My best friend, whom I'd pursued for three years, and my rival, Kevin, who despised me, were locked in a perpetual war—and I was their battlefield. She pitied my unrequited feelings and accused him of being cold; he sneered that she was acting like my mother. I was stuck in the middle. Everything changed when her deadbeat, gambling-addicted father showed up on campus, causing a scene. Kevin, who supposedly hated her, was the first to step in—throwing a punch that sent the man stumbling. By the time I arrived, Kevin had him pinned to a wall, his eyes fierce. “She works three jobs to pay tuition, and you still want to bleed her dry?” he snarled. “It’s just fifty thousand, right? I’ll get it. Take the money and disappear from her life—or I’ll kill you.” “…How will you get it?” the man wheezed. “Her little rich-girl best friend has been after me for three years. I just have to ask, and she’ll bring the cash. Sienna is mine now.” 1 The man wiped a smear of blood from his lip and spat on the ground. “Alright, hero. You’ve got ten days. If I don’t see the money by then, I’ll haunt Sienna like a ghost. She can kiss this fancy school goodbye.” Just as he finished speaking, Sienna arrived, rushing to Kevin’s side and shielding him with her own body. Her father’s laugh was crude. “So, you two are sleeping together now?” “Get out!” Sienna’s voice was a choked sob, her lip trembling as tears streamed down her face. “I’ll get the money somehow! Just stop pushing me! If you push me any further, I swear, we’ll all go down together!” Her father just sneered and walked away. Sienna slumped against the wall, her strength gone. Even from a distance, I could see the raw tenderness in Kevin’s eyes. He knelt, his voice a soft murmur as he retied her shoelace. “You ran so fast, you didn’t even notice.” Sienna sank to the ground beside him, her fingers gently tracing the bruise on his cheek. The tears came faster. “…Don’t cry.” “Does it hurt?” she whispered. Kevin actually smiled, capturing her hand in his. “Kiss it and make it better.” His voice was so gentle it was barely a breath. He leaned in and pressed his lips to her fingers. Sienna looked down, but she didn’t pull away. “Don’t… Kevin, you know how Chloe feels about you. I can’t…” “But I’ve never liked her! She’s the one who won’t leave me alone! You know it’s always been you!” His voice was shaking with emotion. “Girls like her, these princesses born with a silver spoon… they’re not from our world. I could never be with someone like that. Never.” He pulled her into a fierce embrace, as if trying to merge their bodies into one. “You feel something for me too, don’t you? That night, when you were drunk… if Chloe hadn’t walked in, you would have been mine…” My nails dug into my palms, the sharp sting jolting me back to reality. That night… it must have been Kevin’s birthday. I had spent three months planning the perfect surprise for him. I’d gotten him a gift for every year of his life, from one to twenty-one. He hadn’t even cracked a smile. Later, I saw he had sold every single one of them online. The only gift he kept was the simple, hand-woven bracelet Sienna had given him. He never took it off. It had bothered me, but I’d pushed the feeling down. Even when I walked in on the two of them in the room next to the party, their clothes disheveled, I’d played dumb, telling myself they were just drunk. Another wave of pain washed over me. I forced myself to focus. Kevin’s voice drifted over to me. “Your father promised. Fifty thousand, and he’ll be gone for good. You’ll finally be free.” Sienna’s laugh was bitter. “And where am I supposed to get that kind of money?” “Ask Chloe,” Kevin said, stroking her hair. “She’s loaded. She spends more than that on a single handbag. Fifty grand is nothing to her.” “Don’t worry about it. I’ll ask her. That idiot is so obsessed with me, she’ll give me anything I want.” Tears welled in Sienna’s eyes. She nodded, then stood on her toes and gave him a soft, lingering kiss. In the shadows, where they couldn’t see me, my heart was being torn to shreds. I wanted to march over there, to scream, to demand an explanation. But I couldn't. I just turned and walked away. 2 I somehow made it through my afternoon classes, a zombie moving through the motions. As I was heading back to my dorm, I saw him waiting outside the lecture hall. “Chloe.” His voice set off a ripple of whispers and giggles among the other students. “Wow, did Chloe finally land him?” “The pathetic stalker actually succeeded?” I ignored them and faced him. “What do you want, Kevin?” He looked… almost nervous. “I need to borrow some money…” Wow. Straight to the point. Not even a hint of pleasantry. He was so sure of himself, so confident that I would just roll over and hand him whatever he wanted, like the pathetic little dog he thought I was. But not this time. “No.” I walked past him, quickening my pace. He grabbed my arm, his brow furrowed. “What’s wrong with you? You’re being weird.” I didn’t answer. “Let me walk you back,” he offered, his voice suddenly smooth. “It’s still early. We could go for a walk. You always said you wanted to watch the moon. We could go to the field.” Yes, I did. I had asked him so many times. He had never once gone with me. Even on my birthday, I was the one who stood outside his apartment for hours, just for him to come down for a reluctant ten-minute chat. He didn’t like me. He had never liked me. This sudden charm offensive was nothing but a means to an end. It was laughable. I stared at the ground, kicking at a loose stone, biting my lip to keep the tears from falling. When I finally got back to my dorm, my roommate took one look at my face and sighed. “Kevin being an ass again?” I said nothing, which was answer enough. “Chloe, why do you do this to yourself?” she asked gently. “Is it just because he’s good-looking?” I blew my nose, still silent. It wasn't that. It was never just about his looks. The first time I met him wasn't in college. It was in high school. I was a hundred and seventy pounds back then, bloated and puffy from the steroids I had to take for a medical condition. Everyone avoided me. The other kids called me “Tank.” I wasn’t allowed to be in the school play because of my weight. I had to watch from the sidelines as the other girls danced, their pretty dresses making them look like graceful swans. After the show, they invited me to a cast party. I knew they just wanted me to pay for everything. But I was so desperate to fit in, I agreed. They got drunk on stolen beer and started calling me a stupid pig, calling me Tank. When I tried to defend myself, they locked me in a bathroom stall and poured a bucket of cold water over my head. “You don’t belong with us, you fat pig!” they shrieked through the door. I screamed for them to let me out, but they just laughed. It was Kevin who found me. He was just passing by. He saw me shivering and soaked to the bone, and he gave me his jacket. “Next time they bully you, you have to fight back,” he’d said. “If you’re meaner than they are, they’ll be scared of you.” Before he left, he handed me a lollipop. “Sweets make everything better,” he’d smiled. His face was silhouetted against the light, but I can still remember that smile, clear as day. He was the only person who had ever been kind to me. And just like that, I fell for him. For the entirety of our senior year, I bought him breakfast every single day. I wrote him a love letter every single day. But I never had the courage to sign my name. The summer after graduation, I worked my ass off and lost eighty pounds. I applied to the same university as him. I had gone through hell and back just to be able to stand in front of him. But he didn't recognize me. I truly, deeply loved him. And Sienna knew everything. She knew my entire, secret history with him. She was my only friend. We’d known each other since we were six. When her parents fought, they would lock her in her room for days without food. I was the one who climbed up to her fourth-floor window, broke the glass, and got her out. The week before our final exams, her father beat her so badly she had a fever of a hundred and four. I couldn't get a taxi, so I carried her on my back for three miles to the hospital. The two most important people in my life had conspired to make a fool of me. A sob escaped my throat, and then I was crying, my head on my desk, my body shaking with the force of it. My roommate handed me a tissue. “Chloe,” she said, her voice hesitant. “There’s something… I don’t know if I should tell you.” 3 My heart stuttered. “What is it?” “It’s about Kevin and your best friend… I mean, you and Sienna are so close, I didn’t want you to think I was just spreading gossip.” “But I just… I don’t think things are as innocent as they seem between them.” It turned out, my roommate had stumbled across a social media account of Sienna’s that I had never seen before. The profile picture was her, but the account was a secret one. A finsta. She showed it to me. I clicked on it, and my world tilted on its axis. 【He took me to the top of the mountain to see the stars. The princess called him twenty times, but he didn’t pick up once. Apparently, they were supposed to go to a concert together. She waited for him outside for three hours… Tsk, tsk. Being a stalker is hard work.】 【He got sick and begged me to visit him in the hospital. But then the princess showed up, so I had to hide behind the curtain and watch her fuss over him. She brought a huge bag of expensive, imported fruit. We ate all of it after she left!】 【At the princess’s birthday party, he got drunk and pushed me against the wall in the room next door and kissed me… If she hadn’t walked in, we would have done it… So annoying.】 【The lunch the princess made for him? He fed it all to me, bite by bite… Hehehe.】 My fingers started to tremble as I scrolled further. 【So what if you have a little money? Do you really think you’re some kind of royalty?】 【Why are some people born with a silver spoon, while I have to claw my way through the mud? Anyone who has it better than me deserves to die.】 【I bet you don’t know this, but the guy you’ve been chasing for three years pins me against a wall and kisses me until my legs give out. ;) 】 I couldn’t read anymore. It felt like my heart was being deep-fried. I lay in bed all night, unable to sleep. My eyes were so swollen I could barely open them. The next day, I dragged myself to my big lecture class. Kevin was in this one too. I deliberately chose a seat in the back corner. But when he walked in, he sat down right next to me. He dropped his bag and held out his hand expectantly. “Where’s my breakfast?” Ever since I’d confessed my feelings to him, I had brought him breakfast every single morning. “I didn’t bring it.” His brow furrowed. “…What’s wrong with you? Are you sick?” I kept my head down and didn’t answer. He kept talking. “I have a basketball game this afternoon. You’re coming, right? Make sure to bring extra water. My teammates will be thirsty too.” I took a deep breath, stood up, and moved to another seat. I saw the flash of surprise in his eyes. He started to follow me, but then the bell rang. I didn’t expect him to tell Sienna. But right after class, she found me, linking her arm through mine with a bright, fake smile. “Sweetie, what’s wrong? You seem down.” She reached up and squeezed my cheek, just like she always did. Her fingers brushed against the necklace I was wearing. It was a Tiffany piece, worth two thousand dollars. “That’s so pretty…” In the past, if she had said that, I would have taken it off and given it to her on the spot. I never cared about the price. This time, I slapped her hand away. “Don’t touch me.” She jumped back, startled, then forced another laugh. I saw the anger flash in her eyes before she hid it. She changed the subject. “You’re going to Kevin’s game this afternoon, right? Let me help you pick out an outfit! We have to make sure you look stunning. That lipstick is hideous, and your dress is so frumpy…” “He’s never going to like you if you dress like that.” I turned to face her, my gaze steady. “How did you know I was going to the game? Did Kevin tell you?” “Do you two talk often?” 4 She froze. The guilt was plain on her face. I pulled my arm away and walked off. In the end, I didn’t go to the game. I turned off my phone and slept until evening. When I woke up, I was scrolling through the campus confession page and saw a photo of Kevin. It had been posted by one of his admirers. In the picture, a basketball was flying toward the stands, and Kevin had thrown himself in front of Sienna, shielding her with his body. The caption read: 【Is our campus heartthrob finally taken? My heart is broken… I saw them holding hands earlier. They’re so cute together.】 The comments started rolling in. 【OMG, isn’t that the best friend of the girl who’s been stalking him for three years? The drama!】 And then, Sienna herself commented. 【Don’t spread rumors. We’re just friends. I would never, ever go after my best friend’s crush.】 After posting that blatant lie, she immediately messaged me. 【Sweetie, don’t believe what they’re saying on the confessions page. It’s all nonsense.】 I didn’t bother to reply. For the next few days, I cut them both off. I didn’t confront them. I just… faded away. I needed time to process, to get my head straight before I said what needed to be said. My roommate was my rock. “Chloe, I’ve always thought you were a really great person,” she told me one night. “It’s just… you were always with Sienna. We’d ask you to hang out, but if she didn’t want to go, you’d back out too.” “She’s a total narcissist. She controls you, puts you down, and you just take it.” “I’ve always felt like you were a bit of a people-pleaser… but you don’t have to be. You can just be yourself, and people will love you for it.” Her words were a balm to my raw, wounded heart. Because of the bullying I’d experienced, I had always been so desperate for friends, so grateful for any scrap of acceptance. I thought it was a gift that anyone would even want to be around me. But I didn’t have to be that person. I was a good person. I deserved to be loved. I didn’t have to earn it. 5 The next day, I finally decided it was time. I was going to confront them. But before I could, I got a message from Kevin. 【I’m downstairs. Come down.】 I saw his familiar silhouette as soon as I stepped out of the dorm. He was leaning against the wall, smoking. He was holding a cup of bubble tea. “This is for you.” …Full-sugar bubble tea with pearls. He didn’t know I hated pearls, and I never drank full-sugar anything. I almost laughed. I didn’t take it. “What do you want?” I asked. He stubbed out his cigarette, his fingers trembling slightly. He must have been nervous. “Chloe, you’ve been chasing me for a long time. I can see that you really, really like me.” “I’ve thought about it. Let’s be together.” He was looking at the ground, his lips pressed into a thin line. It was as if he were bestowing some great honor upon me. Then, his tone shifted. “But…” “But?” “But you have to do one thing for me.” I knew exactly what he was going to say. But I made him say it anyway. “What is it?” “Give me fifty thousand dollars.” He said it so matter-of-factly. It was absurd. It was like he was playing a game. The way he was forcing himself to lie… it was almost funny. “Are you asking because of the money, or because you really want to be with me?” I asked, my voice sweet. He couldn’t even meet my eyes. He tried to act casual, forcing a laugh. “Of course I want to be with you.” “Plenty of girls have offered me money. There was this fat girl in high school who was obsessed with me. She used to leave me breakfast and love letters every day. It was disgusting. She was rich, I heard, but even if she had offered me a million dollars, I wouldn’t have given her the time of day.” “She should have looked in a mirror. She was repulsive.” He was still smiling as he said it, as if he were sharing a funny story. My heart seized. It felt like a hand was squeezing my throat. I looked up at him. “Do you remember her name?” “Who would remember her name? She was as fat as a pig. I just remember… everyone called her Tank. It’s hilarious, right? What a stupid nickname.” Hilarious. All the courage it had taken me, all the love I had poured into those letters and those breakfasts… it was all just a joke to him. “So, what do you say? You and me? It’s only fifty grand. Your family’s loaded. It’s not like you can’t afford it, right?” I let out a short, sharp laugh. “Fifty thousand is just a few handbags to me. It’s nothing.” A hopeful gleam appeared in his eyes. “But I’m not giving it to you. And I’m not going to be with you.” “You love Sienna, so you should be the one to earn the money to fix her problems. Asking me for it? What does that make you? A pathetic leech.” “You and Sienna… you two disgusting people deserve each other.” “I’m done with you, Kevin. If you two want to be beggars, go beg someone else.” “You’re bad luck.”
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