Chapter 1

After finishing the exam, my three childhood sweethearts and I had planned an overseas trip together.

The day before we were supposed to leave, though, Raphael Allison demanded that I give up my spot for Elise Mcpherson.

When I refused, he stormed off in a fury.

In the end, I caved and let her have all of them.

But later, why did they come crying, begging me to turn back?

Raphael asked me to give my plane ticket to Elise.

"Melba, you've been abroad tons of times already. You can go whenever you feel like it."

I refused.

I barely knew Elise—we'd hardly exchanged a word.

Why should I hand over the trip I'd spent three months planning, or the ticket and hotel I'd bought with my own pocket money?

Raphael's expression soured.

He seemed to have forgotten the promise we'd made back in our first year of high school: if we all got into the same university, we'd head to Esavale together—to catch the massive fireworks festival, to soak in those steaming hot springs...

I crumpled the itinerary in my hand into a tight ball.

My other two childhood friends, Curtis and Darnell, squeezed my hands to comfort me.

After a tense standoff, Raphael came over, crouched down in front of me without a word, and looked up at me.

"You really mad?" His voice softened.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just figured, she's a girl from a rough background—tough as nails, scraping by with part-time jobs to get through school. It's not easy for her. I wanted to show her a bit of the world.

"I only wanted to bring her along, but I couldn't snag another ticket, so that's why...

"What I said before—I didn't think about how you'd feel.

"Elise... she's pretty upset too. She's been out there apologizing nonstop.

"Melba, I know you're the kindest person around. What if you reschedule your ticket? We could push back a day, grab extras, and she could join us."

He knew damn well that our planned departure date was the opening night of Esavale's fireworks festival—and, more importantly, the tenth anniversary of the day the four of us first met.

I took a deep breath.

"If your heart's bleeding for her, that's on you. Don't rope me into it."

Raphael's voice rose.

"Melba, I'm trying to talk this out with you. Do you have to put it like that? Keep it up, and I'm not going tomorrow either!"

I paused, suddenly feeling like the whole thing was just pointless.

I stood up and pointed at the door.

"Get out. I don't want to see you right now."

Bam! He slammed the door hard on his way out.

Even though I didn't know Elise personally, this wasn't my first brush with her.

The day our exam scores came out—when we found out we could all apply to the same university like we'd hoped, Raphael was more pumped than I was.

He insisted on handling my application for me—he even knew my login details.

But on the very last day of the submission deadline, I happened to check the page and saw that my choice wasn't our agreed-upon Gegan University—it was Vlofield, thousands of miles away.

I tried calling Raphael, but it wouldn't connect.

So I called Curtis instead.

He said, "We all picked Gegan. Didn't you?"

I assumed Raphael had messed up by accident and quickly fixed it.

Once the dust settled, I hurried over to his place to get the story straight, but around the corner, I overheard him talking to Elise.

"Sorry, Raphael—I accidentally switched Melba's choice to Vlofield. Is that really okay?"

Raphael sounded totally nonchalant.

"It's fine. Melba's so clingy—there's no way she'd end up at a different school from us. Once she spots it, she'll change it back herself."

Elise pushed a little.

"But what if she doesn't notice?"

He reassured her patiently. "Curtis and Darnell are around too! It's no big deal—it's not like it can't be undone."

Elise murmured in agreement, but she sounded a little disappointed.

Even though Raphael had nailed my reaction spot-on, it still left a sour taste in my mouth.

I never mentioned it, but that didn't mean I was okay with it. I just put more weight on our years of friendship.

I was so furious I didn't even want to go to Esavale anymore.

Curtis and Darnell stayed right by my side, doing their best to cheer me up.

Seeing the sincerity in their eyes, I eventually gave in.

The next day, I arrived at the airport two hours early—only to discover the three of them had gotten there even sooner.

From afar, I saw them gathered around a girl in a pink dress, laughing and chatting like they'd known each other forever.

It was Elise.

As I approached, her smile disappeared in a flash, and she greeted me timidly.

I nodded curtly.