Chapter 2

"Courtney, congratulations on receiving a pre-admission offer from our school. This is your official letter, along with the freshman orientation guide and the scholarship agreement."

My mother, Pam Cannon, took the folder with trembling hands, her eyes already welling with tears.

My father, Max Reid, stood to the side, tracing the school's embossed seal and official stamp over and over. His mouth was set in a firm, tight line of pride.

After seeing Ms. Doyle and Ms. Boyer out, Dad continued to flip through the letter, as if he wanted to etch the words into his memory.

Mom took my hand, her voice choked with emotion. "How could you not tell us about something this big sooner?"

I smiled at them. "The public notice period only wrapped up yesterday afternoon, and besides—"

Before I could finish, the doorbell rang.

Mom went to answer it, and I heard Sara's soft, sweet voice drifting in from the hallway.

"Hello, Mrs. Reid. Josh and I were just passing by and saw some guests leaving, so we thought we'd stop in to say hi."

Dad frowned.

I stood up and walked to the entryway.

Josh and Sara were standing side-by-side at the door.

Sara's gaze immediately fell on the folder in my hand. In a tone dripping with unconcealed disdain, she said, "Oh, are those materials from the cram school? What did I tell you, Josh? Courtney's way too resilient to quit over one little mistake."

Josh immediately chimed in, his brow furrowed as he looked at me.

"Courtney, I know you're upset, but what's done is done. So, don't be so hard on yourself. Take one more year to prepare, then give it another shot. Who knows? You might end up doing even better than you would have this time around."

I looked at the boy I'd grown up alongside—the one who used to brave the rain to bring me medicine when I was sick, and who would sit with me on the sports field until dawn after every competition I lost.

Now he stood beside another girl, wearing a manufactured expression of concern, urging me to "accept" the fate they had personally sabotaged.

"Are you finished?" I asked. My voice was so calm it felt foreign to my own ears.

Josh froze.

"If you are, then leave. You're not welcome in my home."

I stepped back and shut the door right in their faces.

"Courtney—"

Once the door clicked shut, Mom gently placed a hand on my shoulder.

I pulled her into a hug, smiling as I shook my head to show her I was okay.

Back in my room, I locked the door and reached for my phone.

I took screenshots of every message, voice note, and photo Josh and Sara had ever sent me. I added the recording of them showing up at my door to gloat, organized everything into folders and uploaded the entire cache to an encrypted cloud drive.

As my finger brushed across the screen, a cold glint rose in my eyes.

Once the SAT season was officially over, I would be giving both Josh and Sara an unforgettable parting gift.

The next morning, I was jolted awake by my phone buzzing.

The lock screen was stacked with WhatsApp notifications. I squinted against the brightness and unlocked it; the class group chat icon was marked with a vivid red "99+".

I tapped in, and the messages scrolled past at a frantic pace.

"This is why you shouldn't get too cocky. Courtney always acts like she's all that, but she totally drops the ball when it's crunch time."

"LMAO. I heard she lost her admission ticket? How can someone be that careless?"

"Repeating a year isn't so bad. Maybe after some 'self-reflection' she can actually manage to get into a community college."

Expressionless, I scrolled to the beginning of the thread.

The chat started at 6:00 am.

Sara had first posted a photo of Santaya Beach with the caption, "First stop of our graduation trip."

Immediately after, Josh had sent a screenshot of a plane ticket. The destination was Santaya, and the departure time was this afternoon.