The Green (21 page)

“Well good then. I wouldn’t want to
compromise my reputation in front of all these fine people. I mean,
Gina is out there,” I said, sliding my arms up his sides and
clasping them around his neck.

“Mmm, so tempting. Let’s get out there and
get this party started, huh?” he said, giving me a squeeze.

“All right, if we have to.” I let him lead me
back out to the rec room. I helped him pull the pizzas out of the
oven and spread them out on the bar. I pulled open the sleek steel
door of the fridge. Mrs. Bartlett wasn’t kidding when she said
she’d loaded the fridge with pop.

“Uh, do you have any bottled water?” I asked,
feeling bad that I didn’t want something that was sitting right in
front of me.

“Sure, it’s upstairs in the kitchen fridge.
You want me to go get you one?” he asked, stacking paper plates and
napkins next to the pizzas.

“No, it’s all right, I can manage. Top of the
stairs, in the big metal box just like this one, right.” I laughed,
poking him in the side. “Anybody else want a water?” Three hands
went up. “Three waters coming up.”

I headed up the stairs, flicking on the
light. At the top of the stairs I opened the door. I paused, not
sure if I should go. This is ridiculous. Everyone is in bed,
including Ron, or Mr. Bartlett. I took a deep breath and made my
way into the kitchen. The house was dark and quiet. Mrs. Bartlett
had left a light on over the stove. The tick of the clock echo in
the quiet room and the voices from the basement trailed up the
stairs behind me. Too bad the fridge was all the way over on the
other side of the giant kitchen. I tiptoed across the floor, trying
not to make too much noise, although in a house this big I probably
could’ve tap danced across the floor and no one would’ve heard a
thing.

I opened the fridge, which seemed twice as
big as the one in the basement. I grabbed a few bottles off the
shelf and jumped slightly as the kitchen light flicked on.

Ron stood in the doorway, looking a bit
startled himself.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Finding everything okay?” He
didn’t move.

“Yeah, uh, fine, thanks.” I looked at the
floor, not wanting to look him in the eye. If I could just get back
across the floor and to the basement before anything else was said,
everything would be fine.

“So, James tells me you’ve applied to
Northwestern,” he said, coming to his senses and becoming Mr.
Bartlett again.

“Um, yeah, I did.” I didn’t want to make this
conversation any longer than it needed to be. But was this how it
was going to be forever? If I stayed with James would we have the
same awkward conversations every time we were in the same room
together?

I lifted my head and met his gaze.

“Look, I don’t know how else to say this,” he
started, throwing a nervous glance towards the basement door as
laughter drifted through the tense air between us. “I really don’t
want James or my wife to know about, uh, about, you know.”

I stopped him before he said it. He couldn’t
say the words. If he did, that was it, it was out there and we’d
never be able to put it back in the box. My heart pounded against
my chest. I wondered if he could hear it across the huge space.

“It’s okay. I won’t ever say anything. I
quit. I don’t want anyone to know either,” I said quietly.
“Especially James.”

“He told me all about you. Brilliant student,
NHS, cheerleader. Sounds like you’ve got quite a future ahead of
you.”

“I hope so,” I said, unable to ignore the
fact that we were standing as if nailed to the floor.

“I have some friends, at Northwestern. Maybe
I can talk to them for you, see what they can do,” he said.

He could talk to the people at Northwestern?
A guaranteed in? Yes, yes, yes! But… there is always a but, isn’t
there? If I let him do that, then Northwestern is forever tainted.
Nando’s blood would run from my diploma and wherever I went I would
never be able to forget that the only reason I got into the best
school in the world was because my boyfriend’s dad pulled some
strings. Because I was his pot dealer and he wanted to shut me
up.

“Mr. Bartlett, I appreciate your offer, but I
am really looking forward to the future and I think it’s best if I
get into Northwestern because I’m qualified.” I tried to keep my
voice steady, even though I was running out of breath.

“Well, then, I guess that settles it. I hope
we can put this little situation behind us both.” Mr. Bartlett
crossed the room to the fridge, looking more relaxed. I shuffled
out of the way in the direction of the basement, hoping I could
scurry out of sight before he could say anything else.

“Ari,” he said.

I cringed, the word sounded funny in his
mouth.

“It was nice meeting you. You kids have a
good time.” He grabbed a bottle of water, raised it to me and
nodded his head.

“Okay, uh, bye,” I said making my way down
the staircase with the armful of water. Each step leading me
further from the past. Shut up. Now locked away behind the basement
door that Mr. Bartlett had closed behind me. No more Ron. Just Mr.
Bartlett.

When I got to the rec room, I set the bottles
on the counter and threw myself into my future, well part of it
anyways.

“Everything all right?” James asked, looking
at me quizzically as I landed in his arms.

“Everything is just fine,” I whispered,
burying my head in his shoulder and taking a deep breath.

The chill outside had started to ease and
spring was in the air just a few weeks later. My mom had moved back
to the South Side, to Tia Maria’s house. I missed her, but it
didn’t feel much different than it had before. We barely saw each
other as it was. I tried to see her once every week or so.

Every day I rushed to the mailbox in front of
Naomi’s giant house, where I’d managed to get my mail forwarded. It
still didn’t stop me from thinking that maybe my letter from
Northwestern had gotten lost in the mail. Was it sitting, lonely
and neglected, in the mailbox at my old apartment? Did the new
renters chuck it in the trash? Or was it floating out there
somewhere in mail limbo, never to be found again?

James’ acceptance letters started rolling in.
Cal Berkley. Notre Dame. Northwestern. Of course he’d gotten into
all of them. I didn’t want to sway him on where he should go but of
course secretly deep down inside I wanted him to pick Northwestern.
I wanted him to stay with me forever. But what right did I have to
put that pressure on him? Who was I? We’d only been together a
couple of months. As much as I loved him, I couldn’t be the person
who kept him from what he really wanted to do. If we were meant to
be together, it would work out. Right?

But how would that work? Long distance to
California? I knew Cal Berkley was his first choice. God, who was I
kidding? We’d be broken up in no time. All those gorgeous
California chicks? Ugh. Maybe the power of positive thinking would
make him decide he should go to Northwestern. That it was the best.
In my eyes, nothing was better than Northwestern. So every time he
was around and not looking at me, I was staring at the back of his
head thinking ‘Northwestern, Northwestern, Northwestern.’ I
know—I’m a freak.

One crisp, sunny Saturday, I headed down to
the mailbox at Naomi’s, trying not to get my hopes up too much. If
it was like any other day, there’d be nothing in there but coupons
and some bills. I flipped open the door to the fancy mailbox
embedded in a brick wall and gasped. There were more than bills in
that mailbox. A large white 8 x 10 envelope was buried under
Naomi’s copy of Cosmo. I whipped the mail out and shuffled through
it, pulling the big envelope to the top. There it was, in the
return address corner. Northwestern University. Addressed to me,
Ariceli Pisa.

I rushed back into the house and headed
straight for the kitchen. That was a big envelope. My guess is if
they were rejecting me they wouldn’t send such a large envelope.
The house was empty, Mr. and Mrs. Standish were gone for the day
and Naomi had run to get her haircut. I dropped the envelope onto
the gleaming granite counter and stared at it. Should I wait for
Naomi to get home? Should I call James to get over here? Could I
possibly manage to wait until either of them could get here?

Hell no!

I grabbed a pair of scissors out of the junk
drawer and carefully slid the blade under the flap of the envelope.
I set it down again, reminding myself to breathe.

“Here goes nothing,” I said aloud, to myself
since there was no one else to hear it.

I eased the pile of papers out of the
envelope and set in down in front of me on the counter. I was going
to read it carefully. No surprises. Deep breath.

Never mind. I skimmed through quickly and my
eyes caught on the following words…Dear Ms.
Pisa…accepted…scholarship…full tuition.

Wha? Oh my god.

I slid down the side of the cabinet, my eyes
fixed on the paper. I read through it again in disbelief. I was
going to Northwestern next year. And they were going to pay for it.
I felt light headed and woozy and I fanned myself with the paper.
Now was NOT the time to pass out on the kitchen floor. I flipped
through the other papers; housing forms, information on campus
life.

This was it. I had made it. It was only the
beginning, but I had made it. I felt a twinge in my chest as my
mind flitted to Nando. Did I really deserve this? I had done some
bad things. But I had done many more good things. Tears welled up,
spilling down my cheeks. Yes, I deserved this. I deserved it all. I
was appreciative to all the people who helped me, but I couldn’t
feel guilty about it, about what Nando had done. Even though I
hated my brother for many reasons, he had, in his own way, tried to
help me get to this day. I would never forget that.

But now it was my time to shine.

And that’s exactly what I planned to do.

Ariceli Pisa

Personal Statement

Northwestern University

I am not unique to my circumstances. In this
day and age there are many people in this world, in my state, and
in my town that have the same circumstances to deal with. And some
probably have it much worse. My family has no father and no money.
My mother has very little education, and my brother valued things
other than intelligence. This didn’t stop my mother from dreaming
big.

She took two jobs to move me from school on
the south side of Chicago to the suburbs so I could have a chance
at an excellent education. We struggled and the life was not easy,
but it pushed me to work harder, to want more, to be the best. My
schoolbooks were my escape from the life and events that swirled
around me, threatening to pull me backward. Along with my mother,
teachers, friends and extra curricular activities, I managed to
keep myself on the road to success. I worked hard and achieved the
ultimate goal in high school—being the top of my class at Cambridge
High School.

In addition to academic success, I was
involved in the school culture. I participated on the Cambridge
cheerleading squad for four years. I was also a member of the
National Honor Society, French Club, and Class Council and write
for the school paper. These activities have allowed me to grow as a
student and as a leader.

My goal in life is to be a broadcast
journalist. I want to take all of the skills I have acquired at
Cambridge High School and apply them to my career. I want to be a
leader, to show others of my heritage and those that suffer from
challenging circumstances that you don’t have to let yourself be
held back by things that are beyond your control. I have been
focused on this future since I was a little girl and I believe that
Northwestern is the next step. I feel that I can bring a unique
perspective to Northwestern.

With education, determination, a good work
ethic, and a strong support group of family and friends, any
obstacle can be overcome.

I am living proof.