Before the College Application Deadline My Boyfriend Unplugged My Mouse Chapter 02

Before the College Application Deadline My Boyfriend Unplugged My Mouse Chapter 02

The college counselor let out a sigh.

“Let’s go to my office first.”

I picked up my bag and followed her out.

Nolan hurried after me.

“Natalie.”

I stopped. “Don’t follow me.”

His eyes were already turning red.

“I’ll go with you and help sort this out.”

I turned to look at him.

“I already begged you once during those last ten minutes.”

The color drained from his face.

“Nolan Carter, I won’t beg you a second time.”

In her office, the counselor made call after call to Southridge State’s admissions office, the state university system’s application office, and the portal’s technical support team.

Every answer was the same. Once the portal closed, it stayed closed.

My only options were to wait for schools to announce late-cycle openings or apply to one of the affiliated programs whose deadlines had not passed.

The counselor looked at me and lowered her voice.

“Natalie, your academic record was well within Southridge State’s typical admitted range.”

I lowered my eyes.

My draft college plan was spread across her desk.

First-choice program: Journalism and Mass Communication at Southridge State University.

Second-choice program: Sociology at Southridge State University.

Third-choice program: Legal Studies at Southridge State University.

Beside the list was a note Nolan had written.

[Natalie, just try applying to a school in another city. I dare you.]

He had been leaning over my family’s dining table at the time, his eyes crinkling with laughter.

“I’ll still find a way to sit next to you in college.”

“Who says I want you sitting next to me?”

“Then I’ll show up outside your classroom every day until you change your mind.”

Back then, I believed that even if teenage promises were childish, they were still real.

Only now did I understand that even real promises could expire.

The counselor told me to go home for the day and return tomorrow so we could discuss my remaining options.

When I stepped out of her office, Nolan and Hailey were both waiting in the hallway.

Hailey was holding an iced vanilla oat-milk latte. She carefully offered it to me.

“Natalie, it’s your favorite. Half the syrup.”

I glanced at it.

“I can’t have anything iced today.”

She froze.

Nolan took the drink from her and pressed it into my hand.

“She waited in line for it. Don’t turn down something you like just because you’re angry.”

I looked up at him.

“Cold drinks make my cramps worse on the first day of my period. Did you forget?”

He froze.

The color also drained from Hailey’s face.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t know.”

I smiled faintly.

“Of course you didn’t.”

Then I looked at Nolan.

“You did.”

His lips moved.

“Natalie, everything was such a mess earlier. It slipped my mind.”

“Okay.”

I placed the latte back in Hailey’s hands.

“You can have it.”

Her tears immediately spilled over.

“Natalie, please don’t act like this. I really didn’t do it on purpose. I was just scared.”

Nolan frowned.

“Natalie, she already apologized.”

I stared at him.

“So?”

He hesitated.

“What you’re saying is really hurtful.”

A laugh escaped me.

Apparently, even after missing my application deadline, I still wasn’t allowed to say anything that might hurt her feelings.

But the moment Hailey cried, she was automatically in the right.