Promposal


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
 Copyright © 2023 by RaeChell Garrett
 Cover art copyright © 2023 by Ana Gomez Bernaus. Cover design by Jenny Kimura. Cover copyright © 2023 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
 Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
 The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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 First Edition: April 2023
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 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
 Names: Garrett, RaeChell, author.
 Title: Promposal / RaeChell Garrett.
 Description: First edition. | New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2023. | Audience: Ages 12 & up. | Summary: “When the school of her dreams puts her on the wait list, Autumn enlists the help of a former crush turned rival to form a promposal service in hopes of impressing the admissions committee.” —Provided by publisher.
 Identifiers: LCCN 2022004088 | ISBN 9780316371704 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780316372046 (ebook)
 Subjects: CYAC: Proms—Fiction. | Schools—Fiction. | Interpersonal relations—Fiction. | African Americans—Fiction. | LCGFT: Romance fiction.
 Classification: LCC PZ7.1.G3763 Pr 2023 | DDC [E]—dc23
 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022004088
 ISBNs: 978-0-316-37170-4 (hardcover), 978-0-316-37204-6 (ebook)
 E3-20230223-JV-NF-ORI
 
 
 Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-One Chapter Thirty-Two Chapter Thirty-Three Chapter Thirty-Four Chapter Thirty-Five Acknowledgments Discover More Begin Reading Table of Contents 
 
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 Chapter One
 
 From: Admissions, Mercer School of Business, Great Lakes University
 To: Autumn Reeves
 Subject: Admissions Decision
 Dear Autumn:
 Thank you for your application to Mercer School of Business, Great Lakes University. After a thorough review of your qualifications, we cannot offer acceptance at this time. However, based on the strength of your application, we would like to offer you a place on our waiting list.
 Our waiting list is not ranked. If an opening becomes available, the entire pool of waiting list candidates will be reconsidered for admission.
 Please accept or decline your spot as soon as possible.
 Sincerely,
 Valerie Ferrer
 Dean of Admissions
 Mercer School of Business, Great Lakes University
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 From: Autumn Reeves
 To: Admissions, Mercer School of Business, Great Lakes University
 Subject: You’ve Been Compromised!
 Dear Valerie Ferrer:
 This morning, I received the email (now pasted below) with many red flags that cause me to question its authenticity. After careful analysis, I think you may have been hacked. I’d be happy to provide any further information you might need to help determine who might be responsible.
 In the meantime, I look forward to receiving an official letter regarding my application to Mercer School of Business.
 Sincerely,
 Autumn Reeves
 Mercer BIPOC Summer Program Innovations in Business Scholarship Recipient
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 From: Admissions, Mercer School of Business, Great Lakes University
 To: Autumn Reeves
 Subject: Re: You’ve Been Compromised!
 Dear Autumn,
 Thanks so much for bringing your suspicions to our attention. After our own investigation, I can assure you the email you received is official and reflects the decision of our esteemed admissions committee. Your qualifications show great promise, and for that reason, if space becomes available, we’ll reconsider you for admission as part of this year’s incoming class.
 Best of luck,
 Jeannie Gutierrez
 Office of Admissions
 Mercer School of Business, Great Lakes University
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I stare at the screen, willing the words to change, until my eyes glaze over and I have to squeeze them shut.
 I don’t believe Jeannie Gutierrez.
 Just because the email is official doesn’t mean I’m the one who’s supposed to get it.
 How, in the midst of performing a thorough investigation of a breach of their security, could the Great Lakes University Office of Admissions possibly find time to verify or confirm the status of my application? It’s only been a little over three hours since I let them know my suspicions.
 And I’m sorry, but is Jeannie No-Title-Worth-Mentioning Gutierrez trying to be funny? Great promise?
 I promise she’ll be the first to know when I find out where the error is.
 It’s easy to get distracted. Maybe someone transposed numbers, or left one out, or added too few or too many zeros. Obviously, there’s been a data entry problem. All I have to do is bring it to Mercer’s attention.
 First, I pull up my confirmation of application email and compare the applicant number to the one in the wait-list email. I read the numbers aloud, backward and forward. I look away, then repeat the process again.
 They match.
 I check my name, address, and school information the same way.
 Then