Chapter 1

Andrew Hayes' smile froze on his face, but he quickly forced out another one. This one was brighter and more easygoing than the one before.

"Luke, it's just a box of tiramisu. It's on your way, anyway," he said, his eyes shining as he looked at me. He seemed utterly sincere.

My fingers tightened around my pen. It was this exact look on his face that had made me think he was someone worth being friends with.

But now, he would gladly destroy me, ruin my future, and use my life to clear a path for his own.

This was murder. I wouldn't give him the chance!

My palms began to sweat, and my tone turned awkward and rigid. "I'm really not free."

Andrew's smile froze a second time. He lowered his head, his fingers curling into fists. "I'm just tired today and don't want to make another trip. Are you sure you can't?"

He sounded like he had been hit with the worst injustice in the world.

I looked away, furious and at a total loss inside. But when I saw how Andrew looked right now, I just couldn't link him to the lunatic from the prediction.

Things had already turned so bizarre, though. I had to be extra careful.

"Luke, weren't you going to the supermarket tonight?" another roommate, Tyler Cole, spoke up, his voice cutting through the room.

He took off his headphones and set his pen down on top of his notebook. He turned around to look at me. His gaze wasn't that sharp, but every word landed like a rock.

"The dessert shop is right next door, so just pick the cake up on your way. Why are you dithering like some drama queen?"

I met his gaze head-on. "I have other plans. I can't take it."

"How is that—"

"It's fine! It's alright!" Andrew jumped in before Tyler could finish, waving both hands in front of his chest, smiling like the perfect, considerate friend. "Luke must have his own stuff going on. Tyler, I know you're just worried about me, but don't be so hard on Luke, okay?

"It's no big deal. I mean, I'm dying for some cake, but if Luke can't help me out, then I… I'll just get it another day. Thanks anyway, Tyler."

When he finished, he even turned and glanced back at Tyler. There was gratitude and happiness in that look, but there was only eerie calmness in his eyes when his gaze brushed over me. It was a look I'd never seen on him before.

The prediction was real. Every bit of it was real.

My back immediately broke out in cold sweat. My shirt clung to my skin from the dampness.

"Too hard on him?" Tyler rolled those words around, testing them. Then, he sneered, his eyes sweeping over me with open displeasure before shifting back to Andrew. "Andy, you're just too nice. You shared that tiramisu with him yesterday, and he didn't say he had other plans then, did he?

"But now that you want him to grab some for you since it's on his way, suddenly it's 'not convenient for him.' It's obvious what he means, isn't it?"

Anger rushed straight to my head. Tyler had twisted that shared box of tiramisu into some special favor that Andrew had done just for me.

All four of us in the dorm had eaten it. Everyone had a slice, and everyone had thanked Andrew. But the way Tyler worded it, it now sounded like Andrew had gone out of his way just to get me that cake.

Yes, I did eat it. I'd actually turned Andrew down at first, but he kept pestering me to try it. I'd been working on a Meranian practice test at the time. After I finished, I felt like I'd been too harsh when I rejected him earlier. So, I'd specifically grabbed his favorite snack, walked over, and apologized to him.

Andrew kept his head down, his voice so soft it was almost impossible to hear.

"Tyler, I shared the cake with Luke because I wanted to. I just figured that he probably hadn't tried anything like it before because of how careful he always is with his money. I wanted him to have a taste of it, too… I didn't realize he actually hated it so much that he won't even help me bring a box back now."

It was easy to read between the lines. What he meant was that if I didn't help him now, I was ungrateful. I was the bad guy who took kindness and gave nothing back.

He made something he'd done for the whole dorm sound like a favor that he'd done just for me, then pushed all the blame on me by claiming that he'd done it willingly.

I stood by my bed, watching Andrew hang his head. His eyes were lowered, and his lashes trembled ever so slightly. He looked utterly aggrieved.

Tyler was clearly running out of patience. He rapped his knuckles against his headphones, making the plastic clatter. "Simple question, Luke. Will you do it or not?"