Chapter 2 A Story With Familiar Characters

Rachel stood obediently beside him.

The two of them acted like nothing had happened, as if they truly had come to celebrate their bright futures with a good friend.

"Sonia, try this. I waited in line for 30 minutes just to buy this."

I sat on the couch and watched them take off their shoes and walk in, looking as comfortable as if my home was theirs.

Silas sat down beside me and nudged me with his elbow. "Why'd you hang up on me yesterday?"

"Bad signal," I said bluntly.

"Then, why didn't you reply to my messages afterward?"

"I forgot."

He let out an "Oh," and didn't press the issue.

During the meal, Silas kept talking about how his parents had been packing lately. They were planning to move to Harrington to stay with him as soon as his college acceptance letter arrived.

Rachel promptly chimed in and told us that her parents had already started looking at houses in Fairview.

My mother picked up the conversation. "If Sonia gets into Bradford University, wouldn't it be wonderful if all our families could get together in Harrington?"

Silas turned to me. "Sonia will definitely get in."

Rachel smiled as well. "Exactly. Just the thought about the three of us going to Bradford University together is so exciting."

I lowered my head and picked at my pasta with my fork.

After we finished eating, my mother went to wash the dishes, and Silas got up to use the bathroom. That left only Rachel and me in the living room.

The room stayed quiet for a while.

Then, Rachel set an orange peel on the coffee table and suddenly smiled. "Sonia, you know, I recently read a novel. There was this vicious supporting female character who figured she'd have the inside track just because she was childhood friends with the male lead.

"However, the female lead showed up out of nowhere and ended up with him.

"To make the female lead feel secure, the male lead changed the supporting character's college application, forcing her to study in a local college while he and the female lead went away to college together."

She tilted her head and looked at me innocently. "What do you think of this storyline?"

I looked into her eyes. They were beautiful and framed with long, thick eyelashes. They would curve into crescents when she smiled.

"I think both of them are messed up," I said plainly.

Her smile froze.

"If a guy can't make his own girlfriend feel secure, then he's nothing but a pathetic little man. And if he has to ruin someone else's future to prove how devoted he is, then there's something seriously wrong with the guy.

"Also, the female lead is no better. Instead of dealing with her own issues with her boyfriend, she goes after someone else because she's insecure. People like that would treat even the most worthless piece of trash like a prize."

I rambled on as I watched Rachel's expression slowly darken, "And if the female lead thinks her boyfriend's going to cheat, then doesn't that mean that the boyfriend's the problem?"

I bared my teeth in a facsimile of a smile. "If you ask me, those two deserve each other. They should stay together forever and stop making everyone else's lives miserable."

Rachel pressed her lips together.

"And if I were that supporting character, I'd keep the evidence and sue both of those idiots."

She didn't get a chance to respond.

Silas came out of the bathroom, drying his hands with a towel. He looked at me, and then at Rachel. "What are you two talking about?"

Rachel forced a smile on her face. "Nothing."

I leaned back against the couch as I replied, "We were talking about whether secretly changing someone else's college application is illegal."

Silas' expression changed instantly.

He frowned at Rachel. She turned her head away and dug her nails into the orange peel until juice ran all over her hand.

A moment later, Silas spoke. "Um… we should get going. We've got something to take care of this afternoon."

As he was putting on his shoes at the door, he glanced back at me.

I didn't look at him.

The moment the door closed, I heard Rachel say something in the hallway, her voice barely above a whisper.

I couldn't make out the words, but I had a feeling it wasn't anything nice.

Over the next two days, Silas sent me several messages every single day.

"Sonia, you finalized your college application, right?"

"You submitted it already, right?"

"It's nothing serious. I'm just looking out for you."

Eventually, I replied, "Why are you asking?"