Chapter 2

Just like last time, Rachel's post went viral overnight, and the backlash was intense.

People were saying it was totally mind-blowing and that she'd shattered everyone's values. Some even dug up that it was our dorm, so whenever we went out, even without Rachel, we'd get nasty looks.

"Those girls, just because they're good-looking, think they can mess around however they want. They're ruining our school's reputation," someone muttered.

"I heard one of them got a full ride. Bet she batted her eyes and cheated her way to that scholarship," another person sneered.

Last time, I managed to get Rachel to delete the post before things got out of hand, so the backlash wasn't nearly this bad. But now, it wasn't just her. This mess had dragged all three of us into the fallout.

Lily pulled the two of us back to the dorm, fuming.

When we got back, Rachel was sitting on her bed. My face towel was on the floor. She was barefoot, and her feet were resting right on top of it.

Thank god I caught it this time. Who knew how many times she'd done this?

Just thinking about how I'd been wiping my face with that towel every morning made my skin crawl.

I marched right up to Rachel, grabbed the towel from under her feet, and held it up. "Are you serious right now? You're putting your dirty feet all over my face towel?" I snapped.

Honestly, I was beyond pissed. But Rachel didn't even flinch. She acted like she owned the place.

"I'm pregnant with some rich guy's baby. You should feel honored that I even touched your stuff. Treat me right, and maybe I'll have my husband throw you a job after you graduate," she said.

It had been two weeks since Rachel put up that post. She'd been staying out all night and had us cover for her with the RA. By now, it was pretty obvious she'd gotten herself knocked up.

As for the guy, Rachel never said his name. She just kept bragging about how loaded he was, head-to-toe designer brands, and while the rest of us were taking the bus or walking, he was already driving some fancy car.

From what Rachel described, the only guy on campus who fit that bill was James Sterling, the big-shot heir from the city.

But when I heard her say that, rage surged through me.

"I don't need your charity. I can take care of myself. But that doesn't give you the right to mess with my stuff," I shot back.

"Seriously? You have no clue how hard it is to find a job after graduation, do you? Still pretending you're so pure and above it all?" Rachel scoffed.

"Don't come crawling to me when you're unemployed. I won't let my husband throw you a bone, even if you beg."

With that, Rachel pushed me out of her way, her face full of contempt.

Lily had been itching to blow up for a while now. If it hadn't been for what just happened, she wouldn't have held back this long.

"Rachel, you deal with your own mess! Don't drag the rest of us down with you. Get on the forum and tell everyone this was your idea, not ours!"

Lily planted herself in front of me, hands on her hips, and tore into Rachel. "Thanks to you, everywhere we go, people are trash-talking us!"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Please, I'm just looking out for you. I know you three can't bring yourselves to admit it, but deep down, you're all jealous of me, aren't you? Who are you trying to fool with that innocent act?"

Lily was fuming, her cheeks flushed with anger. "You're out of your mind! We just want to study. Don't project your dirty thoughts onto us!"

Rachel rolled her eyes so hard that it was a wonder they didn't get stuck. "Keep treating me like this and see if I don't have my husband make sure you can't even stay in school!"

"Oh, please, enough with your husband already. If he's so powerful, let him come deal with us himself!" Lily fired back.

"You really think popping out a baby makes you royalty? The whole campus says you have no shame, and you still act like you're some big deal?"

Lily was savage.

Rachel was so livid and humiliated that she couldn't even speak. She glared at the three of us, her eyes shooting daggers, then snatched up her phone, and stormed into the bathroom, crying.

From outside the bathroom, I could just make out Rachel on the phone, tattling and playing the victim. Her voice was all strained and tearful, nothing like her usual tone. She was clearly forcing herself to sound pitiful.

Lily sat back down, grinding her teeth in anger.

Hannah Lewis glanced over, worry written all over her face. "You don't think she's actually hooked up with James Sterling, do you? If she's really with that big-shot heir, we're totally out of our league."

Lily retorted, not backing down for a second, "So what if she is? We've got the truth on our side. Why should we be scared of him? Does he really think he can run the whole show? We earned our spot here fair and square!"

As soon as I heard James' name, I instinctively glanced at my phone.

James: [What time do you finish class? I'll take you to that new restaurant.]

The text was sent yesterday afternoon.

James and I grew up together. If he had a girlfriend, I'd know about it before anyone else.

Our conversations were always pretty chill. If I were busy, I would just leave him on read. As for whether he was actually involved with Rachel, I would have to ask him directly to get the real story.

I shot back a quick reply in the chat.

Camila Thompson: [Let's go today.]

James texted back in a flash.

James: [I'll swing by and pick you up after class.]