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“Tell me you got in too or I’m going to die,” Scarlett said.

I just kept staring at my inbox. I was too scared to click on the email. Not because I didn’t get in. Of course I had. It was a good college, but not an Ivy. And I had the grades for an easy acceptance. No, I was scared for an entirely different reason.

“Fuck, did you not? Shit, shit, shit!” Scarlett rarely ever cursed. And her string of them was a little shocking. “What did those bastard’s say?” She grabbed my phone and clicked on the email.

Normally I would have been annoyed that she thought I didn’t get in, but I was just frozen. Fuck was right.

“Soph, why do you look like that? You got in!!!” She squealed again. “We all did!” She threw her arms around me. “It’s just like we always wanted!”

Jacob jogged over to us. “I heard they sent out the acceptance letters today. Did you all get in too?” He’d done early decision, so he’d known for months.

But for the past few months I’d been so stuck in my happy little bubble with Adonis that I’d completely forgotten about colleges and acceptance letters and my future.

Scarlett pulled back from hugging me.

Jacob saw her smile. “I knew it!” He lifted her in the air and twirled her around. “I wasn’t worried at all.” He set her back down and fist-bumped Axel.

“It seemed like you were a little worried,” Scarlett said with a laugh. “God, this is so perfect. It’s what we’ve all always wanted. We get to stay together, just like we planned. Soph and I get to room together.” Her smile was so big. “The four of us against the world.”

“Rude,” RJ said.

“You know what I meant,” Scarlett quicky said.

“I’m kidding, baby doll.” He pulled her into a hug. “I’ll be joining you in a few years.”

“You okay, Soph?” Jacob asked. His eyebrows pulled together as he stared down at me.

“I...” my voice trailed off as Adonis wrapped his arms around me from behind.

“Aphrodite,” he whispered in my ear, sending a trail of shivers down my spine. “What’s everyone celebrating over here?”

I wanted to be celebrating too. Going to the University of New Castle with my best friends had been a dream of mine for as long as I could remember. But fear had wrapped around my heart. And I didn’t feel like celebrating at all. “Adonis, what colleges did you apply to?” I asked.

Scarlett heard me and froze, her celebrations coming to a screeching halt. Because for just a moment she forgot that it wasn’t just the four of us anymore. It was five. And how had I not asked Adonis about this sooner?! What if he was going to a college across the country? What if our relationship was a ticking time bomb and I hadn’t even realized it?

Adonis chuckled. “Um...none.”

I turned around to look up at him. “What do you mean none?!”

“Have you seen my grades?”

I actually hadn’t. But he’d let it slip that he’d gotten kicked out of a few of the schools he’d bounced around from because of bad grades.

He laughed. “What’s that face for?”

Liam ran over to us. “I heard acceptance letters went out. You all got in, right?”

For a second no one responded.

“Um...yes,” Scarlett said.

Liam hugged her. “Why do you guys not look more excited? It’s what you’ve always wanted.” He wasn’t reading the room at all.

Adonis stared down at me. “You all got in where?”

“The University of New Castle,” Liam said and clapped him on his back. “Their dream school. It’s where my parents met. And where Aunt Daphne and Uncle Rob almost met a few times. They needed a few chances to figure it out. But it’s like our family’s school. Minus the fact that my dad got kicked out from teaching there. It was a whole thing. And technically both our dads went to Harvard. But...yeah. It’s a legacy thing, kind of.”

Kind of. It’s what I’d always wanted. But staring up at Adonis, it felt like my world was falling apart.