The Numbers Game

Chapter 1

Pennie Jackson had just finished her junior year at one of the best private high schools in Greenwich, Connecticut. It prepared its students for admission into the finest colleges in the country, and required a high standard of academic excellence. Community projects and additional activities were encouraged to strengthen their college applications. As a result, the list of colleges they got into was impressive.

Pennie had turned seventeen in December and would be entering her senior year in the fall. Her boyfriend, Tim Blake, had just graduated two weeks before. With Tim leaving for college at the end of August, Pennie wasn t looking forward to senior year. They d been dating for almost three years and it was going to be lonely without him. He d been accepted at Stanford, in California. He d had top grades, perfect board scores, had been captain of the basketball team, and had worked as an intern for a senator in Washington, D.C., in the summer for two years in a row.

Pennie and Tim had been dating since her freshman year, and she couldn t imagine her daily life without him. In spite of their serious relationship, they had both remained diligent about school, sports, extracurricular activities, and maintaining their grades. Pennie had volunteered with children at a homeless shelter since freshman year, and had created and run a toy drive for them every Christmas. She loved kids and they all loved her. She never missed a Saturday at the shelter.

She had watched Tim throw his mortarboard in the air with the rest of his class, with a sadness she had hidden well. They both knew what it meant. They had made the decision when he d been accepted in early admissions at Stanford. They had considered it carefully, and felt it was the right choice for both of them. They wanted to be sensible, neither of them wanted a long distance relationship and the hardships it entailed, pining for each other, only seeing each other at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and

Danielle Steel