Chapter 2

2

Back in school, Fallon had always targeted me. I never did a single thing to cross her, yet she despised everything about me.

Whenever we turned in homework, she would steal my papers when I wasn't looking, dumping them into the toilet or spilling ink over them until they were ruined.

During class, she would hide a phone with an alarm set inside my desk just to watch me panic in front of the teacher.

She was even willing to hurt herself just to drag me down.

When seats were reshuffled, she begged the teacher to sit her right next to me just so she could sabotage my daily routine.

Our grades had been neck and neck in high school, but on our college entrance exams, I underperformed under pressure. Fallon, however, scored far higher than her practice tests.

Word was that she applied to an elite joint-venture university that offered dual degrees and tons of study-abroad programs.

The catch was obvious: the tuition was insane, far beyond what an average family could afford.

From what I knew, Fallon's family struggled financially, and she had relied on financial aid throughout high school. She chose that university because she desperately wanted to climb the social ladder.

Taking this summer temp job was just her way of scraping together tuition money.

“Fallon, do you really think I don't know you swapped the crates?” I asked evenly.

“So what if you know?” she shot back, raising her chin. “Who are you going to tell? My uncle? You think he'll take your side? If you're dumb, you better work harder to make up for it!”

Whenever test scores came up, Fallon became unbearable, firmly believing those extra points made her superior.

Truthfully, when my scores came out, I considered retaking the exams. But dealing with Fallon had drained me, and I refused to endure another suffocating year of prep.

More importantly, my parents assured me they were proud no matter what. All they wanted was for me to be happy and healthy.

In the end, I chose a solid local university and picked a major I genuinely loved. My parents were thrilled because I would be close to home and could drop by for dinner anytime.

“Hadley, you should really learn the ropes around here,” Fallon mocked before heading back to her station. “A degree from a no-name local college is useless anyway. You'll end up stuck in a factory after graduation regardless, so you might as well stay here forever.”

By the time I finished repacking every single part in that crate, the shift was nearing its end.

The plant ran evening shifts, but overtime was voluntary. Workers were paid based on their logged hours, so staying late was just an easy way to earn extra cash.