Chapter 3
240words
I wiped my face with my sleeve and said nothing.
Sophia leaned close, her lips nearly touching my ear.
"You know what, Evelyn?" she whispered. "The harder you try, the more I fucking hate you."
I looked up, meeting her gaze for once.
She smiled sweetly. "Trash like you doesn't deserve to breathe the same air as me."
My hands trembled with rage, but I bit my tongue.
Finals were coming. If I could just maintain my GPA, I'd get that scholarship and escape this hellhole.
Just a few more months of keeping my head down.
That's what I kept telling myself.
A week before finals, an anonymous post blew up on the school's online forum.
"EXPOSED: Charity Case Stalking School's Golden Boy"
The post didn't name names, but it included a grainy photo of me.
In the picture, I was watching Lucas Harrison play basketball from the bleachers.
I had been watching him. That part was true.
Lucas Harrison was Westlake's golden boy—straight As, movie-star looks, old money family, basketball star.
He was the kind of guy who seemed to have a spotlight following him everywhere.
And I was the girl who lived in shadows.
Yes, I had a crush on him. But I never deluded myself into thinking anything could happen.
I just liked watching him from afar, dreaming that someday I might stand in the light too.
