Chapter 1

"You're so ugly," Christopher Eaton said.

Not far away, his friends burst out laughing, making a scene.

Christopher explained that he'd lost a game of Truth or Dare, and as punishment, he had to walk up to a girl and call her ugly.

"You're the only girl here I actually know, so I picked you. I didn't mean it, of course. How could you be ugly? You're the one I'm going to marry someday," he said.

I once asked him whether we might end up on completely different life paths just because of a single wrong multiple-choice answer on the SAT. He laughed and said no, no matter what happened, we would always be together.

But now, just because he lost a game, he chose to embarrass me, and didn't even care if it would ruin my test later.

I realized that even if it wasn't a multiple-choice question on the SAT, just because of what he did, we were already worlds apart.

So I quietly applied to another college, set out for a bright future that didn't include him.

*****

The karaoke room reeked of cheap perfume and booze. As soon as Christopher said, "You're so ugly," everyone burst out laughing.

The laughter felt like sharp needles, pricking at my ears.

I was still clutching the hangover pills I'd just bought for him, the plastic bag biting into my fingers, making them pale.

It was our last get-together before the SAT, and it happened to be my birthday too.

But before I even got a chance to cut the cake, I was hit with this "gift."

Alicia Giles was sitting right next to Christopher. She was laughing the loudest, almost leaning all the way into him.

She kept laughing as she slapped his thigh. "Christopher, you're so mean! Look at Daphne, she's gone pale!"

Christopher had a careless grin on his face, his gaze landing on me, light and indifferent.

There was no hint of apology, just a playful, taunting amusement, like he was watching a show.

"Daphne, don't take it personally. Lost a dare, you know how it goes," Christopher said.

He shrugged, looking like he had no choice.

"You're the only girl here I actually know. Who else could I say it to? If I called someone else ugly, they'd probably slap me. You're the only one who wouldn't freak out," he added.

The guys started making noise, teasing me.

"Yeah, Daphne. Lighten up! It's just a game."

"Come on, this just means you're one of us now."

"Hey, future Mrs. Eaton, you're not actually mad, are you? No way, right?"

I took a deep breath, feeling like there was a wad of cotton stuck in my throat.

"Christopher, today's my birthday," I said. My voice wasn't loud, but in the noisy room, it still reached his ears.

His smile froze for a moment, then he frowned, sounding a bit impatient. "Yeah, I know it's your birthday. Aren't we all here celebrating for you? It's just a joke. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

Alicia jumped in, raising her glass and giving it a little shake.

"Exactly, Daphne! We're all here to have fun. You're killing the vibe with that serious face. Come on, I'll take a shot for Christopher. Let's just move on!" she said.

With that, she downed her drink in one go, shooting me a challenging look.

In that moment, it felt like Alicia was the one everyone respected, the real woman in charge, while I was just the troublemaker who didn't know her place.

Christopher watched Alicia's gesture, looking at her with obvious approval.

But when he turned to me, his expression shifted to pure annoyance.

Christopher said, "Look at Alici. She's so cool. Why can't you be more like her? Stop acting like you've got a grudge against the world. Don't bring that bad vibe here."

Bad vibe. To Christopher, my hurt after being humiliated in front of everyone was nothing but a nuisance, a bad vibe he wanted gone.

I slapped the hangover pills down on the table with a sharp snap.

"Here, I got your hangover pills. Take them yourself," I said, my voice cold.

With that, I turned to leave.

"Stop right there!" Christopher's voice suddenly shot up, laced with anger and frustration.

He snapped, "Daphne, if you walk out that door today, don't ever come back to me!"

He was convinced I wouldn't actually walk out.

I'd spent the last three years doing everything he asked, never saying no.

Whenever he had a stomachache, I'd run three blocks at midnight to get him medicine. When he played basketball, I'd stand in the blazing sun to bring him water. He wanted to stay local for college, so I gave up Regal University for him.

I'd spoiled him rotten.

Alicia chimed in, backing Christopher up. "Daphne, Christopher is drunk. Don't take it so seriously. And we've got to check out the exam site this afternoon. If you leave, who's gonna get him home?"

She was saying all the right things, but her hand was clamped tight around Christopher's arm, like she was marking her territory.

I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at them.

The dim lights made their faces look twisted and ugly.

Seeing me stop, Christopher thought I was backing down, and that smug grin slid right back onto his face.

"That's what I thought. Come here and apologize to Alicia. You scared her when you tossed those pills on the table," he said.

He wanted me to apologize to Alicia?

I was the one who got called ugly, the one who got humiliated. And now he wanted me to apologize to the one who kicked this whole thing off?