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“Because he wasn’t the one that made our mother cry,” Sebastian said softly, forcing himself to look away from Uncle Jason before he said too much.

“What was your score on Radcliffe’s entrance exam?” the man sitting across from him asked, sounding bored.

“A perfect score,” Sebastian said, watching as the board members looked down at his application and–

“You earned a perfect score on both tests?” the woman at the end of the table asked, looking surprised as the rest of the members looked down at the files in front of them.

A nod.

“Do you know Mikey Campbell?” one of them asked, making him frown in confusion.

“Yes, she’s my best friend,” Sebastian said, wondering what that had to do with anything.

“So, you know that she applied as well.”

“Yes, we applied together.”

“Did you happen to see the essay that she wrote for her application?” Uncle Jason asked.

“No, she wouldn’t let me read it,” Sebastian said, suddenly wishing that he’d pushed her harder to show him.

Nodding, Uncle Jason opened another file and pulled out a paper. He pushed it toward Sebastian. Frowning, Sebastian walked over to the table and picked it up, absently noting that it was two pages stapled together. When he read the title, he glanced up in confusion.

“Keep reading,” Uncle Jason said, gesturing for him to continue.

Sebastian looked back down at the paper in his hand and read the title again, wondering why Mikey wrote her essay about him when this essay was supposed to be about her. When he came to the first paragraph, his stomach dropped.

Although, this essay is supposed to demonstrate why I would make a wonderful addition to Latin Scribe High School, I can’t do that. Not when I know that there is someone else that should be there instead.

I want to tell you about my best friend, Sebastian Bradford with the hopes that you will read this letter before you have the chance to read his file because that will only tell you about the mistakes that he’s made and I want to tell you about the boy…

“With your school record, you would have automatically been rejected, but with your test scores, we would have seriously considered you. Your recent situation would have forced us to consider another applicant, but that letter,” the man sitting in front of him said, pointing at the letter in Sebastian’s hands that he was still trying to wrap his mind around, “has put us in a very difficult position. You see, we want the boy described in that letter, because that’s the kind of person that we hope all of our students will develop into by the time they leave us.”

“Is the boy she described in that letter you?”

Before Sebastian could answer, Uncle Jason spoke. “Yes, he is.”

“What would you say if we offered you a partial scholarship?” someone else asked before Sebastian could wrap his mind around everything that was happening.

“I would have to respectfully decline and wait until next year to apply again,” Sebastian said absently as he found himself reading the letter Mikey wrote again.

“Why is that?” Uncle Jason asked as Sebastian looked up and gave the only answer that he could.

“Because my parents shouldn’t have to pay for my mistakes.”

Chapter 45

“I’m an idiot,” Sebastian said with a groan.

“And if you hadn’t been saying that for the past week, I’d probably be concerned,” Mikey said, shrugging it off as she took in the large sign in Aunt Haley’s and Uncle Jason’s kitchen, congratulating her, Elizabeth, and Braxton for getting into Latin Scribe High School.

There was still no word from Latin Scribe about his application, but then again, he didn’t need a letter to tell him that he’d messed up. He already had thirty-two letters telling him the same thing, his scores were impressive but they just weren’t willing to take a chance on him. He didn’t need to hear it from one more school to know that it was over.

At least there was cake, Sebastian thought as he stole Mikey’s plate. With a glare and a grumble, she stole Jonathan’s, who simply settled on glaring before he moved to take it back, thought better of it, and stole Mathew’s. He should probably get something to drink to help wash down all the frosting, Sebastian thought as he glanced at the refrigerator only to decide that he wasn’t thirsty when he found Braxton’s father glaring at him again.

He seemed to do that a lot, Sebastian thought as he shifted his focus to Cole to find him laughing at something that Chloe was showing him on her phone, while Katie watched his every move from across the room. That probably wouldn’t end well, Sebastian thought even as he couldn’t help but notice that everyone was in a good mood.

Well, everyone except for Bra