Chapter 1

By the time I got out of the bathroom, the application deadline had long since passed.

There wasn't a trace of guilt on Claudia McCarthy's face. Instead, she acted like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Tim, Mike is craving the chicken noodle soup from that deli on the east side of town. Go get him some. And remember, he has a sensitive stomach, so nothing cold."

She was nestled in Mike Barrett's arms, her eyes full of contempt.

I stopped in my tracks, and a sour ache spread through my chest.

Claudia had tampered with my application and wrecked my future. And the first thing she did after letting me out wasn't to apologize. It was to send me off to buy soup for Mike.

I stared at her and said, enunciating every word, "I'm not going."

The next second, Claudia flew into a rage. "Tim, why are you so jealous? I told you, I only want you to go there next year.

"I have to honor the bet. Do you really have to be jealous about it? If Mike hadn't kept stopping me because he was worried you couldn't handle it, I would've told you back in senior year."

I scoffed.

They were just enjoying the thrill of sneaking around. And now they were pretending they'd done it out of consideration for me? Did they expect me to be grateful?

I shoved Mike aside when he stepped in my way and turned to leave.

But Claudia planted herself right in front of me. "Tim, apologize to Mike!" she snapped.

I stared at her in disbelief. "Claudia, you and Mike hooked up behind my back and tampered with my application, and now you want me to apologize to him? Why should I?"

Claudia wouldn't hear a word of argument. "Because he put up with it for all of senior year!

"Every time you and I got close, he could only watch from the corner. Even when he and I were together and you called, he had to keep quiet. You have no idea how bad I feel for him.

"I only asked you to wait for another year. Why did you have to lay a hand on Mike? If you don't apologize today, I'm not giving you my notes. Without my help, you will never get into Kingsbridge University!"

Looking at Claudia, so smug and superior, I found the whole thing absurd.

Did she really think her study notes were some kind of treasure?

In three years of high school, I'd only ever ranked above her once, on our very first exam.

That night, Claudia had cried her heart out. "Tim, your grades are so good. Will we even be able to go to the same university? When I get home and my mom sees how few points I got, she's going to ground me."

Because of those words, I spent the next three years hiding what I could really do. Every single time, I'd score just one or two points below her.

I knew Kingsbridge was Claudia's obsession, yet her scores were always stuck right at the very bottom. So I studied like my life depended on it, all so I could bring her into Kingsbridge with me.

When the exam scores finally came out, I was the top scorer in the entire state.

So I wouldn't upset Claudia, I turned down every interview. Behind the scenes, I got in touch with the Kingsbridge admissions team and fought hard to secure her a spot, even though she still didn't meet their enrollment standard.

And now, Claudia was treating all of it as her own accomplishment.

I let out a scoff, then looked at her and said calmly, "I'm not waiting a year, and I don't need your study notes. Claudia, the one who won't get into Kingsbridge is you."