Bounce Back

Chapter 29

Ryan's POV

In the end I couldn't open the letter and waited until I was at school. Even then I still couldn't even bring myself to pull it out of my bag. Instead it stayed tucked inside one of binders in the bottom of my bag.

I knew that it was because I was worried about what was written inside but I blamed on the fact that I was thinking about the dull back pain that I was experiencing all day. I hadn't had any back pain in a couple of months and I forgot how painful it was.

The library was shut after school, something about a debate meeting, so Jordan suggested that we did our work in the gym. Tyler immediately agreed so since no one was using it we stretched out on the floor to work.

As soon as I stretched out I let out a slight groan.

"Is your back giving pain again?" Jordan asked.

"A little bit a guess."

No one said anything else about it as we got down to work. Tyler and I talked through his maths work but he mostly managed to figure it out himself. I had a bit of work to do but I managed to get most of it done before we decided to give up for the afternoon.

It wasn't until I was shoving my books back into my bag that I realised that I still had the letter shoved in there and I decided that I had to open it at some point.

"I got a letter from UCLA yesterday," I said.

"Have you opened it yet?" Drew asked.

I shook my head and I knew that Tyler knew why I was nervous.

"Do you want someone else to open and read it?" he asked.

I nodded before handing the envelope to him. I had sat up now so I moved closer to him and he wrapped an arm around me before slowly opening the seal.

"To Mr Moore. We are writing to tell you that we were very pleased with your application and we would like to offer you a scholarship and place at UCLA," Tyler read.

For a second no one said anything as we realised what it meant. I reached over and hugged Tyler and he pressed a soft kiss to my lips.

"Congrats," he mumbled.

We pulled apart slightly and the rest of my friends congratulated me. Once I knew what it said I read the rest of the letter. It was a bunch of the boring stuff that I didn't really care for.

"So, is that where you are going to go next year?" Morgan asked.

"Probably, I haven't applied for anywhere else so," I said softly.

I tucked the letter back into my binder before we stood up. Tyler kept his arm around me as we headed out and he ducked his head slightly.

"Have you talked our parents again?" he whispered.

"No, I've kind of been putting it off until I got a letter back. I guess that I can't anymore," I admitted.

"Do you want me to come?" he asked.

"I should probably do it myself. I'll call if you it goes wrong."

He nodded and we all stopped once we got out into the parking lot. We all said our goodbyes before heading off in separate directions. I knew that I couldn't put the conversation off with my parents any longer and it had to happen but I still didn't want to have it.

I was kind of hoping that either of my parents weren't home so I had an excuse it put it off but I couldn't. There were both in the kitchen.

"Hey Ryan, how was your day?" Mom asked.

"It was pretty good and I got a letter from UCLA," I said.

I could see them exchange glances before Dad asked me what was in it.

"They have accepted me and offered me a full scholarship," I smiled.

They both congratulated me but I could tell that that they weren't completely pleased with this information so I asked them about it.

"It's just we aren't sure that what you are talking about doing is a sensible idea," Dad explained.

"It's already something that I love to do and would love to continue doing. I don't know what you are talking about," I countered.

"I just don't know if it is a sensible idea. I think that you might get stuck in a hole and not have the qualifications to get anywhere," Mom added.

I didn't know what to tell them because they seemed to disagree with everything that I had said so there was no point continuing to go around in circles.

"I don't know what to say because you don't seem to agree with me but this is what I want to do and I have a scholarship so this is what I am going to do," I told them.

They both looked a little shocked but I knew that I knew what I wanted and this was it. I grabbed the letter from on the bench and fled upstairs. My door slammed behind me and collapsed on the bed. I thought about grabbing my phone out and calling Tyler but I couldn't.

Instead I just lay there and stared at the ceiling. I'd always had a good relationship with my parents. I'd never really argued with them that much and we had always got along. As I had told Tyler a while ago I was worried that they would be right because they have known me for so long.

After a couple of minutes I got up from my position on the bed and settled at my desk. There were a couple of links in the letter that I explored without officially committing to anything. I was about 96% sure that I was going to do though.

After a couple of minutes I shut the tabs but continued to sit there. I didn't feel like going to bed yet so I just continued to muck around on my computer rather than move. I had received a couple of texts from Tyler but I didn't feel like responding today.

At last I knew that I should head to bed. I shut my laptop at last but still didn't make a move to move back to the bed. I finally did move and I had been lying in bed for a couple of minutes when I heard my door open.

I had my eyes half closed and between my lids I could tell that it was Mom. She stood in the doorway for a minute and I didn't move because I didn't want to talk to her again. At last she headed out and I felt myself relax.

I just hoped that they could see my side of things before I left.

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The Wise One