Chapter 2

I was cornered, and the silver chain around Hayes's neck caught the light.

Funny how that works.

They gave me that necklace in fourth grade.

Hayes's idea.

He'd dragged Ezra to six different jewelers before finding one that could split a single coin into three perfect pieces.

"So no matter where we go," nine-year-old Ezra had said, dead serious, "we'll always find our way back to each other."

Hayes had rolled his eyes but worn it every day since.

So had I.

That was before Willow.

Before sophomore year, when she transferred in on my family's charity scholarship and showed up at my locker with a thank-you card and homemade cookies.

Before I introduced her to them and watched everything I had get swallowed whole.

Hayes went from teaching me how to throw a spiral to carrying Willow's books between classes. Ezra went from prepping me for debate tournaments to tutoring Willow after school every single night.

I looked at that silver chain on Hayes's neck, knowing the pendant meant nothing to him anymore.

"Then," I held his stare, "you go to your community college. I go to Harvard. Let's pretend we never knew each other."

Hayes's hand dropped from the doorframe. Ezra's mouth opened, then closed.

I turned toward the door.

Willow was faster.

She grabbed my iPad straight out of my bag.

"Blair, " She held it against her chest, "you've always had feelings for Hayes and Ezra. You're just scared of losing them. But you'll regret Harvard, all that pressure, all that elitist conditioning. Let me help you."

"Give it back."

She sidestepped behind Hayes.

"I know your password, Blair. You use the same one for everything." Her fingers were already swiping the screen. "You really should be more careful."

My blood went cold.

"Hayes, move."

He didn't.

"Ezra, don't let her through." Willow's voice was calm. Focused. "I'm doing this for us."

Ezra stepped in beside Hayes. Shoulder to shoulder. A wall.

I shoved against Hayes's chest with both hands. He didn't shift an inch.

"Stop it! You can't —"

One more tap.

"Done."

Willow stepped out from behind the two of them and held up the iPad so I could see the screen.

Harvard University, Offer Status: Declined.

Confirmation submitted.

Willow handed the iPad back to me. "You're coming with us."

Something inside me snapped.

I lunged past Ezra and swung at Willow's face.

Hayes caught my wrist. He yanked me backward and shoved.

I hit the floor.

"You try to hit her?" Hayes stood over me. "What is wrong with you?"

"She's ungrateful." Ezra looked down at me like I was something stuck to his shoe. "Always has been."

I pushed myself up. My palms burned where they'd scraped the tile.

"Oh, and one more thing." Ezra adjusted his glasses. "Willow's agreed to choose one of us as her boyfriend once we get to campus."

He paused.

"Whoever she doesn't pick will settle for you. So you should really start being nicer."

I stared at him.

"You think I'm a consolation prize? You think I'm a trash can for whoever Willow throws away?"

Willow grabbed Hayes's arm before he could respond.

"Don't." She tugged gently. "Blair will understand eventually. She just needs time to see that we were trying to free her."

She looked at Ezra.

"The frat party starts soon. Let's go."

Ezra nodded. Hayes shot me one last look, disgust, maybe, or pity, and turned away.

The door clicked shut behind them.

I sat on the floor of the empty lounge, iPad in my lap.

Was this it? Back from the dead and still losing everything to the same three people?

I waited until their footsteps disappeared down the hallway.

Then I pulled out the clip-on camera I'd fastened to my pencil case after I woke up. Tiny. Angled directly at the center of the table.

The red light was still blinking.

Willow's face. Her hands on my iPad. Her voice — "I know your password, Blair."

Every second of it. Recorded.

I set the camera down and pulled out my laptop. The one Willow didn't know about — the backup I kept in my locker with two-factor authentication and a VPN.

I logged into the Common App portal.

The system flagged the declination as submitted from an unrecognized device. Willow's IP address. Timestamped.

I opened a new email.

To: Harvard University Office of Admissions

Subject: Unauthorized Access — Fraudulent Declination of Offer

Then I called home.

My dad picked up on the first ring.

"Blair? What's wrong?"

"Willow Danes accessed my Common App account without permission and declined my Harvard offer."

"She did what?"

My mom's voice cut in from the background.

"Richard, what happened? What did she do?"

"The girl our foundation sponsored. She just tried to destroy our daughter's future."

My mom, Victoria, grabbed the phone.

"Blair, are you safe? Do you need us to come get you?"

"I'm fine, Mom. I already emailed Harvard."

"Don't worry. I'll handle this." Richard's voice was ice. "And that girl is going to learn what happens when you bite the hand that feeds you."

"Not yet." I kept my voice steady. "I have the video. I have the IP logs. Let me handle the timeline. Just... not yet."

A pause.

"All right." My father exhaled. "But Blair, the moment you say the word."

"I know."

I hung up.

Twenty minutes later, Harvard's admissions office replied.

The declination had been reversed. My offer was reinstated.

I closed the laptop.

The offer was safe. But this wasn't over.

Willow had touched my future with her bare hands and smiled while doing it. Hayes had thrown me to the floor. Ezra had offered me up like a leftover.

Last time, I tried to save them and they killed me for it.

This time, I had the receipts.

And when the timing was perfect, I was going to bury all three of them.