"Blah," Ophelia flopped face down on the sofa. It has been a long week and it was only Wednesday.
"You alright?" Olly asked, leaning against the arm of the couch. Ophelia held up a letter in response.
"First rejection." She explained.
"I'm sorry," Olly patted her hair. "We knew they could be coming." Ophelia nodded into the cushions.
"Now I'm worried that I didn't get in anywhere." She said while sitting up. She looked at him shyly. "Would it be okay if I asked for some cuddles?"
Olly grabbed a blanket that they kept on the back of the sofa. He wrapped it around Ophelia while pulling her into this chest. He rubbed her back for a while. Gen entered the living room, seemed to understand the situation and went to fetch a few things. One of them being Ophelia's pillow, which was now being held tightly. She came back with tea as well.
"Everything okay sweetheart?" Gen said.
"Just got my first rejection letter." She explained after a long sip from her cup. "I knew I would get at least one, but it still sucks."
"Plenty more to come." Olly kissed her hair.
"Letters or rejections?" Ophelia teased.
"Don't be cheeky." He responded.
"I'm feeling better now, though would it be okay if I crashed here tonight?"
"Do you want us to tuck you in?" Gen asked. Ophelia shook her head.
"I'm not feeling very little." She muttered into Olly's shoulder.
"We're here for you, big or little." Olly pointed out. "Bigs need to be tucked in sometimes too."
As the weeks went on Ophelia got more nervous, her landlord was asking her about renewing her lease. She had explained she was waiting on a few letters before making her choice. She was really starting to feel the pressure. Two letters were still in the wind, she was checking the mail everyday. They both arrived on the same day, she didn't open them right away. She asked Gen and Olly if she could open them at her place. She was super nervous. Now sitting in their living room she did not want to open them at all. She took a deep breath and opened one. Rejection. She opened the next one, it was actually where she got her master's. She opened the letter and dropped it to the floor. She was starting her PhD in the fall.
"Ice cream," Olly said while hopping up. "Biggest sundae I can make." He smiled. "I'm really proud of you."
"We both are." Gen said, hugging her tightly.
"Oh shit, I need to start my research." She said after a moment. "I have a few shows I want to discuss but I need a few books to talk about too…."
"Lia, sweetheart. You haven't even accepted the offer yet. You can't be stressing out right now. You've got all summer to build all that up." Gen pointed out. "Tonight is the celebrate!"
"Right." Ophelia said. Olly made good on his promise. "Olly I don't think I could finish that all by myself." He held up three spoons. After an emotional couple of weeks and far too much ice cream Ophelia, fell asleep on the couch.
Ophelia was looking down the aisle. Trying to resist just buying one of everything, she wanted a notebook for each section. So she could hop back and forth if she needed to change what she was focusing on. She stared at all the colors. She was holding up a soft blue and pale green, trying to decide which would be better to her notes on modern children's shows. Her phone started buzzing and she answered.
"Green or blue?" She knew from the screen it was Olly.
"Could I get more context?" He responded.
"Nope." She was holding her phone to her ear with her shoulder while looking at them.
"Green, then." Olly responded. "What are you up too?"
"Shopping for school." She explained. "I wanted to have some rough notes written up before I start."
"I'm glad you are excited, but save some writing for when classes start. You want to find out you've been going down the wrong road for some reason."
"Don't worry, I'm mostly going to start collecting things I want to write about. Plus, I need to marathon at least six different kid shows to see if they have the content I want."
"I know, I know." She said, glancing at her cart. New highlighters, post-it notes, and a couple of seasons of one of the shows Olly had shown her during her little time. "I'm almost done, we are still on for Sunday?" She asked. "I can pick a few things up since I'm already here." She heard Olly hand the phone to Gen.