Chapter 3

The next morning, Damon pushed open my front door like he owned the place.

I'd given him the code back when we used to take tutoring sessions together at my house. He saw the suitcase I was packing and his brow furrowed.

"Evelyn, I already agreed to live off-campus with you. Why are you still set on the dorm?"

"Don't you know Oakwood only has one honors dorm?"

"You've got everything—why do you have to compete with Sophia over this?"

Sophia stood behind him, eyes red-rimmed, fingers twisting the hem of her shirt.

"Evelyn, I'm sorry… I know you look down on me. I didn't mean for any of this."

"Yesterday, I just mentioned it casually. I didn't think they'd actually do it. But everyone had fun, right?"

They'd laughed at me at my lowest yesterday. And today, I was supposed to be the bigger person. Their fun was built on my pain.

Did they even know that honors dorm was built specifically for me? Even if I didn't take it, Sophia would never qualify.

I looked at them coldly and pointed at the door. "Get out. I don't like strangers in my house."

Damon blinked at my flat tone, then let out a light laugh.

"Come on, Evelyn. Enough. Sophia already apologized."

"Besides, she came all this way to bring you your Oakwood acceptance letter—and to invite you to the amusement park tomorrow. Do you really have to be this petty?"

I finally noticed the crumpled envelope in Sophia's hands. She held it out like I was some kind of monster.

"Evelyn… please don't be mad at me, okay?"

My voice came out flat. No heat. "I said get out."

Damon snatched the letter from Sophia and threw it at my feet.

"Evelyn, you're just doing this for attention, aren't you? You're getting harder and harder to deal with. If you keep this up, don't blame me for ignoring you."

"Think about it. Until you apologize, I'm not coming back."

Then he took Sophia's hand—so naturally, like they'd done it a thousand times—and walked out.

I let out a cold laugh and tore the Oakwood letter to shreds.

Oh, I'd think about it, alright. I'd think about why I'd let them walk all over me for the past three months.

I spent the day packing. The morning of my flight, I went to the amusement park. I wanted to ride the Ferris wheel one last time—take in the city I'd called home for ten years.

But the second I stepped inside, I ran straight into Sophia and that whole group.

My eyes swept over their faces. Every single one of them was already on the起诉名单 my family had drawn up.

They circled me immediately, grinning with that same ugly look.

My body started shaking—uncontrollably—just remembering what they'd done to me in that hallway. I wanted to run, but my legs wouldn't move.

Sophia walked up and cornered me against the wall. Then she reached down and deliberately messed up her own collar.

"Evelyn, play along with us for a bit. You don't mind, right?"

I shook my head frantically—but she pressed something over my nose, and the world went hazy.

"You still owe me an apology. Consider this your payment—you can be my model for a while."