Chapter 3

I promptly turned around and walked out of Preston's house without looking back.

On the way home, my phone kept buzzing.

It wasn't Preston, but Nicole. Message after message popped up on my screen.

"Fi, I'm sorry. I really just lost my head for a moment. I was just so scared of losing you… Please forgive me, okay?"

I didn't reply.

I pulled up her chat window and blocked her.

When I got home, my parents were in the living room watching TV.

The second my mom, Margaret Banks, saw me, she smiled and walked over.

"You're home! How'd the applications go? Are you going to the same college as Preston?"

I looked at her—at the fine lines at the corners of her eyes, at the streaks of gray near her temples, and at the very obvious anticipation in her eyes.

I opened my mouth. "Mom…"

Just that one word, and all the composure I'd been faking crumbled in an instant. I threw myself into her arms, crying.

"Mom, I can't go to college anymore."

I told them everything—from how Nicole changed my application to how Preston just stood by, watched, and even took pity on her.

By the end of it, I was shaking all over.

One was the person I'd liked—and he'd liked me—for the past six years. The other was my best friend. Together, they'd turned my 12 years of hard work into a joke.

My dad, George Rycroft, was so furious that he wanted to go to the police. Mom wiped her tears away and held him back. "What's the use of calling the police? Even if they arrest her, the application can't be changed…"

She turned to me, her voice trembling.

"Fi, I'll go make some calls right now and ask if there's any way to fix this."

I shook my head. "I've already checked. There's nothing we can do. Once it's submitted, no one can change it."

The room fell silent for a few seconds before it was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing.

I went to open it. Standing outside the door was Preston.

"What are you doing here? We've already broken up."

I tried to shut the door, but Preston hurriedly stepped forward and pressed his hand against the door.

"Fi, don't say stuff like that," he said, a trace of displeasure in his voice. "I don't like hearing it. Also…"

He looked at me.

"You blocked Nicole? She's been crying nonstop."

I was stunned for a second, then a laugh escaped me. And here I thought he had come to apologize. But as it turned out, it was still about Nicole.

"What? Does her crying make your heart ache? Or do you feel bad for her again? What do you want me to sacrifice this time so you can make her feel better?"

Preston's expression darkened.

"Fiona, there's nothing going on between us! You're being too harsh!"

"You two changed my college applications and turned my three years of hard work and my score of 626 into nothing, and I'm the one being harsh? I have even harsher things to say, Preston Nolin. Want to hear them?"

Preston looked at me, disappointment filling his eyes.

"Since when did you become so petty, Fiona? Isn't Nicole your best friend?"

Best friend. Those two words stabbed straight into my heart.

In 10th grade, when Nicole couldn't afford her tuition, I gave her every cent of the scholarship money I'd saved for the whole year.

In 11th grade, her parents came to school and made a scene. They wanted to drag her back home and marry her off for money. I was the one who stood up for her and called the police.

In return, her family held a grudge and hired some thugs to corner me, nearly blinding me in my left eye.

In 12th grade, when she failed her arts entrance exam, I begged my own boyfriend to tutor her.