Chapter 1

I stared at Claire Vale, certain I'd heard her wrong.

"What did you just say?"

"I said I have your acceptance letter from Northbridge."

Not a flicker of guilt crossed her face.

"Miles, Dylan did badly on his entrance exams. He's in a really fragile place right now. I can't let him spend a whole year preparing to reapply by himself. He'd be miserable."

I laughed, too angry to do anything else.

She wanted to ruin my future so Dylan Keene wouldn't feel lonely?

What kind of reason was that?

Claire hadn't always been like this.

Our families lived next door to each other. We'd grown up together, and in my earliest memories, she was always following me around, saving the best of everything for me.

Whenever a new snack appeared at the school store, she'd buy one and press it into my hand. She insisted on carrying my backpack home. On rainy days, she'd tilt our umbrella toward me until one of her own shoulders was soaked through.

In eighth grade, I came down with a terrible flu. My fever wouldn't break, and my parents were beside themselves. Claire sat at my bedside, wiping my hands with a cool cloth over and over.

"Miles, please get better," she whispered. "I'll give you all my toys. Every single one."

Back then, Claire was the one bright spot in some lean, lonely years.

I thought we'd stay close forever.

Then Dylan transferred into our class during junior year.

He was good-looking, charming, and knew exactly what to say to make people like him. He became the center of attention almost overnight.

That was when Claire changed.

She stopped waiting to walk home with me and started accompanying Dylan to the library. The snacks she'd once bought for me turned into carefully chosen breakfasts for him.

I became the person left behind.

I didn't make a scene. I threw myself into schoolwork instead.

But Dylan resented the fact that I was always ranked first in our grade. He went out of his way to provoke me.

Once, while I was away from my desk, he dumped my backpack into a toilet. By the time I found it, my books and everything else inside were ruined.

When I confronted Claire, she shoved me aside and glared.

"Miles, why do you have to make such a big deal out of everything? Dylan didn't mean it. Can't you cut him some slack?"

The coldness in her eyes left me numb.

We barely spoke after that.

Then came our final practice exam before graduation. Once again, I'd come first in our grade.

Claire walked over with my score report while our classmates laughed around her.

"What's the point of getting grades like these, Miles?" she asked, smiling without a care in the world. "I'm still not going to fall in love with you."

Remembering that moment, I swallowed the emotions threatening to break loose.

"Claire, give me my acceptance letter."

I took a slow breath.

"Or I'm calling the police."

She folded her arms and looked me up and down.

"The police?"