I’ve been running the anonymous Instagram page Northgate Confessions for three years.
In those three years, I’ve seen it all: cheating, bullying, and inappropriate relationships between students and teachers that should have stayed behind closed doors.
On the final day of college application deadlines, I planned to post one last update before shutting down the page for good.
At 11:50 p.m., an anonymous account sent me a DM.
“I changed the college application of a girl I grew up with.
For three years, I’ve known she likes me.
But she always acts like she’s better than everyone, and she’s always tutoring me and the girl I actually like.
Now she’s applying to the same school I am, and because of her, the girl I like might not get in.
I switched all her applications so she’ll have to spend a year at community college with the girl I like. That’s fair, right?”
I stared at the screen, my chest seizing.
Then, a few more messages.
“But we did grow up together. It’s not like I don’t have a soft spot for her.”
“Admin, post this for me. If she sees it in the last ten minutes, she’ll have time to fix it, and she can still go to college down south with me.”
“If she doesn’t see it, well, then I guess she’s just unlucky.”
I took a breath, ready to refuse.
The next second, he sent a meme.
An ugly cat throwing a punch.
I had drawn that meme myself.
I had only ever sent it to two people.
One was Conrad.
The other was Mallory.
His Jealousy Sent Me Straight To The Ivy League Chapter 17 On August twenty-eighth, I boarded an Amtrak train to Princeton. My mom and Mallory came to see me off. On the platform, Mallory hugged me for a long time. “Inez,” she said, letting go, her eyes red. “Don’t ever tutor people for free again.”
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His Jealousy Sent Me Straight To The Ivy League Chapter 16 Conrad never contacted me again. Not for a day, or two. For two full weeks. Later, I heard from a neighbor that his mother had taken him back to their hometown overnight. The house next door was emptied out soon after. Mallory came over
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His Jealousy Sent Me Straight To The Ivy League Chapter 15 It was noon when I went in to sign the papers. As I came out of the police station, I stood at the crosswalk, waiting for the light. My phone rang. Conrad. I answered. “Inez.” His voice was low. “The police just came to
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His Jealousy Sent Me Straight To The Ivy League Chapter 14 On the third day after I filed the report, the Common App system logs came through. The officer called me. “Inez, the logs show that on January fifteenth at 11:41 p.m., a device that was not your usual one logged into your application portal.
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His Jealousy Sent Me Straight To The Ivy League Chapter 13 After the door closed, I picked up my phone and opened the recording. Twelve minutes and thirty-seven seconds. There was one line that mattered. *“Because you always wanted Emory.”* Always. How would he know I had always wanted Emory? My college application account was
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His Jealousy Sent Me Straight To The Ivy League Chapter 12 I remained standing across from him. I didn’t sit down. “Why would you ask that?” Conrad studied my face, searching for a reaction. “Because you always wanted Emory. Harvard and Yale don’t seem like schools you would pick.” “Don’t seem like schools I would
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His Jealousy Sent Me Straight To The Ivy League Chapter 11 After I finished reading, I locked my phone. Mallory leaned closer. “So he knows?” “He knows.” “What was his reaction?” “He didn’t say much.” “So what are you going to do? Are you going to tell the counselor about the application being changed?” I
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His Jealousy Sent Me Straight To The Ivy League Chapter 10 When I got home, I called my mom. “Mom, that special Princeton research program—you signed the form for me last year, right?” There was a pause on the other end of the line. “The counselor told you? I didn’t want to affect your other
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His Jealousy Sent Me Straight To The Ivy League Chapter 09 When I came out of the office, Conrad was still standing by the hallway window. The two slushies sat on the windowsill, already half-melted. “Inez, what is going on? Explain this to me.” His tone was the same as always—calm, not raised, as if
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His Jealousy Sent Me Straight To The Ivy League Chapter 08 But things had gone in the exact opposite direction. He wanted to trap me. Instead, he had pushed me straight into Princeton. I almost laughed. Mr. Sullivan must have thought I was still hesitating, because he added, “Both schools are offering full scholarships. The
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