly changed. By high school, I had had enough of Lakeview. Before I knew it, I was a senior and that's when everything changed. Everything happened at once - or at least enough to completely change my little sheltered world.
My throat was dry when I swallowed, still looking at the rejection letter from NYU. A vision of myself in ten years rotting in Lakeview flickered in my mind, but I quickly reminded myself it wasn't the end of the world. I could apply to other colleges. I wasn't working a job and taking night classes while raising a baby, like Scarlett. Scarlett was the strongest, most determined person I knew. I willed myself to be like her, and so I crumpled the letter and tossed it in the trash.
"Scarlett! What a surprise! I thought you were with Marion in Keystone Lake!" I heard my mom distantly, her voice chipper in that fake way that drove me crazy. I instantly perked up. Scarlett was back? I ran to the door before my mom could call me.
"Scarlett!" I wrapped her in a hug before stepping back to give her a once-over. I felt a pang of envy, but it was soon replaced by pride for my best friend. Even after giving birth to a child and getting no sleep and wearing no makeup, Scarlett was stunning. Not in that fake all-American way that Ginny Tabor and Elizabeth Gunderson were beautiful, but in an exotic way that wasn't seen a lot in Lakeview.
"What are you doing back?" I practically shrieked. Scarlett and her daughter, Grace, had been in Keystone Lake for her mother, Marion's wedding to a guy she disapproved of.
She laughed. "I left after the ceremony. Grace is still with Marion. So did you get a letter from Boston University yet?"
"I didn't get in." I shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, even though my stomach was doing flips. I had relied on getting into Boston, my dream school. I couldn't even imagine going anywhere else.
Scarlett hugged me. "Aw, Halley, I'm sorry." When she stopped back, she had a sparkle in her eye. "How would you like to come with me to California?"
I blinked. "What?"
"For real, Halls. It will be like a girl's trip, you know, going to LA and San Francisco. And…" She took a deep breath. "I think I'm going to tell Michael's family about me and Grace."