Ella has been having trouble understanding everything she has been studying for her upcoming exams. No matter how hard she studies, she keeps forgetting and doesn't know what to do next but hopes.
Her father has promised to take her on a vacation to another country if she ever makes it through her exams, which he thought was impossible. She has always been an average student unlike her two siblings who are the top students of the school.
Ella has never been the kind of student teachers remembered for the right reasons. She wasn't a troublemaker or a class clown, just perpetually one assignment behind, and always almost there but never quite. She tried, oh she tried, but the universe seemed to treat her GPA like a speed bump.
Her sister, Mariah, cruised through school like it was a video game on easy mode. Meanwhile, Ella wrestled with math formulas like they were cryptic spells from an ancient curse.
One afternoon, after completely failing a math quiz and being laughed at by her classmates, during the lunch break Ella slumped into a booth at Morris Specials, a local restaurant and her designated 'emotional damage control zone.'
She ordered her usual: grilled chicken, extra special fried rice, and some fortune cookies. The fortune cookie was the best part; it was like dessert and advice all in one.
She cracked it open with a sigh.
You are one decision away from greatness.
Huh,' Ella mumbled, mouth full of rice. 'That's ominously encouraging.
She stuffed the fortune into her pocket, more out of habit than hope.
That night, while staring blankly on a Mathematics assignment, 'The Concrete Mathematics' by Graham Knuth, the fortune came to mind. 'One decision away,' it had said. What did that even mean? She thought, scratching her hair. She was always making bad decisions, usually like studying Romanian emperors instead of putting effort into her mathematics and other subjects. She looked around. Books everywhere. Half-written mathematics and literature assignments. Crumpled flashcards. Then her eyes landed on something strange: her parrot, Coco, standing on her closed laptop, staring at her like a disappointed guidance counselor. 'Are you judging me, Coco?' Coco nodded. Ella blinked surprisingly. And then it hit her. The decision. She stood up dramatically, knocking over her chair and a pile of half-eaten Pringles. 'I'm done being average,' she announced to no one. 'I'm going to turn this semester around, starting now.' Coco yawned and stretched, looking at her like, 'let's see how that goes, not the first time.' Ella turned again and looked back at Coco, as if communicating to him, 'can you have just a little faith in me?' Coco blinked and tilted his head to one side. From that moment, Ella went into full academic war mode. She downloaded every productivity app known to mankind. She started going to school on time and never missed classes again.
She even willingly joined a study group led by a guy who always came out the best in all their mathematics and other subjects quizzes and exams. It wasn't easy. Her first reformed essay came back with a giant red 'C+' and a passive-aggressive 'Much improved!' scrawled next to it. But she didn't cry this time. (Okay, maybe just a little. Quietly. Into her backpack.) She kept going. Every time she wanted to quit, she'd pull out the fortune from her pocket. 'One decision away from greatness.' That decision, she figured, had to be the one she made every morning: to keep trying anyway. Weeks passed. She started scoring Bs.
Then, shockingly, a few As. Her classmates started asking her for help, many of her classmates wanted to become her friend.
Her friend Carey looked like she'd seen a ghost when Ella explained derivatives without accidentally talking about what food to eat next (which she always did before). One day, her literature professor, Dr. Okoro, pulled her aside after class. 'I've noticed a huge change in your work,' she said. 'Whatever you're doing, keep doing it.' Ella beamed forward thank you ma , I owe it to my fortune cookie.
Dr. Okoro blinked.I see.The students is going to the library to study for his exams.
As the semester ended, Ella had passed everything with her highest GPA ever.It wasn't perfect, but it was hers, and she had earned every decimal.
To celebrate, she returned to Morris's specials, now practically her sacred ground. She ordered the same thing and sat in the same booth.When the waiter brought the fortune cookie, she hesitated.
The last one had changed her life. Could lightning strike twice?
She cracked it open.
The best is still coming.
She gasped.
She stared at the fortune, then at the waiter, then at the ceiling. "What the actual f**k," she whispered. She tucked the new fortune next to the old one in her wallet, right behind her school ID, now upgraded with a shiny little honor roll sticker. As she walked home, Ella smiled up at the stars.
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