Vanished by E. E. Cooper

anything below the Ivy League was a waste.
    I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Brit had told everyone that she’d been accepted everywhere she applied, but Beth had told me the truth. Britney hadn’t gotten into any of her top schools except Cornell, and she wouldn’t have gotten in there except for the fact that her grandfather had donated something like an entire engineering building with a telescope to make it happen.
    Before I could respond, Britney’s mom bustled in. “Excellent advice. If you’d taken it yourself, then your own applications would have been stronger.” She blew a kiss at Britney as if she was joking, but my heart still hurt for myfriend. Brit’s parents never missed a chance to imply she wasn’t quite up to their standards. What else they wanted in a daughter was a mystery to me.
    Brit’s mom untied the gray-and-green Hermès scarf from her neck and let it drift down onto the counter. She smiled at me, her lips pressed together. I could tell she was trying to remember my name.
    â€œHi, Dr. Ryerson,” I said.
    â€œKalah came over to help me with a student council project,” Britney explained. “I was just telling her she should join.”
    â€œBeing on student council shows a commitment to service and leadership. Both Britney’s dad and I were president when we were in high school.” There was a pause where it went unsaid that Britney had only made it to secretary. Never mind that secretary was the position Brit had chosen to run for.
    Dr. Ryerson was still staring at me. She always did this thing where she kept eye contact for a long time. Maybe it was because she was a psychiatrist and wanted you to feel heard. What it made me feel was that I was under inspection.
    â€œI’m counting on my grades getting me in,” I explained. “And maybe field hockey.”
    â€œPerformance in school isn’t enough to make someone a complete candidate. You want to show them a full, well-rounded person. Just because of your heritage, you can’t count on getting preferential treatment.” Dr. Ryersonnoticed an atom-sized piece of lint on her sleeve and flicked it away.
    I flushed, unsure of how to respond. I wanted to spit back that the last time I’d checked, I was in fact a full person already, including and regardless of my “heritage.” But I was pretty sure there was nothing I could say to change the fact that Britney’s mom probably thought of me as “that brown girl.”
    â€œWhere are you planning to apply?” Dr. Ryerson asked. Britney looked at me behind her mom’s back and rolled her eyes.
    â€œI haven’t decided,” I admitted. “Maybe Ohio State.” I felt a band of tension in my chest loosen. It was the first time I’d said out loud what I’d been thinking about ever since Beth got in. I could picture Beth and me on campus, walking through the leaves on our way to a class, holding hands. Of course my whole college fantasy was clearly just a fantasy, since I couldn’t even get her to return my calls. I’d tried her again at lunchtime and on my drive to Brit’s. Both calls had gone straight to voice mail.
    Britney sniffed. “You could do better.”
    â€œYou’ll get a solid education there,” Dr. Ryerson said.
    I wished the conversation would end. Didn’t Britney’s mom have something else to do? Didn’t her flying monkeys need tending?
    â€œState schools are a great option for some people.Besides, the Ivy Leagues can’t take everyone, and they shouldn’t. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”
    My jaw fell open but Brit’s mom didn’t notice. She was eyeing Britney as Brit ate another cashew. She pinched Brit’s stomach. “Speaking of pigs, the freshman fifteen will catch up with you soon enough next year. No sense in giving it a head start.” Brit dropped her handful