Chapter 26 26
Scarlett's POV
I sat at my desk in my bedroom, staring at my laptop screen. My cursor hovered over the College Board portal login button.
It had been three weeks since I took the SAT. I clicked login. Entered my username and password. The page loaded.
My heart was beating faster than it should. Which was stupid. I already knew I'd done well. I'd finished the entire test in seventy-five minutes and walked out while everyone else was still on the second section.
But there was always that small chance. What if I'd bubbled the wrong section? What if the machine couldn't read my answers? What if something went wrong?
The page finished loading.
A red banner appeared at the top of the screen.
SCORE UNDER REVIEW
I leaned closer. Read the message underneath.
"Your scores are being reviewed for potential irregularities. This process typically takes 2-4 weeks. We will contact you when the review is complete."
I sat back in my chair. Blinked at the screen.
Irregularities. That was College Board's polite way of saying they thought I'd cheated.
My brain immediately understood what had happened. The timing algorithm had flagged me. Seventy-five minutes to complete a three-hour test with near-perfect accuracy. The system probably thought someone else had taken the test for me. Or that I'd somehow gotten the answers beforehand.
I should have been more careful. Should have pretended to struggle. Should have used the full time like a normal person.
But I'd been impatient. Bored. The questions were easy and I'd wanted to leave.
Now I was being investigated for cheating.
My email notification dinged.
Then it dinged again.
And again.
I opened my inbox. My eyes went wide.
Seven new emails. All from universities. All received within the last hour.
I clicked on the first one. Harvard.
"Dear Ms. Romano, We have been alerted to your exceptional performance on the SAT. While we understand your official scores are currently under review, we would like to invite you to participate in an informal conversation with our admissions team..."
I opened the second email. MIT.
"Ms. Romano, Your preliminary test data has been brought to our attention by College Board's High-Interest Candidate system. We recognize that your scores are under administrative review, but we wanted to reach out personally to express our interest in your application..."
Stanford. Princeton. Yale. Columbia. Caltech.
All of them. All sending me recruitment emails before my scores were even officially released.
I stared at the screen.
This was insane. My scores were being held for potential cheating. But the raw data had already triggered every top university's recruitment algorithm.
They were trying to recruit me while College Board was investigating me for fraud.
I started laughing. I couldn't help it.
This was the most absurd situation I'd ever been in.
Someone knocked on my door.
I closed my laptop quickly. "Come in."
Damon walked in. He was wearing a dark gray suit. His tie was perfectly knotted. He looked like he'd just come from a business meeting.
His eyes immediately went to my face. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong."
"You're smiling."
"I smile sometimes."
"Not like that. That's your 'something weird just happened' smile."
I bit my lip. Tried to stop smiling. Failed.
Damon walked over to my desk. Looked at my closed laptop. Back at me.
"What happened?" he asked again.
"My SAT scores came back."
His eyebrows went up slightly. "And?"
"They're under review."
The concern on his face was immediate. "Under review? Why?"
"Because I finished the test too fast with too high accuracy. The system thinks I cheated."
He was quiet for a moment. Processing. "Did you cheat?"
"No."
"Then they'll clear you."
"I know."
"So why are you smiling?"
I opened my laptop again. Turned it so he could see my inbox. All those emails from top universities.
Damon leaned forward. Read the subject lines. His expression changed. Surprise. Then something that looked like pride.
"Harvard wants to talk to you," he said slowly.
"Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, and Caltech all want to talk to me. Before my scores are even officially released."
Damon straightened up. Looked at me with that intense gaze. "How high did you score?"
"I don't know yet. The official results are still under review."
"But you know you did well."
"I finished in seventy-five minutes. The test is three hours long. And I'm pretty sure I got everything right."
He was quiet for a long moment. Just looking at me. His eyes were dark and serious.
"I knew you were smart," he finally said. His voice was low. "But this is impressive."
My face got warm. I looked away. "It's just a test."
"It's not just a test. These universities don't recruit people who are just good at tests. They recruit people who are exceptional."
I didn't know what to say to that.
Damon pulled out his phone. Started typing something. "We're going out tonight."
"What? Why?"
"To celebrate." He didn't look up from his phone. "You're getting recruited by Harvard. That deserves a proper celebration."
"But the scores aren't even official yet."
"They will be. And when they are, everyone will know you're brilliant." He finally looked up. There was something in his eyes I couldn't quite read. "Get dressed. Somewhere nice. I'm taking you to dinner."
Two hours later, I was sitting across from Damon in one of the most expensive Italian restaurants.
"Order whatever you want," he said. He was looking at the wine list.
I looked at my menu. Everything was in Italian. I didn't speak Italian.
"What do you recommend?" I asked.
"The osso buco is excellent. So is the pasta with white truffle."
I had no idea what osso buco was. But I nodded like I did. "That sounds good."
The waiter came over. Damon ordered for both of us. In perfect Italian. The waiter looked impressed.
After dinner, I excused myself to go to the ladies' room.
The bathroom was as fancy as the rest of the restaurant. Marble counters. Gold fixtures. Fresh flowers everywhere.
I washed my hands and checked my reflection and walked back toward our table.
That's when I heard the voices in the hallway. My stomach dropped.
I turned the corner and saw them. Zelda. Madison. Sophie. Ashley. All four of them were standing in the hallway outside a private dining room.
Shit.
I tried to walk past them. Tried to act like I didn't see them.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Scarlett."
I turned slowly. Put on my polite smile. "Hello."
Madison stepped forward. Her eyes traveled up and down my body. Taking in my cheap dress. My plain shoes. My simple hairstyle.
Her lip curled. "Enjoying dinner with your sugar daddy?"
Sophie and Ashley giggled.
Zelda just stood there. Her expression was sweet and concerned.
I kept smiling. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just having dinner with my husband."
That got their attention. All four of them froze. Stared at me.
"Husband?" Madison's voice went up an octave. "You got married?"