Thanks for Pushing Me Off the Roof Chapter 04
Maren’s POV
The worker hands the envelopes to Nash’s mom and Declan’s mom. Both of them are shaking, like they can already picture exactly how bright their sons’ futures are going to be.
The ceremony is right at its peak.
The principal takes my envelope, glances inside, and lights up. “Tonight isn’t just about celebrating our graduates. It’s about celebrating the best of what this school has to offer. Please join me in welcoming Maren Voss to the stage to receive her acceptance letter from Harvard University.”
The room erupts.
I stand, smooth out my dress, and walk up to the stage. The principal hands me the letter personally. I take it with a smile and a nod.
‘Maren isn’t just one of our top graduates. She’s exactly the kind of student this school is proud of. He pauses, glancing toward the back of the room. “And since we have the rest of the letters right here, why don’t we keep the celebration going?”
Nash’s mom and Declan’s mom are already moving before he finishes the sentence. They tear into the envelopes, fingers moving fast.
“Let’s see which Ivy Nash got into… Nash’s mom is grinning so wide her eyes nearly disappear.
Then she reads it.
The grin doesn’t fade so much as collapse. She stands there with the letter in her hand, completely still, like someone just slapped her
across the face.
Declan’s mom has the same reaction. She rubs her eyes, stares at the paper again, and when she finally speaks, her voice has gone up
about three octaves. “What… what is this?”
The vice principal steps up with a mic, trying to keep the momentum going, and reads the letters out loud. “Let’s congratulate Nash Ellery and Declan Morrow, who have been accepted to-
He stops.
He actually stops mid-sentence. His eyes go wide and he finishes the line like he’s not sure he’s reading it right. “Riverside… Community
College?’
Dead silence.
Ten full seconds pass.
Then the room cracks open. People laugh, and they don’t bother hiding it.
“Riverside Community College? Didn’t they just say Ivy League?”
“Oh my god, the drop-off…how does that even happen?”
Nash’s mom looks like she might pass out. She spins around, finds Nash somewhere in the crowd, and her voice drops to something sharp and quiet, which is somehow worse than yelling. ‘Nash Ellery. Get over here right now. What did you do?”
Declan’s mom is already across the room, grabbing Declan by the ear. “You told me you were up every night working. For this? You think
this is okay?”
Nash and Declan look like they’ve been hit by a truck. Their whole plan was to get the letters quietly and figure it out before anyone noticed. The idea that it would get read out loud, in front of every parent and teacher in the room, never crossed their minds.
Neither of them can get a single word out.
That’s when Fern shoves through the crowd.
Her eyes are red, tears already streaming down her face, and she points straight at me. ‘It wasn’t them! It wasn’t Nash or Declan! It was
Maren. She did this!”
Every head in the room turns toward me.
Fern’s voice breaks on cue. “That day in the computer lab, Maren was the one at the keyboard. She’s always been jealous of how close the three of us are. So she switched their applications behind their backs. She’s been trying to ruin us this whole time!”
Classic.
Nash and Declan spot their opening and take it without hesitation. “Yeah. It was Maren. We had no idea.
I look down at the three of them from the stage and laugh, just once. “You did it, and you can’t even own it. Pathetic.”
“You little- Nash’s mom has heard enough. Whatever restraint she had is gone. She pushes through the crowd and comes at me like she’s ready to take my head off, hand already raised.
