Darrell licked the cream from the corner of his mouth, his voice going cold.
“I'm a top student in Graystone University's Nuclear Physics program! The only one accepted from the entire state!”
“Mildred, you're going to community college. What gives you the right to look down on me?”
I let out a dry laugh.
Turned and walked away.
“Take one more step and we're done! Brotherhood over, for good!”
I broke into a run.
Behind me, Darrell screamed like his lungs were tearing apart.
“Fine! Mildred, you're dead to me! You're not my buddy anymore!”
I stopped.
Turned around, sprinted back, and kicked him right behind the knee.
His leg buckled. He dropped to his knees.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
I smiled.
“That's for the elbow earlier.”
“Call me bro one more time and I'll beat you down every single time I see you.”
Darrell's face went pale with rage, but he didn't move.
Taekwondo black belt. He knew he couldn't take me.
I strolled away under the furious glares of all three of them, not looking back once.
When I got home, I blocked Darrell on every platform.
A delusional classmate with zero sense of boundaries. Best if I never saw him again for the rest of my life.
I was about to put my phone down when the class group chat exploded.
Darrell had posted a photo of himself and Dorothy, cheeks pressed together, hands forming a heart.
“My girlfriend.”
Everyone sent their congratulations while taking shots at me on the side.
“Mildred's gotta be heartbroken now, right? Zero chance left.”
“Three whole years and Mildred still couldn't lock Darrell down. That's just sad.”
I sent back a nose-pinching emoji.
Darrell immediately fired off a voice message, dripping with smugness.
“Mildred changed her college applications from the Ivy League to community college just so Dorothy and I could be together. Thanks, Mildred! Real one!”
The whole class piled on.
“Mildred's insane! What a sacrifice!”
“A genius on the test, an idiot in love!”
“Ouch. That hurts just reading it.”
Darrell tagged me.
“About today, I wasn't thinking straight. I'll try to keep Dorothy out of your sight from now on so it's easier on you.”
“Don't be mad. Bros don't hold grudges overnight, right? Don't act like some little girl.”
Everyone chimed in.
“Yeah, Mildred, be the bigger person.”
“Come on, man. Don't be so petty.”
Darrell added one more message.
“I get to tease my buddy. The rest of you don't, got it?”
I gripped my phone. My hands were shaking.
Darrell always did this.
Used the word "buddy" to get the whole class to bully me, then turned around and played protector.
I typed fast.
“The school I applied to isn't a community college. It's no less prestigious than the Ivy League. Stop making things up.”
Darrell instantly dropped a screenshot of my college applications.
“Mildred, let's not lie, okay?”
I zoomed in on the image.
First choice: South Coast Vocational Technical College.
The screenshot was from ten days ago.
For ten straight days he'd been texting me, and never once mentioned changing my applications.
A chill crawled down my spine.
If I hadn't double-checked my applications today, I really would have ended up at a community college.
I put my phone down.
Didn't look at the messages calling me out, saying I'd been caught in a lie.
There was only one thing left to do now: wait for my Graystone University acceptance letter.
Two weeks later, there was a class dinner.
Everyone was buzzing about their acceptance letters.
“I got into NYU!”
“Fordham for me.”
“Wow, I'm so jealous. I only got into SDSU.”
Someone turned to Darrell.
“Darrell, you get yours yet?”
Darrell was mid-selfie with Dorothy. He shrugged, unbothered.
“Nah. Graystone's screening process is strict, takes longer. But based on previous years, should be any day now.”
Everyone fell over themselves with compliments.
