They Thought I Failed—Until I Turned Down Harvard Chapter 07
When I landed and turned on my phone, it practically exploded.
Hundreds of messages appeared at once, along with missed calls from different people.
Mom had left me message after message on iMessage.
[Jenny, why do you have to make everyone worry like this?]
[You got such an amazing offer. Why didn’t you tell us anything?]
[Jenny, where are you? When are you going to stop making your mother worry?]
Ethan had sent plenty too.
[Jenny, you actually got such a great offer? That’s amazing! Turn down UC San Diego. We can still go to Harvard together.]
[Stop making a scene. You’re worrying your mom again. Come home.]
[In a few days, we can go finish your Harvard enrollment paperwork together.]
I frowned as I read them.
Then I blocked them and deleted everything.
I stepped outside the airport.
The warm San Diego air hit my face.
For the first time, the future ahead of me felt like it was truly mine.
As I left the terminal, I pulled up directions to campus.
A middle-aged woman called out from behind me and lightly tapped my shoulder.
I turned.
She was composed and elegant, with the polished, self-assured look of a professor.
She held up her phone, compared the photo on the screen to my face, then smiled.
“Jenny Carter? Yes, that’s you.”
I was alone in a city I didn’t know.
My guard went up immediately.
“Who are you?”
“What do you want?”
I backed away suspiciously, ready to grab my suitcase and run.
When she saw me trying to leave, she caught the handle of my suitcase and started dialing as she explained, “Wait. I’m Professor Foster. Bennett asked me to pick you up—”
That only made me panic more.
I turned and ran, leaving my suitcase behind.
I jumped into an Uber and rushed to UC San Diego.
The whole way, I calculated how much it would cost to replace everything in my luggage.
I still had some money, but tuition and living expenses were no small thing.
I needed to find a part-time job as soon as possible.
When I arrived, orientation staff were welcoming incoming students.
I had lost some time on the way, and almost everyone else had already arrived.
Then I walked closer and froze.
The woman I had just mistaken for a suspicious stranger at the airport was standing at orientation check-in.
And she was holding my pink suitcase.
She smiled at me warmly.
“Jenny, right?”
I nodded, embarrassed.
She pushed the suitcase toward me and laughed.
“You really are exactly how Ms. Bennett described you. Very cautious. No wonder she was so worried about you.”
“I’m Professor Foster. Ms. Bennett and I went to graduate school together.”
“She knew you were coming here and asked me weeks ago to keep an eye on you.”
“You flew all this way alone, so I went to the airport to pick you up. Why did you run from me?”
I pressed my lips together and managed an awkward smile.
“I’m sorry, Professor Foster. I misunderstood.”
Fortunately, she didn’t take offense.
College life was busier than I had imagined.
Most days, I barely had time to breathe.
But maybe that was a good thing.
It left me no time to think about everything I had left behind.
After orientation week, I was chosen as a freshman representative and asked to speak at the welcome ceremony.
In high school, I had always lived in Ethan and Olivia’s shadow.
I never would have dared to step onto a stage like this.
But at college, I grew more confident every day.
Without the constant comparisons.
Without someone always putting me down.
I began to believe in myself.
To believe I was capable.
To believe I had the courage to start over.
I stood onstage and spoke without shrinking back.
This was my moment.
For the first time, I believed I was capable of building the future I wanted.
When I finished, thunderous applause filled the room.
I stepped off the stage holding my medal—
and saw two familiar figures.
Professor Foster was leading them toward me.
“Jenny, these two say they’re your parents.”