A/N The characters don't belong to me. In fact, even though the story is slightly based on my own experiences, it's also basically an adaptation of the Bella/Edward/Jacob story except replace the supernatural with college but keep all the same stupid decisions that teenagers make because they don't know any better. I didn't and neither did Bella or Edward.
I am working on an expanded version of Unintended Consequences but got distracted by this plot bunny. I hope you enjoy!
BPOV
April
"So, I got a letter from Stanford," I said, although I wasn't sure how it came out.
"Yeah? And what's with the suspense?"
"I- I didn't get in," I answered.
"What do you mean you didn't get in?"
"I didn't get in. I'm not going to Stanford."
The line was quiet for a while before I finally heard a sigh and then he answered. "That sucks babe. I'm sorry. I can't believe these fuckers didn't accept you. You're so smart and do so many extracurriculars. They must've fallen on heads or something. This just sucks."
"It's fine. UDub'll be fine. It's got a good English department and plenty of teaching partnerships. Even better connections than Stanford even. I'll be fine."
Another sigh on the other side of the line and then, "Yeah, you'll do great up there in Washington. You'll take Seattle by storm. I'm sorry Stanford didn't work out. But hey, UDub's nothing to sneeze at either. You'll do great anywhere." His hopeful words weren't quite matched by his sedate tone but it matched my mood. I wasn't looking forward to extending our time of long distance dating any more than he was. It was the main reason I even considered Stanford at all.
"Hey, I know this past year has sucked but it's almost summer and then we'll make it work. I promise, we'll make it work." I didn't know what he was thinking at the time, but I genuinely believed the words I was saying as I said them.
"Yeah," he finally answered after a pause. "Yeah, we'll make it work. I love you babe."
"I love you too."
We caught up for a little while longer until we each had to go. I had my shift at Newton's Sporting Goods and he had a study group session. We agreed to talk again soon and hung up before going our separate ways.
~GA~
I clocked into Newton's two minutes before my shift started after stashing my backpack under the front counter. I was on my own for the first hour of my shift so after fixing a couple of displays for hiking boots and wiping down a dustless counter I opened my history textbook to study for a test we had coming up. The Newtons didn't mind if I read or did my homework so long as there weren't any customers who needed tending to or any tasks that needed to be done. Soon though, my textbook lost my attention and I took out my Stanford acceptance letter. I still couldn't believe that I actually got in. Not that it mattered since it wasn't like I could go but I was still quietly proud of myself. And it wasn't like I could celebrate. No one could know. Because although I'd gotten into Stanford, a fantastic school, they didn't give me a single cent. I almost wish I hadn't gotten in. But I did and it didn't matter and no one could know. If I told my dad he'd probably be so excited he'd do something drastic like take out a second mortgage on the house. And Edward just wouldn't understand.
Stanford would've been a dream but I'd never really seen myself there until Edward had suggested it. It'd been his dream school forever and when he was accepted he went without a second thought. His hard work, good grades, and all over well-rounded resume got him there more than his doctor father and interior designer mother. Though his parents' bank accounts didn't hurt. Once upon a time I briefly thought that my small town police chief dad and part time teacher mom would qualify me for enough financial aid that college wouldn't put me into debt until my nineties. Then my mom went and married a professional baseball player. Phil's great but there's no way I'm asking him to pay for my college even though financial aid offices seemed to disagree. So, a public university with in-state tuition was it. And I was going to spend the next several months saving every penny I could and applying to every scholarship I could find because even in-state tuition with the small scholarship they'd already offered was thousands of dollars when you added in things like required on-campus housing that came with a mandatory meal plan. I didn't even eat that much.
I was so busy musing over a future that could have been but wasn't meant to be that I didn't notice the bell over the door chiming, signaling the arrival of Mike Newton for the start of his shift with me.
"Hey Bella. What you got there?" he asked, peering over my shoulder from behind me.
"No-nothing," I replied, startled, before trying to stuff the letter somewhere within my textbook but unfortunately I wasn't fast enough.
"Bella! You got into Stanford! Congratulations!" he shouted before grabbing me into a sudden hug that briefly lifted me off my feet. I'm sure it wasn't intentional. Mike was on the football team and while he wasn't bulky, he was larger than my thin, 5'4" frame. I guess my face gave away my lack of excitement since as soon as he stepped away his mood noticeably dampened.
"What's wrong? Aren't you excited? You got into freaking Stanford. And isn't that where Edward's at? I thought you'd be thrilled? Unless there's trouble in paradise?"
"No. No. Everything's great with me and Edward. It's just that I'm not going to Stanford."
"What? Why not? Isn't that an acceptance letter?" he asked as he snatched it out of my book. Mike had always had a little bit of an issue with boundaries. Edward always thought he had a crush on me but there was no way that was a possibility. He was just like that with everyone. And anyways, he was dating Jessica Stanley, the bubbly cheerleader who was so pretty and popular it almost made you roll your eyes at the cliche.
I grabbed the letter back and stuffed it into my backpack. "It doesn't matter. I'm not going."
"Why not?"
I could feel my face heating. I just couldn't admit, my pride wouldn't let me. So instead of admitting my shameful truth, I rolled my eyes and said the reassurances I'd been telling myself. "Yeah, Stanford is great if you want to go into science or math or something but I want to be an English teacher and UDub is actually great for that."
"Oh, okay," he responded dubiously before quickly recovering. "Cool. UDub's cool I guess. Jess is going there," he said, clearly starting to lose interest as the conversation was continuing on. He reached past me to grab an apron to put on.
"Cool. And you're going to UCLA, right? Missing the sun of the homeland or something?"
He shot me a quick crooked grin that didn't make my insides melt the way someone else's did. "Yeah. Plus those California babes if you know what I mean. Not that you have anything to worry about. I'm sure Stanford chicks are way less hot."
I decided to ignore his implication. I'd heard it plenty this past year. Instead I focused on what he was actually saying. "Did you and Jess break up or something?"
"Not yet but we didn't want to be tied down so we're gonna make the most of this summer," he wiggled his eyebrows at this, "and then we go our own separate ways to make the most of the all important college experience. Why limit yourself to the dating options of Forks, especially during college?"
Disliking the conversation more and more as it went on, I put away my textbook for lack of something to do and then changed the topic to our upcoming history test. The things Mike was saying made a certain amount of sense and I'd heard it over and over from everyone from fellow teenagers to teachers to my own mother. But Edward and I had been together for almost four years now, since my freshman year when I first moved to Forks. We made it through all the petty dramas of high school without so much as taking a break. We'd been each other's first everythings and we loved each other. College would be hard but we'd make it. I truly believed we would.
