West Coast, East Ivy, and the Boy Who Never Chose Me Chapter 05

West Coast, East Ivy, and the Boy Who Never Chose Me Chapter 05

Liora’s face drained of all color in an instant. Kael froze completely on the spot. Their expressions shifted between pale white and deep green, full of shock and unease.

A surge of pure joy burst through my chest. I stood there speechless for a moment.

Kael rushed forward, his face dark with rage, and cut the reporters off mid-question.

“You must have the wrong person. Elowen’s nowhere near smart enough for that.”

“Yeah, this is definitely a mistake,” Liora jumped in.

“Her grades were a mess last year—she couldn’t even get into West Coast.”

They pushed their way through the crowd of reporters, clearly flustered by my unexpected success. They refused to accept the truth that I had long surpassed them in secret.

The reporters who had been shoved aside wore stern expressions and let out cold huffs.

“Well, if Elowen didn’t earn it, then I guess it must be one of you two?” The reporters were visibly irritated at the interruption.

“Are you just bitter that your classmate did better? Is that why you’re acting like this?”

“Get out of here. No one wants you here.”

I leaned against the doorway, feeling immense satisfaction as I watched Kael and Liora embarrass themselves.

“Honestly, I’m pretty surprised myself. But I know I worked for this. I just kept my head down, showed up every day, and focused on what I needed to do.”

I faced the cameras with poise and composure, accepting the interview as the city’s top SAT scorer.

Kael suddenly let out a mocking laugh.

“Elowen, you’ve always loved putting on a show. Did you hire these fake reporters to call you the top scorer just to impress me?”

A crafty glint appeared in Liora’s eyes.

“Elowen, even if you didn’t get into college, you shouldn’t lie like this. Kael and I will stay with you and help you study until you get into West Coast University.”

I rolled my eyes and stepped back inside my house. My mother invited the reporters in for cups of hot tea, then politely but firmly sent them away.

New messages from Kael popped up nonstop on my phone screen.

[Elowen, I said I’d go public with our relationship once you got into West Coast University, but you didn’t need to stage a whole fake performance like this.]

[Liora and I won’t stand by and watch you end up with no college to attend.]

[Just apologize to Liora, and we can go back to how things used to be.]

I ignored every single message.

Kael and Liora eventually stopped showing up in my life. I continued with my daily routine and received countless calls from different universities trying to recruit me. I stuck to my original choice and confirmed my enrollment at East Ivy Academy.

My parents were so happy. We went back to our hometown in the suburbs and threw a huge graduation cookout.

Kael had never been one to post on social media before, but he updated his page constantly after that.

He and Liora traveled to many scenic places. They hiked up snow-capped mountains, rode horses across vast grasslands, and trekked through dense forests. In every group photo, Kael had his arm around Liora, wearing a bright, happy smile.

I felt absolutely nothing as I looked at those pictures.

Half a month later, I was walking home after finishing a part-time job when Kael and Liora blocked my path.

“Do you finally admit that you screwed up?”

I lifted my head and stared at Kael, who carried an arrogant air about him, feeling utterly speechless.

Liora tugged at his sleeve and frowned at him.

“Don’t talk to her like that.”

“Elowen, we’ve talked this over. We realize we didn’t notice how much pressure your gap year put you under, which is why you tried to hide things from us.”

“Don’t worry. This time, we’ll study alongside you the whole way and make sure you get into West Coast University.”

I blinked in shock, half-convinced I had misheard their words.