ollege applications, and the final deadline was just hours away. I sat at a computer, my mouse hovering over the 'Submi

as laughing with a group of his friends. Their voices

friends, Mark, asked, clapping him on the ba

e' s going there. She' s an art major, and she' s kind of nervous a

l six months ago, all wide eyes and soft smiles,

to Ava? Weren' t you two supposed to go to Caltech to

I pretended to be focused on my screen, bu

ugh, a sound I knew bett

hing? We wer

g to a conspiratorial whisper,

When she sees I' ve changed my mind, she' ll f

dn' t just break our promise, he expected me to abandon my own dreams without a second though

ds 'California Institute of Technology' and 'Aerospace Engineering' . Thi

ing, teasing him about being Ch

note of pride in his voice. "She told me she barely has any other opt

saw me as an extension of himself, someone with no will of her own

e hurt in my eyes. Quietly, I gathered my things, my movements small and silent.

oticed m

he cool evening air, his words echoed in

touched my lips

pplication system. I didn' t chan

across the country.

ings, was never just for him. He was a part of it, a huge part, but he wasn't the fo

oar to, and I was goi