Chapter 2

It was happening again.

One offhand comment, and suddenly I felt the pressure all over again.

I felt like all the air had gone out of me.

All those pent-up feelings from years past just disappeared into thin air.

If I don't belong, why keep pretending?

My boyfriend, William, and my best friend, Emily, had been with me since we were kids.

They were both absolute prodigies.

They were just born smart when it came to studying.

While everyone else had to work their tails off, they could just glance at a book and ace it.

And that "other person"? Yeah, that was me.

I'd always been kind of slow at everything.

All I knew was, they were both brilliant, and I was their best friend.

I couldn't fall behind.

So I threw myself into studying, so I wouldn't get left in the dust.

But honestly, I wasn't smart enough.

I never realized that some things were just out of my reach, no matter how hard I tried.

So when I finally managed to barely catch up to them, and got into the same school as them, William and Emily were genuinely happy for me, but you could almost see a bit of pity there, even if they tried to hide it.

Emily and William helped me figure out which schools to apply to.

When they saw my scores, they were actually kind of shocked.

Even the extra baggage trailing behind them, me, somehow managed to get into the same school as they did.

Even if it was an unpopular major, those spots were still hard to come by.

That day, Emily and William helped me pick out a few majors that almost nobody applied for.

They figured I could easily get in if I chose one of those.

But I didn't like any of those, so I picked archaeology, a less popular major.

William frowned. "That's not the least popular. With your scores, there's still a chance you might not get in."

But Emily believed in me. "I believe in Liv. She'll definitely make it."

With both of them watching me, I went ahead and applied for archaeology.

Turns out, I really did get lucky. I actually got accepted.

I told them the good news.

But Emily poured cold water on my excitement.

"That's way too niche. You'll have a hard time finding a job after graduation," she said.

Then she added, "But hey, it's fine. As long as you've got me and William, you can just be our little freeloader for life. We'll take care of you."

William smiled and nodded along.

There was this heaviness in my chest, but I couldn't quite tell what was wrong.

After all, they only wanted what was best for me.

As they kept talking, they started playfully fighting over who would get "custody" of me.

"After college, Liv's coming with me. We'll be inseparable, just like always," Emily said.

William wasn't about to back down. "Please, Emily, let's get this straight. Liv's my girlfriend. Don't butt into our couple's business."

"Couples break up all the time. But Liv and I are best friends for life."

"Don't count me out. I can take care of Liv for life too."

I shrank between them, even though they were both talking about me.

But it was like I was fading into the background, bit by bit.

*****

I turned off my phone.

When it came to the way they always looked down on me, I didn't even know how to respond anymore.

During the first week of school, the drill sergeant had me running around like a total idiot.

The sun was scorching my skin.

I stood there with a deadpan look, my arms and legs aching like crazy.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the law school squad. There was a tall, sturdy figure, William, carrying Emily in his arms.

He ran off the track and passed right by me.

Seeing William and Emily, I quickly hurried after them.

"What's wrong with Emy?" I called out.

Emily looked pale in William's arms.

I felt a sudden urge to help take care of her, hoping I could do something useful.

But William suddenly snapped.

"Olivia, could you just stop getting in the way right now?" he said.

I froze in my tracks.

Feeling totally lost, I stood there, not knowing what to do.

I just wanted to care about Emily.

But William strode off without even glancing back.

With everyone whispering and staring at me, I walked back to my squad.

"What's going on here? Is this some kind of love triangle?" someone whispered.

"With the way that guy acted, it's like she's just the third wheel," another person said.