Chapter 2

Monday morning in the halls of Oakridge High was as loud and chaotic as ever.

Cheerleaders touched up their makeup in front of their lockers, and the football guys laughed and joked at full volume without a care.

I stood in front of my own locker, shoving a thick history textbook inside.

The girl in the mirror had a pale face, but her eyes were nothing like the girl who'd hidden in the bathroom crying on Friday night.

I'd shut myself in my room for the entire weekend.

I spent two whole days going back over every single detail of my relationship with Kaelen.

Moments that used to make my heart race now looked, in hindsight, like nothing more than a clumsy performance.

The way he "happened" to run into me at the coffee shop where I worked, the way he always showed up right when I needed help most — all of it had been orchestrated for the sake of a '78 Porsche.

And me? I'd been so wrapped up in the relationship that I turned down weekend shifts. My grades stayed at straight A's, but I missed two important scholarship interviews just to go watch his games with him.

Right now, my bank account held a pitiful eight hundred dollars.

And even after the basic financial aid, Cornell's tuition and housing still left a gap of nearly twenty thousand dollars for the first year alone.

That was the price I'd paid for this fake love.

"Hey, morning."

I turned my head and saw Zander leaning against the locker next to mine.

He wore his motorcycle jacket, that trademark smirk hanging on his lips.

"Morning, Zander."

If this had happened before, his aggressive stare would have made me uncomfortable, and I might've instinctively shrunk away.

But now, I knew exactly what filth was hiding underneath that handsome exterior.

"Kaelen's not here yet? He's always so slow."

Zander leaned in a little closer, his eyes drifting over my face.

"You don't look so good, Maeve. Didn't sleep well last night?"

He was fishing.

After he sent that message Friday night, Kaelen must have replied with something.

"Just worried about college tuition."

"My old laptop finally died completely. A lot of my application files were on it. I might need to pick up more shifts."

It wasn't entirely a lie. My laptop really was falling apart, but I'd planned to hold onto it until I got to college.

Zander raised an eyebrow, seemingly caught off guard by my answer.

In his mind, I should've been some love-struck girl with nothing but Kaelen on the brain.

"Laptop's dead? That's a real pain."

"But hey, you've got a rich boyfriend. Why not just have him help you out?"

"Kaelen's already been good enough to me. I couldn't ask him for something like that."

Right at that moment, an arm slid around my waist.

"What can't you ask me for?" Kaelen strode over, planted a kiss on my cheek without a hint of hesitation, then shot Zander a cold look.

"Back off my girl, Zander."

Zander raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Relax, man. I was just checking on Maeve. Her laptop died, and she's stressing about it."

Kaelen frowned and turned to look at me.

"Baby, your laptop's broken? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to trouble you..."

"That's not trouble at all." Kaelen took the bait, just as expected. He pulled the black credit card out of his pocket. "I'll take you to the Apple Store after school. The newest MacBook Pro — think of it as an early graduation gift from me."

Prom was only a month away, and he needed to seal the deal with me completely within that time.

Not to mention, Zander was standing right there watching, and there was no way Kaelen would let himself lose face in front of his friend.

"But that's so expensive..."

"Shh." He pressed a finger against my lips.

"As long as it makes you happy, this is nothing."

Right. To someone from a family as well-off as his, this was nothing at all.

"Thank you, Kaelen. You really are the best person I've ever met."

Zander stood off to the side, watching the whole scene unfold, his expression darkening.