They Thought I Failed—Until I Turned Down Harvard Chapter 05
The phone slipped from Mom’s hand and hit the floor.
She stood frozen.
Dad, startled by her reaction, picked it up.
He asked again, unable to believe what he had heard.
“Ms. Bennett, are you sure there hasn’t been some mistake?”
“You mean… Jenny got into Harvard too?”
Now Ms. Bennett sounded even more baffled.
She couldn’t understand how parents could care so little about their own child that they only now learned where their daughter had been admitted.
And even after finding out, their first reaction wasn’t pride.
It was disbelief.
“Mr. Carter, I’m absolutely certain.”
“The acceptance emails and scholarship notice were sent directly to Jenny and to the school counseling office. There’s no mistake.”
All the strength seemed to drain out of Dad.
He collapsed into his chair.
The emcee onstage called for Olivia’s parents to come up and say a few words.
Every light in the banquet hall seemed to fall on Mom and Dad.
But all the color had drained from their faces.
Under everyone’s eyes, they forced smiles that looked worse than tears.
After the program ended, relatives gathered around to chat.
Aunt Susan asked Mom, “Where’s our Jenny?”
“That girl usually loves a party more than anyone.”
Mom’s lips twitched.
She couldn’t answer.
That was true.
Jenny had always loved being around people.
When had she stopped talking so much?
When had she stopped sharing everything with them?
She used to cling to them and ask for a reward if she scored even a few points higher on a midterm.
Yet now she had received such incredible college offers and a scholarship, and she had never once brought it up.
It felt as if something sharp were lodged in Mom’s throat, impossible to swallow and impossible to spit out.
Uncle Robert came over too and handed Dad a graduation card with a check inside.
“This is for Jenny. I haven’t seen her all day. Make sure she gets it.”
“By the way, where did Jenny end up choosing? Why isn’t her name anywhere at this send-off party?”
Dad held the card and forced an awkward smile.
“Jenny was accepted to UC San Diego. She also got a Regents Scholarship.”
Everyone reacted at once.
“Oh my God, Jenny got an amazing offer!”
“You should be so proud of her. That’s incredible.”
“UC San Diego? And a Regents Scholarship? Then why didn’t you throw a send-off party for her too?”
Mom and Dad stood there, visibly uncomfortable.
The relatives meant every word kindly.
But now each compliment felt like a blade cutting into them.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you too happy to speak?”
It wasn’t that they didn’t want to answer.
They simply couldn’t.
They didn’t even know where I was.
Mom fled the room and hurried into the restroom.
With shaking hands, she called me again and again.
At that moment, I was on a plane to San Diego.
My phone was off.
More than a dozen calls went unanswered.
For reasons she couldn’t explain, panic rose in Mom’s chest until it hurt.
She called Ethan out.
He had been discussing their next trip with Olivia.
He looked confused when Mom pulled him aside.
For once, her tone with him was sharp.
“Ethan! How could you just go along with this?”
“College admissions are a huge deal. How could you tell us she didn’t get in anywhere when you didn’t even know?”
Ethan stood there, completely lost.
Olivia came over when she heard Mom’s frantic voice.
“What happened, Mom? Why are you saying Ethan lied?”
She quickly added, “Yeah, Mom. Ethan never lies.”
Mom shoved the screenshot Ms. Bennett had sent her in front of them.
“Then why was Jenny accepted to Harvard and awarded a Regents Scholarship by UC San Diego while you two told me she failed and needed a gap year?”