It was a terrible, gloomy, sunless day when Kiara received the most amazing news. She got accepted into Harvard Medical School! She just couldn't believe it! All of those years of late night studying, early morning classes, and barely enough time to have fun, had all been worth it.
Kiara immediately dialed her best friend James to tell him the great news.
"Hello?", James answered.
"Guess what I got in the mail today?", Kiara asked excitedly.
"Umm, a check for a million bucks?".
Kiara laughs, "No, silly. I got accepted into Harvard Med!".
"Wow, that's so great! Congratulations! You deserve it! Have you told your parents yet?", James inquired.
"Not yet, I'm a little worried to tell them. Harvard is so far away from here and I'm not sure how they'll take the news". James reminded her of how long and hard she's worked for this and how she'll be the first doctor in her family.
"I'm sure they will be just as excited as you and extremely proud. It's not every day your kid gets accepted to Harvard, right?".
Kiara thought about it for a moment, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Harvard is one of the most prestigious universities in the country. Why wouldn't they be excited and proud?".
"Exactly. Now get your cute butt home and tell them the good news!"
"Alright, I'll call you later. Bye".
As Kiara hung up with her best friend, she realized something else. She was leaving him, too. They had been best friends since they were 5 years old and neither had left, except for family vacations during the summer. James was the one that pushed her to study hard and get good grades, to be a person that could change the world, and to become a great doctor. What was she going to do without him?
As she walks through the door, both of her parents are home and in the kitchen. She hears her dad yell from the kitchen, "Hey kid, we're in the kitchen", as if she didn't already know. Her parents did practically everything together. They cooked, cleaned, sang, danced, and even went skydiving together once. They were the happiest married couple she knew, and they were both still madly in love with each other, even after all of these years. One could only hope to find a love like theirs.
Walking into the kitchen, she sees her mom hovering over the stove and tasting sauce. Her mom was a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, bright green eyes, perfectly tan skin, and a gorgeous smile that could melt any cold heart. She wasn't exactly tall, and she wasn't exactly short, either. Her mother was a perfect medium as far as heights go.
"Hmmmm", she thought, "Mom's famous spaghetti for dinner. Score!".
Her eyes cross the kitchen to where her dad is reaching into the cabinet for the noodles. Her dad is, what some would say, a very "manly man". He was tall, six foot two to be exact, he had dark brown hair, electric blue eyes, shoulders that were broad and strong, a great and full beard, and a laugh that was contagious. He worked all his life starting on his parents farm and now working with a wood company chopping down trees. He was the perfect lumberjack.
"Hiya kid, how was your day?", he asked, in his deep intimidating voice.
Kiara loved spending gloomy days in the local cafe, sitting in an armchair and reading. She didn't know why, but she had always found it peaceful.
"Not too bad, just read a little at the cafe earlier, before I went to the P.O. box for the mail".
"Neat, anything good in that old thing?", her father asked.
"Uh yeah, just some bills, some of mom's home magazines, and a letter for me". Kiara looked down as she said it. She could feel both her parent's eyes, slowly look at her and stay there. She was terrified to tell them she had gotten accepted but she didn't want to keep it from them either. Finally her mother broke the silence, "And? What was the letter for?".
Boom. There it was. Her mother had asked it and since Kiara was a terrible liar, she answered, "Well it was a letter from Harvard Medical School, congratulating me on being accepted".
Nothing. Dead silence. Kiara knew this would happen. She knew if there was ever any kind of talk of their little girl going away for whatever reason, they would freeze and not know what to do. What had she done? Did she just break her parents hearts? She couldn't bear the silence anymore. "Are you guys okay?", Kiara asked slowly.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, her mother spoke. "Well alrighty than, guess we better go shopping to ger you ready to be a college girl. How does that sound?" Kiara couldn't believe her own ears, so she asked, "What do you mean, go shopping, Mom?". Her mother chuckled and said, "We're going shopping to get you ready for college, sweetheart. Now go upstairs to wash up and get ready for dinner".
As Kiara ascended the stairs to her room, she couldn't comprehend what had just happened. They should be upset or mad or something, not nonchalant like that! "I figured mom would be bawling her eyes out and wringing her hands in devastation and dad to yell and raise some hell. I was ready for those reactions and I knew exactly what I would say. But this, I wasn't prepared for this", Kiara thought to herself.
After dismissing her confused thoughts from her mind and washing up for dinner, Kiara slowly made her way back downstairs towards the dining room. Both of her parents were already seated at the table waiting for her. Once she was seated, they bowed their heads in prayer, blessing the food. She couldn't look her parents in the eye right now, so she stared at the heaping amounts of pasta, sauce, breadsticks, and salad, to keep her distracted.
"So about this Harvard thing", continued her father.