Chapter 2

After returning to my dorm, I put on my headphones and started a movie.

Scene after scene flickered across the screen, but I could not absorb a single frame.

I could not stop wondering what the others were talking about in the group chat with Mia.

Were they talking behind my back, telling each other how awful I was?

Had they simply decided that I was no longer worth mentioning—the killjoy who had ruined their perfect little group?

I hated that feeling.

Then, my roommates’ conversation suddenly caught my attention.

“Mia posted again, saying that she’s made three really close friends and joined their little squad.”

“She also said the four of them are going abroad for the Christmas holidays. She sounds so excited.”

“Of course. Making new friends is so easy when you’re pretty. She’s been here less than three months and already has besties!”

I tapped into Mia’s profile and saw her new post. The screenshots of the group chat she had posted made an icy chill shoot through me.

Evan and the others had even changed the group name to 'Mia’s Squad' for her sake.

Mia had become the center of attention, the spoiled favorite of the group.

Ever since I left the chat and blocked them all, I had not received a single friend request.

I did not feel sadness anymore, something colder. It also made me more certain that walking away had been the right choice.

I put my phone down and started packing.

Every gift Lily, Evan, and Jason had ever given me, big or small, went into the box.

There was still a pot of tulips blooming beautifully on the windowsill.

The moment my roommate saw me throwing them away, she hurried over.

“Jenna, why are you throwing out the tulips? I remember the four of you each got one. You even said you’d hold them up for pictures together after graduation. It was supposed to be a special memory that belonged only to the four of you.”

She was right.

It had been Lily’s idea. Evan had laughed and said he would grow the exact same pink tulips as me.

That night, back in our dorms, we video-called, and Evan had proudly danced around on camera, showing off his tulips and teasing me that his were growing better than mine.

Still, there was no reason to keep those flowers anymore.

I kept my voice calm. “Things from the past belong in the past. You should let them go when it’s time to let go.”

My roommates exchanged a knowing look. “Jenna, did you decide to cut ties with them because Mia took your place?”

“We understand why you’re hurt. The way Mia looks at your boyfriend has never been innocent. Lily, Jason, and Evan aren’t blind. They saw it, but they just chose to ignore your feelings.”

“You should stay away from anyone who hurts you. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

The one thing that hit me the hardest was being comforted.

The tears I had been holding back finally spilled over.

It was such a simple truth, yet my roommates could see it clearly. Lily and the others, who had stood beside me for twenty years as we grew up together, had chosen to sacrifice me in the end.

That night, I lay awake till dawn.

The next day was the weekend. The four of us were supposed to hang out together, just like we always did.

Needing somewhere to vent my emotions, I booked a small, private karaoke room. Perhaps singing until my throat hurt would make me feel a little better.

I never expected Mia to walk through the door. She reached over and paused my song.

I frowned. “You can’t just mess with someone else’s music like that. It’s incredibly rude.”

She still wore that same innocent, wide-eyed expression.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to annoy you. Jenna, I know you have a problem with me, but I genuinely want to be friends with all four of you.

“You deliberately picked the room next to ours, didn’t you? You were hoping Evan and Lily would come looking for you. I’ve already swallowed my pride, coming here to invite you over.

"Come over and have some cake with us. The welcome cake Evan bought is huge, and we’ll never be able to finish it. It’d be such a waste.”