Chapter 4
To silence any second thoughts, I opened my laptop right there on FaceTime with Melody.
Without hesitation, moments before the midnight deadline, I logged into the Common App portal
and changed my acceptance from UMN to Juilliard.
The cursor hovered over the “Confirm Change” button for just a second before I clicked, watching
my future transform with a single mouse click.
Melody was ecstatic, practically bouncing off her bed. “You’re going to kill it in New York! The Juilliard education is literally a once–in–a–lifetime opportunity.”
Back in freshman year, Henry and I had made a promise over late–night study sessions and shared
dreams. We’d work hard, ace our SATs, and head to UMN.
The hockey program there had been his dream since he scored his first hat trick at thirteen, and our parents thought it would be perfect for us to attend the same college even if my major would be
music.
Even though I never loved the idea of continuing to live in the shadow of his hockey stardom or
being known as “Henry’s stepsister” for another four years, I’d spent three years of high school
making it my goal.
Every AP class, every SAT prep session, every extracurricular -all carefully chosen to match UMN’s requirements. I’d even joined the robotics club just because Henry said it would look good on our applications.
After becoming step–siblings, our families had already pictured our future together.
Everyone, including me, thought Henry and I would naturally become closer during college – the
perfect blended family story..
Now, I couldn’t find a single reason to go to UMN anymore.
The thought of walking those same campus paths with him, sharing classes, running into him and Gianna at the library or campus coffee shops – it made me physically ill.
Or rather, after today, if I kept trailing after Henry like his faithful shadow, I wouldn’t be able to look at myself in the mirror.
16:07
Offside with My Step Brother: Hockey Star Refuses to Accept My Goodbye
2.8%
Chapter 4
I just needed to get as far away as possible. Juilliard, Eastman, Curtis – anywhere would do, as long as he wasn’t there. The entire East Coast suddenly seemed like the perfect escape.
If he was going to Minnesota, then I’d head to New York.
A thousand miles and a completely different world felt like a good start to forgetting my asshole stepbrother.
16:07
