Chapter 4

When I woke up the next morning, Cody and Irene were both in the dorm.

Noticing I was awake, he said offhandedly, "Don't go overthinking things again, Serena. We were out way too late last night, and the manager wouldn't let us back in, so we ended up staying at a hotel."

A weird sense of relief suddenly washed over me. "Right. Got it."

He frowned. "Alright, drop the attitude. Stop throwing around breakup threats."

"I'm serious, Cody."

He didn't bother answering.

I glanced over and saw him and Irene already sharing a pair of earbuds, immersed in a co-op game.

I opened WhatsApp and sent the breakup message again.

…

Just when I thought everything was finally over, catastrophe struck during our first final exam.

Someone reported Irene for cheating, and the invigilator pulled a cheat sheet from her pencil case. She was instantly disqualified.

Back at the dorm, her eyes were red as she sobbed into her hands. "What am I gonna do, Serena? I'm so scared I won't be able to study abroad now…

"The second I opened my pencil case, I regretted it and didn't even look at the paper. I answered everything on my own! I have no idea who saw it or why they turned me in."

Before she could finish, the dorm door burst open.

It was Cody. He was out of breath, probably having sprinted over the moment his exam ended.

The second Irene saw him, her tears spilled over even harder.

After piecing together what had happened, he fell into a long, heavy silence.

Then, he turned around and looked at me. "Serena, go tell the professor that you were jealous of Irene, so you planted the cheat sheet in her pencil case."

I froze, unable to process what I was hearing. "Cody, what are you talking about?"

He kept his eyes lowered, his expression dead serious. "It's the only way. Your grades are average anyway. You're not getting a scholarship, and your family can afford to send you abroad at your own expense, so this wouldn't really affect you. But she doesn't have that option.

"If this cheating charge sticks, her study abroad trip is dead. She's your best friend. Can you stop being so selfish for once?"

My chest tightened as if a hand was squeezing the life out of my heart, wringing out every last drop of blood.

I stared at him in utter silence, then shifted my eyes to Irene, whose eyes were rimmed with red.

She didn't say a word, but her gaze was desperate.

I took a deep breath to suppress the dull ache in my chest. "Cheating is a dealbreaker. I'm not doing that for you."

Yet the very next day, someone reported me for slipping a cheat sheet into Irene's pencil case out of jealousy.

Whispers and judgment from clueless classmates quickly closed in on me. They instantly bought the story that jealousy had driven me to ruin Irene's future.

"She's nowhere near as pretty as Irene, and her boyfriend clearly prefers Irene anyway. Of course she's jealous! Doing something that foul to her own best friend is disgusting."

Someone even took ugly candid photos of me to compare with Irene online, claiming I didn't deserve Cody at all.

Others went straight to Ms. Griffith, demanding she revoke my spot in the study abroad exchange.

For the first time in forever, Cody texted me first. "Serena, you've always been tough and never cared about what other people think.

"But Irene is different. You know how fragile she is. She was ostracized back in high school and can't handle people talking about her, especially negative gossip.

"Stop being mad. When we get to Falvera next month, I'll take you to see the lavender fields in Portavia, okay?"

A self-deprecating laugh escaped my lips.

So he threw me under the bus to take the hit for Irene, not giving a damn if I'd be heartbroken or stripped of my exchange spot.

Besides, I had never liked flowers. My skin broke out in hives around them.

Irene was the one who loved lavender.

I chuckled bitterly at the irony. Ten years of feelings for Cody went up in smoke at that exact moment.

From then on, right up until winter break, the three of us spent a month barely speaking to each other.

Whenever drama happened in the past, they would always give me the silent treatment, knowing I'd cave and apologize first.

Only this time, I didn't care anymore.

I stayed completely out of sight all the way up to the day of the exchange flight.

Unable to hold out any longer, Cody finally texted me. "Alright, you've been dragging this out for a whole month. That's enough.

"Did you oversleep again? Why are you always so slow? Hurry up and get to the airport. I bought you a neck pillow to make the flight more comfortable."

Irene chimed in as well, rushing me. "Hurry, Serena! We're going to miss the flight!"

They genuinely believed that a neck pillow was all it took to smooth things over with me.

Smiling, I typed my reply. "Don't bother waiting. I canceled my exchange program a month ago. We don't ever need to see each other again. Have a safe flight."