Chapter 1

The afternoon of the Common App deadline, Chloe Ashford, the Homecoming Queen who had made my life hell for three years, dropped a poll link into the party chat.

【Who's brave enough? Post the school you actually want.】

The guys started hollering, asking what the stakes were.

Chloe blinked, her smile all sugar.

"Whoever hits submit first, if he ends up at the same school as me, I'll be his girlfriend for a whole year."

Before she'd even finished, my childhood friend Adrian Whitmore had already tapped submit.

Under the roar of cheers, he tilted his head toward me and lowered his voice.

"When have I ever not been first? Games are no different. Don't overthink it, Zoe."

I looked at the perfectly measured shyness on Chloe's face and couldn't muster a smile.

I just stubbornly held out my hand toward him.

Adrian studied me for two seconds, then finally gave in and pulled up his submission record.

【Submission time: 1.5 seconds. School: Harvard University.】

Exactly what we'd agreed on.

And everyone at Ashford Prep knew Chloe had been telling anyone who'd listen that she wanted NYU Tisch.

I let out a quiet breath.

Chloe watched us for a beat, then laughed.

"That's what growing up together gets you. Look at Zoe Bennett, everyone. She's got her golden boy wrapped around her finger in front of the whole class."

Everyone laughed and started teasing me for being so hard on Adrian.

I glanced at the way Adrian's face had darkened and was already opening my mouth to apologize quietly.

The phone in my lap buzzed.

A text from an unknown number lit up the screen.

【Don't trust him. Adrian did submit Harvard. But he changed yours to NYU Tisch.】

【Chloe already switched hers to match his. You two agreed to go public at prom, but he's been with her for months.】

I froze in my chair, fingertips ice cold.

When I came back to myself, I instinctively unlocked the screen to check the Common App.

Before the page could load, a hand with long, defined knuckles reached over from the side and lifted my phone right out of my grip.

My heart lurched. I looked up and met Adrian's eyes.

His eyes looked bottomless, dark and unreadable.

"You're on your phone again?"

He leaned in close, his warm breath brushing my ear.

"I know you don't like these class parties. I know you don't like getting overshadowed by Chloe."

"But, Zoe."

He looked at me earnestly, wearing that familiar, gentle expression that always made me feel like he put me first.

"This is our last high school party. I don't want you looking back and regretting it."

Any other time, I would've melted into his chest.

I would've told him in a small voice how good he was to me, how he always thought of everything.

But right now, watching him slip my phone smoothly into the inside pocket of his blazer, that warm breath by my ear sent a cold sweat crawling down my spine.

The text wasn't a prank. He really had tampered with my application.

I held out my hand, my voice a little hoarse.

"Give me back my phone."

No. I wanted it back, but not for him.

Harvard was where the professor I'd wanted to study under since I was twelve taught.

It was the place I'd been working toward since I was twelve—the university where the professor I wanted to study under taught.

Every report card, every late night, every sacrifice had been for that dream.

Adrian just happened to be going there too.

He wasn't the one who made that dream possible. He just happened to be walking the same road. We were supposed to be on the same road all along.

Adrian's expression darkened further as he took in the seriousness on my face.

His voice dropped even lower.

"You're going to grab your phone back from me? Again?"

"Zoe, I've spoiled you for years. But this, right now, in front of everyone? Isn't this a bit much?"

The commotion had already caught the attention of a few classmates.

Whispers and strange looks came at me from every direction.

Once, I would've been terrified of him going cold on me. I would've trailed after him for the rest of the night trying to smooth things over.

But now, out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at the clock on the wall.

2:59 PM.

Two hours until Ashford Prep's internal Early Decision cutoff at 5:00 PM.

That was the deadline for the school counselor to upload transcripts and recommendation letters. After that, my entire application would be dead.

I looked him straight in the eye. For the first time, I didn't back down.

"My phone. Now."