Chapter 3

I stared at the text, and my fingertips went cold.

The irregular review process was a failsafe designed for students who had submitted the wrong application. It required a legal guardian to appear in person with the student’s birth certificate and a valid photo ID.

I called the city admissions service center.

"Hello, I received an irregular review notification, but I never submitted a request."

The operator checked the system. "Our records show that the applicant provided a copy of your birth certificate, a copy of your photo ID, and a signed letter of authorization from your legal guardian.

"The request is still under review. If you wish to dispute it, you will need to appear in person with your ID to cancel it."

"I’m on my way."

I grabbed my jacket and headed for the door.

The living room was empty. Dad’s briefcase was gone from the couch.

They had gotten there before me.

When I arrived at the service center and had just taken a queue number, someone grabbed my shoulder hard from behind.

"What are you doing here?" Dad kept his voice low. His face stayed tight with anger.

Lorelai trailed behind him. Her eyes looked red and swollen, as if she might collapse at any second.

"I am here to cancel the review request you submitted on my behalf." I shook his hand off.

"Audrey, do you have any heart at all?" Dad jabbed a finger in my face.

"Your sister swallowed pills and ended up in the hospital, and you are still making a fuss over a college application?"

Lorelai threw herself at me and gripped my arm. She wailed loudly. "Audrey, I will get on my knees for you. Please, save Bria."

She played the part beautifully. Yet I remembered sophomore year, when I had a fever for three days straight. She left a bottle of medicine outside my door and never came in.

The front entrance swung open. Logan walked in with a group of guys. One of them held up his phone, streaming live.

"Check this out, everyone. This is the girl who pushed her own sister to the edge just to protect her spot. Logan gave up Edgemont for her sister, and what does she do? She locked her application behind everyone’s back and drove her sister to swallow sleeping pills."

People around us whispered and stared.

Logan walked up to me.

"Audrey, let’s not do this here. Come to the hospital with me. Pull your Edgemont application, and I’ll pretend today never happened."

He spoke with the calm confidence of someone who believed he controlled the entire situation.

Something about it almost made me laugh.

"Logan, what gives you the right to make decisions for me?"

I pulled out my phone and played the audio I recorded the night before.

Lorelai’s voice came through clearly.

"Get her to sign the contract first. We will take her documents and figure out the application ourselves."

Every whisper in the room stopped.

Lorelai went pale. Dad stood frozen.

I paused the recording after that single line.

"If any of you try to stop me again, I will hand the full recording to the police."

Logan’s frown deepened.

He had never imagined I would fight back. In his mind, Audrey Linden was the sensible one. The one who endured without complaint and cooperated without question.

His phone rang. When he answered, Bria’s voice came through, weak and tearful.

"Logan, does she still not forgive me? I just want to see her. Just once."

Logan hung up and fixed his eyes on me.

"She just had her stomach pumped. The doctor says she is emotionally unstable. I am asking you as a favor. Just go see her."

I looked at the desperation on his face and nodded.

"Fine. I will go."

Half an hour later, we stood outside the hospital room door. Logan stopped short and caught my wrist. His grip felt startlingly tight.

"When you go in there, whatever she asks, just say yes."

I looked down at his hand clamped around my wrist, then raised my eyes to meet his.

"What exactly do you want me to agree to, Logan? Handing her my life?"

He faltered for a moment. His grip loosened, yet he did not let go.