My Childhood Friend Spoiled My Admission Dream Chapter 01
A few minutes before the application portal closed, Vivian Hart called me and told me she had changed my applications to an unaccredited college.
In the background, I could hear the noise of a graduation party at some bar. My childhood friend, Caleb Vaughn, was there with her.
After hearing everything, he didn’t think anything was wrong.
“Vivian didn’t know what she was doing. She made a mistake, okay? She was only trying to help you,” he said casually. “Worst case, you take a gap year and apply again.”
Then he hung up. No discussion. No hesitation.
As the portal had less than a minute before closing, I tried to call Caleb several times.
He finally answered, already sounding annoyed.
“Vivian grew up poor. Her scores sucked. She just wanted you to stay with her, that’s all. Why can’t you let this go?”
Laughter exploded from the other side of the phone.
“Seriously. Let the rich girl experience real life for once.”
“Your family’s loaded anyway. You can study abroad or reapply next year.”
Right on time, the system shut down, and that insane application submission became permanent.
I slowly lowered my phone.
So this whole time, he thought the applications that got tampered with were mine.
Guess he forgot what Vivian had said earlier.
The account she used was stolen from my backpack.
But I never kept my own student login info in there.
The only thing inside was the information slip Caleb once asked me to help him register.
His information.
I suddenly wondered whether he’d still be this “understanding” once he saw his own acceptance results.
Half an hour later, Vivian posted a three-page apology essay in the class group chat.
[Audrey, I’m so sorry. I swear I didn’t mean to do it. Maybe I’m just stupid.]
She said it was her first time using the college application portal, and she got so nervous she clicked the wrong school.
One slip of the hand, and my top-choice Ivy League school turned into some low-tier trade school called Riverstate Technical College.
At the end, she attached a selfie with red, teary eyes.
[My family’s poor. I’d never even touched a computer before. I just wanted to help Audrey check if the website was glitching.]
[If Audrey holds a grudge against me because of this, I will fully accept all her blame.]
[People like me were never meant to touch expensive things from your rich city lives anyway.]
The group chat exploded instantly.
[Vivian, don’t cry! It was just an accident!]
[Audrey, don’t be so cruel. Do you seriously have to push her like this?]
Before I could type a single word, Caleb’s profile popped up.
[Audrey, stop ghosting the chat.]
[What’s done is done. Vivian already apologized. What else do you want?]
Vivian immediately replied, [Caleb, don’t be mad at her. This was my fault.]
That completely set him off.
[You’re too nice. That’s why spoiled rich girls like her walk all over you.]
[Audrey! Your family is rich. Losing a year means nothing to you!]
[But Vivian’s different! Her family can barely afford new shoes for her little brother just to keep her in school. She can’t handle this kind of stress!]
I stared at the screen so hard my eyes burned.
My nails dug deep into my palm, but I couldn’t feel the pain.
This was the boy who’d grown up with me.
The same Caleb who carried me two blocks after I broke my arm as a kid, crying the whole way and swearing he’d fight anyone who hurt me.
And now?
For a transfer student he’d known less than six months, he destroyed years of my hard work like it was nothing.
Someone tagged me in the chat. [C’mon, rich girl. Say something.]
Vivian sent another voice message, her voice soft and trembling.
[Guys, stop blaming Audrey. It makes sense if she hates me… Caleb’s been tutoring me in math lately. Maybe she misunderstood something.]
The chat went dead for two seconds.
Then the gossip emojis flooded in.
[Ohhh. So she’s jealous.]
[No wonder she won’t let the application thing go.]
I opened my private chat with Caleb.
[Caleb, are you seriously telling me to let this go?]
He replied instantly, [What else are you gonna do? Call the cops on her? Audrey, when did you become this vicious?]
I clenched my teeth and typed my final sentence.
[If the applications that got tampered with today were yours instead of mine… would you still be this understanding?]
