Chapter 1
At the beginning of my freshman year, I changed my profile picture.
Right away, the freshman group chat blew up with tons of messages roasting me.
[Why are you copying Maya's profile pic? Copycat! Better change your Facebook pic in three minutes!]
[Trying to imitate someone way out of your league! Ridiculous.]
[No matter how hard you try, you'll never have Maya's beauty or class.]
I was totally confused.
Turns out, the girl my family was sponsoring had been trash-talking me behind my back, calling me a copycat.
She claimed I was always copying her, trying to steal her whole life.
But in reality, she was secretly using a fake account to buy my second-hand bags on eBay.
She used them to keep up her spoiled rich girl image.
Her fanboys rushed to defend her, demanding I get what's coming to me.
Fine, if she loved copying so much, let's see how she handled this.
I showed up at the freshman orientation in a Rolls-Royce.
I slammed a million dollars in cash right in her face.
I said, "Go on, copy this. Can you outspend me?"
Because of my family's business arrangements, I couldn't attend the freshman military training.
I only joined the freshman group chat.
As soon as I changed my profile picture, I got tagged like crazy.
Frowning, I pulled out my phone.
The freshman group chat was blowing up, like a school of fish hit by a depth charge. Everywhere I looked, people were roasting me.
[Is copying people the only thing you know how to do? Change your Facebook profile pic in three minutes!]
[Are you that desperate? Why copy Maya? You think you're even in her league?]
[Trying to imitate someone way out of your league. Ridiculous! You can steal Maya's profile pic, but you'll never have her beauty or class.]
[You disgusting copycat needs a lesson. Just wait till I get someone to put you in your place.]
The whole chat was flooded with insults, all demanding I change my profile pic.
That was when I realized that I'd ended up with the same profile pic as Maya in the group.
Instead of stopping the hate, Maya jumped in and started roasting me too.
She said: [I know you're jealous of me, but let's be real. We're not even close! Just accept you're basic and quit copying me! I changed my profile pic, and you have to copy it? No matter how hard you try, you'll never have my class.]
[The thing I hate most is wannabe rich girls like you. The broke vibes coming off you could knock someone out!]
[I'm super generous, so here's the deal: record a video, kneel and bow three times on camera, admit you're a copycat, say you deserve it, and apologize to me right there. Do that, and maybe I'll forgive you. Deal?]
She added: [Oh, and anyone who speaks up for me today can join my Facebook giveaway. The prize is a set of the latest makeup and 3,000 dollars!]
As soon as she said that, the group chat exploded with excitement.
I was so confused that it was written all over my face.
My Facebook profile pic was a photo from my coming-of-age party. The light hit my best side profile, highlighting my sharp jawline and the rhinestone necklace that glimmered softly around my neck.
I was just using my own photo as my profile pic. How did I suddenly get called a copycat?
I clicked on Maya's profile pic, and seriously, it was like she'd copied my photo down to the last detail, same angle, same lighting, same pose.
Even the rhinestone necklace was spot-on.
But my dad dropped a million dollars on that necklace for my coming-of-age party, with my name engraved in the corner. Literally, there was only one in the world.
Where the heck did Maya get her hands on that necklace for her photo?
I shot a message to my assistant: [Find out everything you can about Maya. Now.]
I kept it cool and replied in the group chat: [I didn't copy Maya. Looks like we just happened to pick the same one.]
Before I could even get my explanation out, Maya was already at it again.
She blew up the group with a ton of super airbrushed pics of herself rocking the necklace. Her skin was so smoothed out that one could barely see her nostrils.
[This necklace is the one my dad gave me for my coming-of-age party. There's only one like it in the world. You could hustle for centuries and still not be able to buy it! So if you're not trying to copy me, then what are you doing?]
The guys in the group chat went absolutely wild over those pics.
[Too bad the military training base isn't on campus. Guess we'll just have to get our kicks from Maya's pics for now...]
[Once orientation's over and the freshmen are back, we'll finally get to see Maya in person! She promised to hang out with us in real life, so don't chicken out.]
Seeing those comments, Maya posted even more photos, this time posing with her waist and legs on full display.
She replied in a coy, teasing way: [What are you guys even saying? You better not be doing anything naughty with my pics.]
She kept teasing the guys, saying she'd only let them see the pics for a second before deleting them, but after a few minutes of playful banter, she chimed in: [Ugh, this is all your fault! I totally forgot to delete the photos. Well, guess you guys get to feast your eyes now.]
After getting their fill, the guys started hyping her up while putting me down.
They were roasting me while shamelessly simping for her.
[Maya's the real rich girl, pretty, classy, the whole package. Who even knows what that wannabe copycat is? Bet she's too ugly to show up in person, so she has to copy Maya online just to get noticed.]
[It's all because Maya's just too charming. No wonder every girl's scrambling to imitate her. We gotta be her loyal defenders and protect our one and only Maya!]
I frowned.
Growing up, nobody ever had the guts to talk to me like that.
Just as I was about to fire back, my phone started blowing up with notifications.
Suddenly, my inbox was flooded with DMs from the freshman group.
The messages were all different, but most of them were trying to talk me out of it.
But what really shocked me was a post that exposed some serious dirt.