Chapter 14: Where It Leads Me
Author's Note: Farkle's story on how he got into Harvard is special to me, because his story is sort of similar to mines, and it's also similar to others as well. So some may be able to relate to his story. I wanted to try and write some of this like it is real life. So enjoy!
Farkle's POV:
"Farkle! Brown is the only school we have been talking about since you were five! You're going to that school." My dad said. "But what if I don't want to go to Brown? What if I want to go somewhere else?" I said. "Excuse me? No, you shouldn't be thinking about other schools. Brown is the school you're going to. You are going to keep our family legacy by attending that school," he said. "You do know there's a chance of me not getting into that school right?" I said. "Oh no, you're getting into that school and I'll make sure of it," my dad said as he left. As much as I loved my family, they expected so much of me and because of my family name, I'm expected to become this or that, and go to this school and go for this major. I mean I do want to be a scientist but I don't want to go to Brown. It's not the school for me. But my family doesn't seem to accept the fact that I want to go to Harvard. I haven't even heard from them yet. But I'm hoping I do soon.
"Hey man!" Lucas said as he walked into my room. "Your dad let me in." he said as he made his way to the bean bag. "You love that bean bag." I said. "So what's up?" he said. "Nothing, just homework. My dad has been on my case about getting into Brown. I've been trying to tell him that I don't want to go to that school. But he won't have it. I really want to go to Harvard, but my dad has other plans for me." I said. "I'm sorry man. But if Harvard is your dream, then you should follow your dream. Don't let anyone stand in your way, prove your dad wrong. Show him that it doesn't matter what school you go to, you can still make your dreams come true." He said. "My family does support me but only when I'm doing the things they expect of me and when I don't do what they want me to do, they tell me how much of a disappointment I am. They tell me I'm going to be nobody." I said. "You're somebody. Farkle, don't let their words get to you, their just words, words don't mean anything. Don't let them tell you who can and can't be. You're the one that controls your life, your dreams. Your destiny, don't let them get to you." Lucas said.
"Thanks man, but if they end up kicking me out, can I crash with you until college starts?" I joked. "Of course." He said. All of a sudden my phone started to ring, it was Riley. "Aww, look your girlfriend is calling me." I said as I showed him the screen. He quickly got up and sat next to me on my bed,
Riley
Farkle
"Hey, Riles."
"Hey, what're you doing?"
"Nothing much, just hanging out with Lucas. What about you?"
"Just taking a break from studying. Do you still have your key to writing book?"
"Yes, do you need it?"
"Yes! I have writers block right now and my English professor has been giving out so much work that my usual writing isn't going to cut it."
"Okay, well do you want me to drop it off or are you going to come and pick it up?"
"I'll pick it up, I'm about to head that way anyways, so I'll see you in ten."
"Okay, see you soon."
After I hung up the phone, Lucas was staring at me like he was ready for me to spill. But I decided to torture him and kept quiet about it. "So are you hungry?" I asked. "No…" he said as he eyed me suspiciously. "Are you sure?" I asked. "Yes, I'm sure and stop avoiding it. Why did Riley call you?" he said. "Wow, you get jealous easily. You do know Riley and I only have a brother and sister relationship and also I would never do that to you." I said. "I know man, I'm sorry. I do get jealous easily but I can't help it. I don't like the thought of someone else making her happier than I could." He said. "I was going to torture you, but I changed my mind. She's just coming over to pick up a book, she's been having writers block and she said her usual isn't going to impress her professor." I said. "Oh, well I can certainly help her with that." He teased. "Calm down boy." I said. I heard the doorbell rang, and I went downstairs to go answer, while Lucas remained in my room. I opened the door to find Riley standing outside.
"Hey, come on in." I said as I moved out of the way. "Oh I can't, I just wanted to get the book and go because I have a lot of work to do." She said. "Oh, then just let me run upstairs to get the book. But come in, I don't want you to wait out here alone and I'm pretty sure Lucas would like to say hi." I said. "Oh he's still here? Aww now it's going to be even harder to leave." she said. Pretty soon Lucas came down the stairs, "I thought I heard your voice." He said as he walked over and gave her a hug and a kiss. "Yeah, I'm just here to pick up a book. Then I have to go back to typing." She said. "I'll be right back." I said as I ran back upstairs to go get the book. Thirty seconds later, I ran back downstairs and handed her the book. "Here you go," I said. "Thank you so much, I'll see you two later." She said as she left. "She's so pretty." Lucas said as he gushed over his girlfriend. I slapped him in the back of the head and walked back upstairs.
Riley's POV:
As I began to type, I couldn't seem to find the right words. The topic was about a moment in my life where I felt accomplished, it made me feel like I changed someone's life. But I couldn't seem to pick one moment. Then I opened my drawer, where I hid the brown box. I took out the letter again and skimmed through it. I knew it was time to talk to my mom about it, so I took the box and went downstairs. I found my mom sitting in the living room, drinking her coffee and watching TV. "Hey mom." I said as I sat down beside her. "Hey honey, how are you doing with the paper?" she asked. "I'm trying my best but I can't seem to choose a subject." I said. "Aww, honey. I'm pretty sure something will come to you." she said as she stroked my hair. "Actually, there's something I've been meaning to show you." I said as I handed her the box. Her eyes grew wide and she set her coffee down on the table. "What's this?" she said as she took it from me. "That's what I want to know, I found a note inside and the letter says from T." I said. My mom pulled the note out. "That woman is very sneaky." She said under her breath. "Who?" I asked. "Nobody." She said. "Mom…" I said.
"Oh alright, it's your aunt, Tharitea Thalamus. She is my long lost sister, I didn't even know I had another sister until your grandmother sat me down one day and told me all about her, she was put up for adoption when she was a baby because your grandmother thought that she was too young to raise a baby and she was. But she didn't think she could do it. Because everyone had an influence on her and it led her to that decision. I tracked her down for years and years and I finally found her. But she didn't want anything to do with me. She didn't want anything to do with the family that didn't want her. She thought we didn't love her. But we do, even though she may not be close to us, she's still apart of this family. I mean we hoped that one day, she would show up and forgive us. We gave her up to a wonderful family and now she's married, has four kids and she's a lawyer, just like me." she said. "How do you know that?" I asked. "Research and she had a ring on her finger when I saw her, a man came up and gave her a kiss, she had four kids running around her house, family portraits, and she told me what her profession was." She said. "I want to meet her." I said. "Oh, honey you can't. That is too dangerous, I can't let you do that." My mom said. "Why not? I'll have Lucas with me and you know how protective he is of me." I said. "Sweetie, this may seem like easy to you, but it is far more complicated than you think." She said. "Well, you can give me her address and I'll go over and talk to her, I want to know about this broche and how did she even get into my room." I said.
"And why did she have the broche?" I said. "Okay, the story behind the broche is very confusing. Your great, great grandmother gave it to your great grandmother, who gave it to your grandma, who gave it to your aunt, and when I went to go visit your aunt she gave it to me. But after having it for two months, I gave it back to her. I told her I couldn't take something like that from her. I wanted her to have a piece of this family. I wanted her to pass it on to her kids." She said. "But don't you want to pass this on for the generations to come? You could've passed it on to me and I would've passed it on to my children." I said. "I did want to keep it for you, when I went to go see her for the second time, she told me to keep it for you. I know it was very selfish of me but I wanted her to know that she is a part of the family, so I told her to keep it. Then when you were just a baby, we invited her over for dinner and surprisingly, she showed up after telling us she wanted nothing to do with us, I didn't know she had the broche with her. After all those years, of rearranging your room, my eye never caught the brown box. Otherwise, I would've took it and give it back to her." she said. "Mom, maybe me having this broche isn't such a bad idea. I mean she met the love of her life when she had it. Maybe it will be lucky for me. What's your deal with not wanting me to have it?" I said. "It's not that I don't want you to have it, I just thought that-". "You thought what, mom? You thought I wouldn't want to know about this? You thought that I wouldn't want to know about my aunt? Maybe I want to pass on the family legacy, maybe I want my kids to know about the generation before them, before me. I want to see her and I will." I said as I got up and stomped to my room. "Riley, you didn't let me finish!" my mom yelled after me.
I know I overreacted. But the thing I couldn't understand is why would she not want to pass it on to me? It seems like something she would do. I mean I understand she wanted Tharitea to have a piece of our family and pass it on to her kids. Maybe I'm the one being selfish here. But I really wanted to find her and hear her side of the story. Not being able to get this out of my mind, I walked into my parent's room, where I found my mom's files. I looked through to find if there was anything about this aunt of mine. Unable to find anything, I took everything I had and walked back downstairs to find my mom still on the couch. "Mom… I know I overreacted earlier, and I apologize. But I really want to meet her. So will you please let me? Lucas will be with me, and we'll come back safely." I pleaded. My mom sighed. "Alright, I'll give you her address but the neighborhood she lives in, isn't exactly safe. I mean she lives in a beautiful two story home, but I really want you two to be careful. She still lives in Philadelphia. So if anything happens, you guys will have your grandparents nearby. I want you to text me your every move." My mom said. "Thank you so much mom." I said as I gave her a hug. "Today is Friday, so we'll be back by Sunday." I said. I went back upstairs to call Lucas and tell him the news.
Farkle's POV:
When I got home from school, I realized that the atmosphere in my house had changed. There was tension building up as I walked up the stairs. Once I entered my room, I saw my dad sitting there with a big envelope in his hand. It was from Harvard. I was trying to hide my excitement but it was hard not to. "Dad, what're you doing in my room?" I said as I put my stuff down. "The better question is, why you got accepted into a school that isn't brown?" he asked. "Dad, I can explain." I said. "Oh you can? Farkle brown is the only school we've talked about. I can't believe you went behind my back and applied to other schools." He said. "Dad, I needed other options just in case Brown didn't accept me." I said. "They were going to accept you and they did." He said as he took out a big envelope from briefcase and threw on my bed. "I know you're going to choose the right school, and the right school is Brown." He said. "No it's not." I said. "What did you just say?" he asked. "I said Brown is not the school for me. Dad, you told me that you would support me with anything I decide to do. I don't see that right now. I haven't seen that at all actually. Harvard is the school I want to go to. I'm not going to let you take that away from me. I know you want me to carry on the Minkus legacy, but I want to be different. I want to create my own story." I said.
My dad stood there solid as a rock. I never seen anything look so lifeless. He finally found himself again and sat down on my bed. "Come here," he said. "Dad, ever since high school started, Brown is the only school we have talked about and I felt pressured. You made it impossible for me to tell you that I wanted to go to a different school." I said. "I didn't mean to pressure you." he said. "All my life, my dad talked non-stop about me going to Brown. I wanted to go to Princeton. But I didn't have the courage to tell him that. I didn't want you and I to have the same relationship, but look how that turned out. I'm sorry son." My dad said as he patted me on the back. "It's okay. But dad, I want you to be okay with me going to Harvard. It's going to make me happy." I said. "Well, if it makes you happy, then I won't stand in your way anymore." He said.
Riley's POV:
"Hey, there's my girl." Lucas said as he climbed through my window. "Hey, there's my man." I said as I walked over and planted one on him. "So, I want to ask you something." I said. He stood up and wrapped his arms around my waist, "Whatever it is, the answer is yes." He said. "Will you go to Philadelphia with me?" I asked. "Of course, what for?" he asked. "I found out who the broche is from, it's from my aunt. The story is complicated. Like really complicated but I want to meet her and I want you by my side. I wanted Maya to come along as well, but she's busy with college stuff." I said. "Then it shall just be the two of us." He said as he leaned in to give me another kiss. This time I felt his smile in between our kisses. "So, when do we leave?" he asked. "I was thinking tonight. Would your parents be okay with that?" I asked. "I'll just say I'm spending the night at Farkle's." he said. "So were doing this?" he asked. "Yes we are." I said.
Okay so I'm ending the chapter here. I know the story of the broche is confusing but it will soon become clear in the next chapter or so. Well I hope. But in the next chapter, Lucas and Riley make their way to Philli to find Riley's aunt and they come across some obstacles along the way. Also, prom night is coming up soon and someone makes a special appearance, but it's not who you think it is. Will this person ruin prom for Riley and Lucas? Will Riley's aunt even give her the time of day? The bigger question is, do they even make it out of Philadelphia? Stay tuned for Chapter 15!