"No," Tony said, "but she wasn’t accepted, either."

"Can’t you just give me a straight answer?" Li Wei asked, exasperated. "Did she get in or not?"

"Fack, I’m not an admissions officer," Tony swore. "I’m just a head football coach. How am I supposed to know all that complicated crap? I can only give you the gist of it."

Li Wei began to understand as Tony explained. College applications in the United States of America have an early admissions stage that includes something between acceptance and rejection. It’s for when the school finds an applicant competitive, but not quite strong enough to warrant a definite acceptance during the early round. Usually, they’ll defer the application and review it again in the spring.

"Miss Anna is currently in that deferred stage," Tony said, hesitating slightly. "But since you called me about it, I had to do something to help. Otherwise, if you got an offer and your girlfriend didn’t, you’d definitely blame me."

"So I told them you’re guaranteed to break NFL records," he said. "That you’d be the first person to go to the NFL straight out of high school, and that Yale University couldn’t afford to pass up a talent like you. Only then did the board of trustees agree to defer Miss Anna’s application."

"How did everything get tied up in this?" Li Wei sighed. "Alright, thanks, Coach Tony. I get it."

"I have faith in you. You’ve got this," Coach Tony said. "If you need anything, just contact me. Make sure you play your best at the All-American Bowl. If you make it to the NFL, the board will naturally give Miss Anna the green light."

「Meanwhile, in Riverdale, the Bronx.」

Anya was alone in her room.

"It’s okay, Anya," she mumbled, clutching a large, old stuffed animal to her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in its fur. She just wished the world would disappear.

She kept her eyes closed, her body perfectly still.

’If I just stay like this long enough, maybe everyone will forget about me. Then I won’t have to be Anna Sergeyevna Volkova anymore. Anna’s life is becoming so stupid. Maybe I can become someone else, and then get into Yale in the spring.’

’In the end, after searching for many years, Li Wei will find me. He never gave up. I won’t remember his name by then, but he’ll give me a scarf with that familiar smell, or something else to prove we were together. My memory will come flooding back, and I’ll say, "I do." And we’ll live happily ever after.’

Movie credits rolled through her mind, accompanied by a soft violin melody.

"Miss Anna," a KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK sounded at the door. "May I come in?"

"Auntie Kaja," Anya buried her face in the stuffed animal. "I’m really not in the mood right now."

Kaja entered anyway, her eyes falling on the toy in Anya’s arms—it was a stuffed animal she had brought from Moscow, a companion from her childhood.

"It was only a deferral," Kaja said. "It does not mean you have been rejected."

"I knew it was a possibility," Anya said, her face sullen. "But I really don’t think I have a chance anymore."

After a moment of thought, Kaja said, "I have already informed Mr. Sergey."

"What!" Anya shot up. "What did my dad say?"

"His exact words were, ’The very reason I have achieved all this worldly success is so my daughter would never have to endure a difficult life,’" Kaja relayed. "He’s very worried that you’re putting too much pressure on yourself, so he’s planning to come and see you."

"No... he doesn’t have to," Anya said, quickly refusing. "I’m about to be an adult. I can take care of myself."

"Mr. Sergey’s private jet took off from Vnukovo Airport forty-five minutes ago," Kaja stated calmly. "Would you like to call him and ask him to turn around?"

"Then never mind," Anya grumbled. "If he wants to come, he can come."

"There is one other matter," Kaja added. "He would like to meet Mr. Li Wei. He plans to have dinner with him after Christmas."

"WHAT!!!!"

...

As Christmas drew nearer, the holiday spirit grew stronger and stronger in both Dyker Heights and at Franklin K. Lane High School.

This was especially true at Franklin High, where ninety-nine percent of the students had lost all interest in their studies. They were all just waiting for Christmas to arrive so they could start their two-week winter break.

Travis, however, was not one of the students looking forward to the break.

He had received a full scholarship offer from Pace University in New York, but the school had some concerns about Travis’s academic abilities. They attached a condition to his acceptance letter: he had to maintain a GPA of 2.5 out of 4.0.

In other words, he couldn’t fail any of his classes, which, for him, was no easy task.

Right now, in the library, Li Wei and Craig were tutoring Travis in English literature.

"*The Great Gatsby*," Li Wei said, pointing at the cover. "A cornerstone of the literature of the United States of America. Tell me, now that you’ve finished it, what do you think of Gatsby as a character? Specifically, his obsession with Daisy and the symbolism of the green light."

"Oh, Gatsby," Travis said, shaking his head. "That dude’s a simp. A rich simp who isn’t too bright."

The pen in Li Wei’s hand froze. "Go on."

"Look, Li Wei," Travis said, sitting up straighter. "This dude made all his money for Daisy, right? He bought a huge mansion and threw a party every week, inviting every drunk in the city, all in the hopes that Daisy might just happen to stop by for a drink?"