Chapter 2

I braced for Chloe to laugh too.

Instead, something warm landed in my palm.

I looked down.

She'd put a pastry in my hand.

Chloe didn't say anything. She swapped orientation shirts with me, then walked out.

I ate the pastry on the way to the field.

Then Ryan texted me.

[Lucia, I heard you asked Mom for money this morning. You upset her so much she couldn't even eat. And honestly, you need to hear this.]

[She's already stressed about the house renovation. Stop asking her for money all the time. I'll send you a little. Just leave her alone for now.]

I stared at the messages, totally numb.

After a while, I rubbed my sore eyes and accepted the $20.

'Yeah. That should get me through the rest of orientation.'

Still, I hadn't expected Mom to care that little.

Halfway through orientation, my freshman adviser, Demi Taylor, suddenly pulled me aside.

Her face was serious.

"Have you been scamming your family for money?"

I stared at Ms. Taylor. "What? No."

Her face got even more serious. "You're Lucia Lyford, right? Your mom just called me. She said you went behind her back and tricked Ryan into sending you money.

"Scams are everywhere now. If you're in trouble, talk to your family first. If you can't, come to me. Just don't do anything illegal."

My blood went cold.

So that was what Mom had done.

I'd taken Ryan's money, sure.

But I hadn't tricked him.

I quickly pulled up our texts.

"Ms. Taylor, I swear I didn't scam him."

She read the messages, then blinked.

"Twenty bucks?"

I nodded.

Right then, Ryan called.

Ms. Taylor motioned for me to answer.

The second I picked up, Penny's voice blasted through the phone.

"Lucia, seriously? You know Ryan and I are already drowning in renovation costs, and you're still asking him for money?

"Send it back. Now."

Heat rushed to my face.

"I didn't ask him for anything," I said quietly. "He sent it on his own."

Penny didn't care.

She just kept going.

"Your mom was right. You're nothing but a burden! If you hadn't gotten your dad killed, Ryan and I wouldn't be struggling like this!"

Of course.

Family always knew exactly where to hit.

The second she mentioned Dad, my whole body started shaking.

"Shut up!"

I'd never talked to her like that before.

Penny went quiet.

For about a second.

Then she completely lost it, throwing every insult she had at me.

But none of that hurt as much as the voice I heard in the background.

Mom.

"Yeah, keep going. She took money she had no business taking. She deserves it!"

The call ended.

My legs nearly gave out.

I caught the look on Ms. Taylor's face and immediately lowered my head.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Taylor. I didn't mean to drag you into this..."

She cut me off.

When I looked up, her expression had softened.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Lucia.

"And I'll back you up. You didn't scam anyone."