4: 4
Just after noon, I reached the gates of Kingsley University.
Everyone around me was loaded down with bags, mothers and fathers at their sides.
I stood there with nothing, not even my acceptance letter.
A volunteer spotted me.
"Hi, are you here to register?"
I nodded, then shook my head.
"I lost my acceptance letter. Can I still enroll?"
The volunteer eyed me doubtfully.
"What's your name? Which college? Did you bring your ID?"
I answered each question quickly and pulled out my ID.
He scrolled through a video, held it up next to my face, and his eyes lit up.
"You're Elijah Walker, the top scorer from Lakeport! I saw the coverage on you."
"How did you score a 145 on the English section? That's insane. Are you even human?"
"Losing your acceptance letter is no problem. The college has all your information on file."
I twisted the hem of my shirt and kept going.
"I don't have the tuition. Can I still enroll?"
He blinked, then smiled.
"Don't worry, there's a special financial-aid channel for that."
"And our school has tons of work-study spots. You can even earn wages helping professors."
After he got me registered, he took me on a little tour of the campus.
In the crowd, I saw my mother.
She had Max by the hand and was going red in the face arguing with someone from the admissions office.
"Don't you look down on us! So what if it's 186? Why can't he get into Kingsley?"
"He's still got two years, doesn't he? Careful, or I'll report you for crushing my son's self-esteem!"
"Do you know my younger son was born in the city? If my older one, born out in the country, could get in, then getting Max into a school like yours is no trouble at all!"
"I flew all the way out here just to bring Max to see your school. If you won't take him, then you can refund our plane tickets!"
The admissions officer answered awkwardly.
"Ma'am, please, calm down."
"If your son had a total over 500, two years of hard work might get him into Kingsley."
"But your son scored 186 on his finals. That's under 27 per subject on average."
"You have to understand, our lowest admission cutoff this year was 689."
I stood frozen where I was.
So Mom had planned to bring Max here today.
She'd never said a word to me about it.
Back home, whenever I studied, Max never let up on the jabs.
"Bro, why do you even try so hard?"
"Mom already said it. Kids born in the city are just smarter than the ones born in the country!"
"It's a talent thing! Greatness speaks for itself!"
"Watch me blow past you on the SATs, bro! I'll waltz into Kingsley, easy!"
But he stayed glued to the internet, and his total on his freshman-year finals came out to 186.
Mom turned and saw me. I worked up my courage and said to her,
"I got registered, Mom. I promise I'll make something of myself from now on."
She raised her voice.
"You got registered? Didn't I throw out your acceptance letter?"
The other parents started murmuring.
"Who throws out their own kid's acceptance letter? What kind of parent is that?"
Mom fired back.
"Ever heard of decluttering? You keep trash around for the holidays or something?"
She grabbed a fistful of my hair and dragged me in front of the admissions officer.
"Look at this blockhead. Even he got into your school, and you're telling me my Max can't?"
"You call yourselves teachers?"
Every gaze around me swung toward me.
Some pitying, some embarrassed.
Mom yanked me by the collar.
"No. You're not going to college."
"I'll give you two choices. Either you go do delivery work right now and save up tuition for your brother!"
"Or you go back to high school and repeat the year with him until he gets into Kingsley."
She turned on the admissions people, her voice full of venom.
"Once my younger son gets into Kingsley, I'm reporting every last one of you! I'll have you all thrown out!"
"Unbelievable. Nowadays even a blind fool can be a college teacher! Disgusting!"
I'd gotten into Kingsley as the state's top scorer, and my mother still thought I was useless.
If I went and did delivery work, or repeated the year, she'd only think I was more useless, and then she'd throw me away.
I didn't want to be thrown away.
I stayed where I was and said nothing.
Furious, she slapped me right there in front of everyone.
"Grown wings now, have you? You won't even listen to me anymore?"
"You know what, the one thing I should really be decluttering is you!"
My face burned, and the tears came.
She held me there, refusing to let go, when a figure suddenly stepped in front of me.
"Monica, what do you think you're doing?"
