“If they send things using lavish paper, I’d imagine it’s a pricey school,” she said.
I tried hard not to roll my eyes and managed to just nod. Money would always be something that would keep me from things I wanted for myself. I didn’t bother telling her that this supposed school—real or not—said it was tuition-free in theletter. Because the reality was, something like this was probably too good to be true. Plus, I was still waiting to hear from USC.
“You’re probably right. I bet it’s really expensive,” I said, agreeing with her. “But luckily I’m still waiting to hear from USC,” I said over my shoulder as I left the kitchen.
As I headed down the hall to my room, I heard her laugh and mumble sarcastically, “Because USC isn’t expensive.”
“What?” Roger asked.
“He got accepted to some fancy, expensive school,” she replied. “But he’s still holding out for USC.”
Roger’s laugh had me seeing red. Knowing that I was safely out of their line of sight, I didn’t hesitate to roll my eyes or shake my head at their comments. By the time I reached my room and opened the door, I wanted to slam it shut. Kenton was still up, and his nose was buried in a book.
“Hey,” he said. I ignored his greeting and tossed the stuff from Omnia Academy on my desk and grabbed the one working earbud from my desk drawer. “Dude, what’s wrong with you?” he asked as I put the earbud in my ear. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and scrolled to find some instrumental jazz music.
“Nothing.” While looking at my phone, I stormed over to the dresser we shared and opened the top drawer. I grabbed the shorts and t-shirt that I slept in and headed toward the door to go take a shower.
I hit the play button on the app, but before the music started, I heard Kenton ask, “Did you get rejected from USC yet?”
Without bothering to turn and look at him, I flipped him off.
4
Ryder
July
It had been a few days since the arrival of the Omnia Academy envelope, and none of my friends had admitted to sending it yet. I had just finished lunch during my shift at the library and had a few minutes to spare before I needed to clock back in. Knowing the mail was usually delivered by mid-morning, I decided to call home to see if anything had arrived from USC.
“Hi, sweetie. I’m glad you called?—”
“Why? Did something come from USC?” I rudely cut her off and eagerly asked about the mail.
“No, nothing from USC. However, a gentleman from Omnia Academy called shortly after nine this morning and said he would like to arrange a time to meet with us. He had a beautiful slight accent.”
My stomach dropped, and I pictured the weird packet of stuff that I got in the mail.
Fuck. Was that place real?
My thoughts raced as I tried to think of what friend could be trying to pull off this elaborate scheme.
“Are you still there, Ryder?”
“Yes. Sorry. I got distracted. I have to clock back in soon.”
“Okay, well, I told him if he didn’t mind other kids in the background, he was more than welcome to stop by this evening.”
“Oh my God, what?”
“Yes, Ryder, I told him he could come by tonight. So we’ll eat dinner a little early, and the kids can help clean up the kitchen. He’ll be at the house at seven.”
As I pictured the living room cluttered with the two playpens and cereal pieces on the couch and between the cushions, I almost had a meltdown then and there while on the phone. Before I got too stressed about this, I needed to find out if this place was real or if I was getting worked up over something totally made up by a friend.
“Did he say what his name was?”
“Atlas Christos.”
Oh my God.I closed my eyes and pictured that name on the mentor assignment page. I swallowed hard, opened my eyes, and wrapped up the call.
