I slipped on a pair of sneakers and got ready for my afternoon with Dylan. Today was the day we’d been waiting for. The day we received our college acceptance letters. If we both got in, it would be off to Mojo’s to celebrate. If not, well, I suppose I’d spend the night crying my eyes out on Dylan’s shoulder and ruining his new polo shirt.
But this was it. My chance to get away from this town and away from our parents. Mama had a new boyfriend who helped her out now and again, and Dylan’s daddy didn’t much care that we were dating since he figured Dylan’d be leaving for college in a few months without me. Ha! Wouldn’t he be surprised if Dylan and I got into the same school? That’d show him.
Staring in my bedroom mirror, I studied my hair. It was darker now. Still blond, but natural. No longer the bottle variety. I popped on some lipstick. Pretty in Pink. A bit tamer and more refined than my old favorite, but this worked better for me now. It’d been nearly nine months since the accident. Some things hadn’t changed. Hunter was still gone, Mama was still drinking, I still didn’t have money for a car. But a lot had changed, too. I had Dylan, and in two months I’d be free from high school, and with my savings and some scholarship money, I hoped I’d be free from this town.
Grabbing the envelope off our tiny kitchen counter, I headed out the door. We’d both received a few university acceptances, and a few rejections in our email in-boxes, but this university—the one we both wanted most—sent snail mail. And I’d been waiting for Dylan to get over here so we could go to our spot by the old oak to open our envelopes. I didn’t need any prying eyes for this news. But I didn’t want to be alone either.
Soon as I stepped outside, Dylan pulled up, climbed out of his car, and held up his own envelope. “Where’s yours?” His smile sparkled like a kid on Christmas morning.
I handed him my envelope, and he opened the car door for me. “Don’t worry, Kaitlyn. I know you got in.”
“How can you be so sure?” I flung myself in the driver’s seat and clicked on my seat belt. Since I got my license, I drove most of the time now. And, I had to admit, I really kind of liked it.
I glanced over at Dylan, an excited, knowing smile etched on his face. My stomach did a flip that told me it wasn’t so sure if I’d gotten in.
“We’ll see. But this time I have a feeling I’m right.” He winked.
We drove in silence to the place we knew no one would bother us: the Devil’s Tree. The old oak had become our special place to be alone together. When we arrived, I couldn’t help but gape. Last time we’d been out here was around Christmas, when me and Dylan had cut off the fencing from the tree. It’d been covered in snow then. Now, for the first time since I’d been alive, the Devil’s Tree had leaves bursting from its branches.
“Wow.” Dylan echoed my own thoughts. “It’s alive.”
“Alive and growing.”
We climbed out of the car, and Dylan spread a blanket beneath the old oak. Birds chirped overhead. Squirrels chattered. It was hard to believe this beautiful spot used to be so terrifying.
Dylan and I sat facing each other, my heart beating faster than the butterfly darting around our heads. “Well,” I said, both terrified and excited to open our letters. All these months of waiting and it was finally time.
“Here.” Dylan held out his hand. “Let’s trade. I’ll open yours and you open mine.”
Dylan had already been accepted to every other university he’d applied to. I’d been accepted to a local college and one out of state, but this was the one we both wanted to attend. If we both got in, I might actually pee my pants.
“Okay.” I handed him my envelope and took his. “Go.”
We both ripped open the paper and pulled out the letters. I scanned his letter and nearly choked. “You got in.” My voice sounded hollow; I was thrilled for him, but terrified for myself.
Dylan looked up at me, a smile dimpling his sweet face. “So did you.”
“We did it!” I squealed in a very not-me sorta way, threw myself into Dylan’s arms, and we fell over laughing.
I cuddled up next to him, inhaling his scent. The Abercrombie-Dylan scent. Good and solid and comforting.
He put his hands in my hair, pulling it away from my face. “You.”
“What?” I ran my finger over his lips, noticing the stubble I found so sexy.
“You did it, Kaitlyn. After everything. You did it. Things’ll be different from now on, you know that, right?”
They really would, wouldn’t they? I wasn’t gonna be Kaitlyn, the girl who worked at the local Food Mart. Kaitlyn, the girl from the trailer park. Kaitlyn, the girl with the drunk mama. Not anymore. Now I’d be a real college student. On my own. And my life could be anything I wanted to make it. Anything at all.