Chapter 2

Adrian's face went completely dark.

The whispering around us grew louder.

"The Valedictorian looks pissed…"

"Even if they're childhood friends, that's no way to embarrass him in front of everyone."

"Please. Childhood friends is just a technicality. Adrian and Chloe are the couple Ashford Prep voted for."

"She should just bow out gracefully. Zoe really can't read the room."

They weren't even trying to keep their voices down.

But Adrian just glanced over at them, then brought his gaze back to me.

When he looked at me again, the anger was gone. Now his face wore that expression of weary, resigned patience.

"Zoe, didn't you promise me on the way here that didn't you promise you'd spend today with me?"

I curled my fingers into my palm and said nothing.

I had promised.

But he hadn't told me that after the party, everyone was going out on the Hudson River yacht cruise.

By the time it wrapped up, it would be past eleven.

Into the stalled silence, Chloe piped up sweetly.

"Come on, Zoe. Today's the submission deadline. Everyone just wants to unwind after hitting send."

"You've been glued to your phone all afternoon. It's kind of insulting to the rest of us, don't you think?"

Some classmates chimed in. Others jumped on the pile.

I clenched my teeth and said nothing.

It was always like this.

Ever since Chloe transferred in junior year, every cold shoulder, every accusation, had landed on me.

Every time she confessed to Adrian and got turned down, the girls in her orbit would come at me.

I'd fought back at first. I'd told them loudly that Adrian liked me, that he and I had agreed to go to college together.

Then, one after another, they'd shoved me into supply closets and locked the door.

And then, plain as day, I saw it.

The furrow in Adrian's brow the day Chloe first confessed publicly, it wasn't as deep anymore.

The first time Chloe confessed to him, his frown hadn't been nearly as deep. There had even been a hint of helplessness at the corner of his mouth.

The same look he gave me.

So I stopped pushing back.

But my silence didn't stop the isolation or the attacks.

I lifted my head and looked Chloe dead in the eye.

She clearly hadn't expected me to face her head-on. Normally at school, I did everything I could to avoid her.

Caught off guard, she didn't hide the flash of malice in time.

I pointed at her phone.

"You just said me being on my phone was disrespectful to everyone. So what's that in your hand?"

She stumbled over her words.

Adrian frowned and stepped just slightly in front of her.

"Zoe, Chloe was only posting the poll. You know that."

"So she gets to be on her phone. I don't."

He didn't have an answer. I didn't give him a chance to find one.

"And you. I told you I'd come to this one party. And this is what you do?"

I gestured to the room full of people.

"When they were mocking me and laughing at me, you pretended not to hear!"

Tears were rising in my eyes and I couldn't stop them. I raised my voice into something like a shout, hoping the force of it would keep them from falling.

"I'm saying it one more time. Give me back my phone."

The clock on the wall had crawled to 3:20.

I couldn't afford to waste another minute.

The room went completely silent.

Every pair of eyes in the place was on the two of us.

After a long moment, Adrian rubbed his temple like he was exhausted to the bone.

"Zoe, you know I've always spoiled you."

"I don't want to fight with you. But can you at least tell me, what do you actually need your phone for?"

I looked into his eyes, and something small and stubborn still hoped.

Hoped that this was all in my head. Hoped that the text was just someone stirring the pot.

"The application system is closing soon. I just want to double-check my submission…"

"Ha."

The laugh came out of nowhere. It was soft, but in the dead silent room it cut like glass.

He looked down at me, eyes full of disappointment.

"Zoe. You gave me your Common App login. Yourself."

"You told me you wanted to go to Harvard with me. You said you wanted me to look it over. And now you want to snatch your phone back and check it again yourself?"

His voice cracked, showing a rare thread of hurt.

"You don't trust me?"