The tears I had been holding back finally spilled over, falling onto the floor with a soft patter.
A suffocating wave of despair swallowed me whole.
Reborn into a new life—and yet, in the end, I still lost my future.
Blake's face shifted from pale to flushed, over and over.
After a long moment, he suddenly flung the torn admission slip back at me.
"Melissa, you're the one who tried to stop me from going out with Annika! That's why I got so worked up! This is your own fault!"
With that, he grabbed his friend and bolted out of the classroom as if escaping a fire.
The moment the door shut, I heard laughter erupt in the hallway.
"Blake, that top-student Melissa is totally your lapdog. You tore her admission slip and she didn't even dare complain!"
"Yeah, she's such a timid little thing. Not at all like Annika—so bold and carefree..."
Their words stabbed into my heart like needles.
My tolerance, my kindness, he actually mistook it for cowardice.
Blake and I had worked side by side since middle school, pushing each other to grow.
Getting into Yale together was the future we once promised each other. But ever since he met Annika outside of school... everything changed.