“College,” Ethan said.
People clapped.
I shook my head.
“Don’t.”
He grinned.
“Claire got into Georgetown.”
More applause.
I wanted the stage to swallow me.
Ethan looked pleased with himself.
“She told me not to keep saying it.”
“Correct.”
“But it’s important.”
I laughed through my tears.
“Yes.”
He studied the compass.
“Claire thinks she has to go far.”
My breathing changed.
Of all the colleges I’d been accepted to, one was thirty minutes from our house.
Another was two hours away.
Georgetown was almost five hours away.
It was the most prestigious.
So naturally, in my mind, it was the correct answer.
I had treated college the way I treated everything else.
Higher ranking.
Better opportunity.
More impressive.
Therefore, right.
Ethan looked at me.
“You should go.”
I nodded.
That wasn’t the part I expected.
Then he said,
“But far isn’t the same as gone.”
My face collapsed.
Mom covered her mouth.
