Chapter Three

Eleanor's POV

I grabbed my bag, rushed out of school, and caught a cab straight home.

As soon as I walked through the door, I told my parents everything that had happened in the computer lab.

"Who do they think they are?!" My dad slammed his hand on the table, his face red with anger.

"Have those two boys lost their minds? They actually messed with my daughter's application over some girl who came out of nowhere?"

My mom pulled me into a hug, her eyes wet. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. How dare they..."

"I'm okay." I patted her back. "Right now, we just need to get my application fixed. I'm worried they'll try to pull something else."

"Leave it to me." My dad already had his phone out and was dialing.

My family had run a business in town for decades, and we knew people in pretty much every line of work.

For a regular student, once an application was locked, that was the end of it.

But as long as we could prove someone had tampered with it on purpose, it only took my family a few phone calls.

In less than half an hour, Common App got back to us. They confirmed my application had been tampered with and reopened it so I could make changes.

I sat down at the computer and typed "Yale University" back in, one letter at a time.

When the "Application submitted" message popped up on the screen, I finally let out a long breath.

My dad put down his phone, his expression darkening. "You want me to go have a little talk with those two boys?"

"And there's this." My mom handed me her phone. "The school just pulled the security footage from the computer lab. The video and audio are both crystal clear."

I watched Chloe on the screen, sitting at my computer with her back to the camera, and I couldn't help smiling.

"Let's keep quiet for now. They want to go to community college so badly, right? Then let them go."

After application season came the long summer break.

Chloe posted on social media almost every single day.

First, it was a selfie on a yacht in San Diego, the ocean breeze blowing through her hair. The caption read: "With you guys by my side, every view is perfect."

Next to her in the photo, Brody and Wyatt were each lugging a bunch of shopping bags, drenched in sweat.

A couple of days later, it was a brand-new designer bag, with the caption: "Thanks to my two knights for always saving the best for me."

All summer long, her page looked like a display case, packed with the loot she'd squeezed out of those two guys.

Of course, she wasn't just showing off. Every post had a subtle little jab buried in it.

Two rich boys were waiting on her hand and foot, while Eleanor, the girl everyone used to fawn over, didn't have a single friend left.

Scrolling through those photos, I just found the whole thing funny.

As far as they were concerned, where I was going to college had been settled a long time ago. None of them had any idea I'd already fixed my application, or that I'd even gone with my parents to tour Yale's campus ahead of time.

Go ahead and laugh while you still can, Chloe.

The more you take from them and the higher you climb, the harder you'll fall when the truth comes out.

By the end of August, there were only a few days left before school started.

Our school booked a ballroom at a hotel downtown and threw a big awards ceremony for the graduating class.

Pretty much every teacher, student, and parent showed up.

There was no way the Sinclairs and the Donovans would pass up a chance to show off like this.

The crystal chandeliers made the whole ballroom glitter.

Brody's mom and Wyatt's mom were decked out in fancy evening gowns, their diamond rings almost blinding. They worked the room, chatting with the other parents and smiling nonstop.

"I hear Brody did really well this year, huh?" one parent asked, coming over to make conversation.

Brody's mom immediately puffed out her chest. "Oh, he sure did! My Brody's been smart since he was little. He barely has to study and he's still miles ahead of everyone else. Getting into the Ivy League is nothing for him!"