Chapter 2

A month later, the midterm results came out.

I was still first in the grade, while Sophie had dropped to fifteenth.

The special‑admission spot came with strings attached. If her grades slipped too much, CCU had the right to revoke it.

Sophie panicked.

She came to me, her eyes red and swollen.

"Emily, can you help me with my studies? I really can't afford to lose this offer," she pleaded.

I set my pen down and looked at her.

Ever since we were kids, Sophie had always been like this. Whenever she ran into trouble, she'd run to someone for help. She was pretty, gentle, and everyone was willing to help her.

I used to fall for it too.

"Why me?" I asked.

"Because you're the smartest, and..." Sophie bit her lip. "And we're friends, right?"

Friends.

What an ironic word.

"Sorry, I've got a lot on my plate lately," I said, shutting her down.

Sophie clearly hadn't expected that. "Emily, are you still upset?"

"Upset about what?" I asked.

"About the coming-of-age ceremony. I know you wanted that spot at CCU too, but..." Sophie said.

"But what?" I cut her off. "But since I never showed up, you got the spot by default?"

Sophie looked startled by my tone. "Emily, what's gotten into you? You never acted like this before."

"People change, you know," I said, packing up my things. "Just like you said, I need to learn to accept defeat."

Sophie started crying behind me, and soon a bunch of classmates went over to comfort her.

"Sophie, don't cry. Emily's probably just stressed out," one of them said.

"Yeah, she's always been so competitive. Losing to you must've hit her hard," another added.

"She's just jealous of you. Don't pay her any mind," someone else chimed in.

I walked out without even glancing back.

Jack caught up to me. "If you act like this, they'll pity Sophie even more."

"I know," I replied calmly. "But this is just the first step."

"First step?" Jack asked.

"Matthew helps Sophie because he thinks she needs protecting," I said, stopping in my tracks. "So I'll turn her into someone who genuinely needs protection."

Jack looked thoughtful. "You want her to become dependent on Matthew?"

"Dependence is a poison," I said, staring out at the playground. "It's sweet at first, but in the end, it suffocates."

Over the next few days, I quietly observed the interactions between Matthew and Sophie.

Matthew was indeed tutoring Sophie. Every day after school, the two of them stayed late in the library.

A few times when I walked by, I saw Sophie nodding off on Matthew's shoulder, and he'd gently cover her with his jacket.

That sight really hit me where it hurt.

Matthew had treated me exactly the same way once. Back in elementary school, he'd walked me to the nurse's office when I ran a fever. In middle school, he'd bought my favorite Tiramisu whenever I was in a bad mood.

After we started living on campus in high school, he'd bring me home-cooked meals from her mom every week.

I used to think that was what real friendship looked like.

But now I knew that his kindness had limits. When the girl he actually cared about needed help, I was just someone he could toss aside without a second thought.

"Emily, what are you looking at?" Jack asked, following my gaze.

"Nothing," I replied, turning away. "Let's go."

Over the weekend, the school held a math competition.

I hadn't planned on joining, but when I heard Sophie had signed up, I decided to join on a whim.

The competition was tough. Some of the questions were way beyond what we learned in high school. I was working through the problems smoothly, but when I glanced at Sophie, she was nearly in tears from frustration.

As soon as the test was over, she ran straight to Matthew.

"Matthew, I think I totally bombed it," she said.

"It's okay. You did your best," Matthew comforted her.

"But what if I didn't do well? Will CCU think I'm not good enough?" Sophie asked, her voice trembling.

"No way. It's just a school competition. It won't affect your special‑admission spot," Matthew reassured her.

But it turned out Matthew was wrong.

A week later, the results came out. I took first place, while Sophie didn't even make it into the top ten.

Worse still, the competition results had been submitted to the state education board and counted as one of the metrics for the special‑admission comprehensive review.

The CCU admissions office called, requiring Sophie to attend an additional interview.

Sophie was thrown into a full‑blown panic.

She ran to Matthew, crying. "What am I supposed to do? I didn't prepare for the interview at all. What if I mess it up?"

Matthew looked pretty grim too, clearly not expecting things to go this way.

"Maybe... maybe you should ask Emily for help?" he said, hesitating. "She definitely knows how to get ready for an interview."

"But she won't talk to me," Sophie said.

"I'll go talk to her," Matthew said.

That afternoon, Matthew came looking for me.

It was the first time he'd approached me since the coming-of-age ceremony.

"Emily, can we talk?" he said.

I looked up at him. "What about?"

"It's about Sophie's interview," he said, sitting down beside me. "Could you help her out?"

"Why?" I asked.

He hesitated, stumbling over his words. "Because... we're friends."

Friends.

That word again.

"Friends?" I let out a cold laugh. "Matthew, are you really sure we're still friends?"

He froze, clearly thrown off. "Of course. We've grown up together since we were kids."

"Then why didn't you come looking for me that day?" I stared straight into his eyes. "I was locked in that bathroom for three hours. Did you even notice?"

Matthew's expression changed instantly. "You were in the bathroom? Why would you be there?"

"You really don't know?" I searched his face for any sign of guilt. "How do you think that door got locked?"

"I..." He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Watching his reaction, the last shred of hope in my heart died.

I had held onto a sliver of hope that maybe it wasn't on purpose, that maybe it was all just some stupid accident.

But his face told me everything I needed to know.

"Matthew," I said, standing up, my voice cold. "From this moment on, we're done. We're not friends anymore."

"Emily, please, let me explain," he pleaded.

"Don't bother," I cut him off. "I got it."

I turned to leave, but he grabbed my wrist, desperate.

"Please, don't be like this. Sophie really needs your help," he begged.

I looked down at his hand on my wrist. This was the same hand that had led me across countless streets, that had offered me warmth whenever I was scared.

Now, it filled me with nothing but revulsion.

"Matthew," I said, shaking off his hand, my voice icy. "Remember this day. One day, you'll regret the choice you made."