Chapter 1

I received a video seven minutes before the college application system closed.

The sender was me, but 15 years older.

"Silas changed your college application to a local community college. He and Rachel Morgan had been dating for a long time. He only did it because she said she didn't want you bothering him anymore.

"Later, you never got to work in aerospace no matter how hard you studied and got into graduate school."

I froze on the couch, tightly clenching the phone in my hand as I stared at the woman on the screen.

"But you could've gone up there. You were meant to go up there."

When the video ended, I sprinted back to my room, my fingers trembling as I opened the application portal.

My college application really had been changed to that community college.

I closed my eyes for a moment to gather myself. Then, I changed my application to Defense Technology Institute.

Chapter 1 The Last Minute

The moment I submitted the changes to my college application, a line of text flashed across the screen: "Modification Successful."

I stared at those words, my eyes burning with unshed tears. There was one minute left before the system closed.

Just then, the phone on my desk buzzed. It was Silas Lind.

I answered, and his cheerful voice came through the speaker. "Sonia, you finished your application, right? I can't wait for us to go to college together."

I fell silent for a moment before asking, "Are you really looking forward to it?"

"Of course, I am," he said lightly, as though the answer were obvious. "We've been planning this since we were kids."

I couldn't take it anymore, so I hung up on him.

My mother and Silas' mother had been college roommates. They were as close as sisters. Hence, Silas and I had grown up together from the day we were born. We were inseparable.

When we were little, he always said we'd stay together forever.

We went to the same preschool, the same elementary school, the same middle school, and finally the same high school.

During our freshman year of high school, he grabbed my hand and said, "Sonia, let's go to Bradford University together."

I said yes.

The truth was, I'd always wanted to attend Defense Technology Institute. However, I thought it didn't matter as long as I was with him.

When sophomore year started and our classes were reshuffled, Rachel Morgan ended up in the same class as us.

Rachel was the school belle. She was gorgeous, charming, and had those adorable dimples whenever she smiled. Everyone liked her.

Silas started eating lunch with her, walking home with her, and studying with her.

Initially, I sensed something going on between them. So, I quietly started keeping my distance.

Alas, Silas wouldn't let me. "Sonia, why are you avoiding me? Aren't we best friends?"

Rachel took my arm with a bright smile. "Sonia, I'm not here to come between you two. I'm here to join you."

I believed her.

The three of us grew closer and closer until everyone in class called us the Three Musketeers.

So, I promptly gave up my lifelong dream of attending Defense Technology Institute without a fuss when I heard they both planned to apply to Bradford University.

I thought that choice was the sign of our friendship. I never imagined it was the trap they'd carefully built for me.

If my future self hadn't sent me that video, I never would've guessed they'd secretly logged into my account and changed my college application.

My phone lit up. Silas had sent me two WhatsApp messages.

"Why'd you hang up all of a sudden? Bad signal?"

"Rachel and I will come see you tomorrow. We'll get your favorite cupcakes from Southside."

I looked at the messages and let out a cold laugh. Then, I turned on my computer.

I did two things before I changed my application to Defense Technology Institute.

First, I took a screenshot showing that my application had been changed to the local community college.

Second, I looked up the IP address from the most recent login and took a screenshot of that too.

The IP address pointed to an internet cafe in town. I also quickly found out that the internet cafe was right downstairs from Silas' apartment.

I bundled the two screenshots together, encrypted the file, and uploaded it to cloud storage.

…

The next day at noon, the doorbell rang right on time.

The moment I opened the door, I saw Silas standing there. He was holding a box of cupcakes from Southside, smiling as brightly as ever.

Chapter 2 A Story With Familiar Characters

Rachel stood obediently beside him.

The two of them acted like nothing had happened, as if they truly had come to celebrate their bright futures with a good friend.

"Sonia, try this. I waited in line for 30 minutes just to buy this."

I sat on the couch and watched them take off their shoes and walk in, looking as comfortable as if my home was theirs.

Silas sat down beside me and nudged me with his elbow. "Why'd you hang up on me yesterday?"

"Bad signal," I said bluntly.

"Then, why didn't you reply to my messages afterward?"

"I forgot."

He let out an "Oh," and didn't press the issue.

During the meal, Silas kept talking about how his parents had been packing lately. They were planning to move to Harrington to stay with him as soon as his college acceptance letter arrived.

Rachel promptly chimed in and told us that her parents had already started looking at houses in Fairview.

My mother picked up the conversation. "If Sonia gets into Bradford University, wouldn't it be wonderful if all our families could get together in Harrington?"

Silas turned to me. "Sonia will definitely get in."

Rachel smiled as well. "Exactly. Just the thought about the three of us going to Bradford University together is so exciting."

I lowered my head and picked at my pasta with my fork.

After we finished eating, my mother went to wash the dishes, and Silas got up to use the bathroom. That left only Rachel and me in the living room.

The room stayed quiet for a while.

Then, Rachel set an orange peel on the coffee table and suddenly smiled. "Sonia, you know, I recently read a novel. There was this vicious supporting female character who figured she'd have the inside track just because she was childhood friends with the male lead.

"However, the female lead showed up out of nowhere and ended up with him.

"To make the female lead feel secure, the male lead changed the supporting character's college application, forcing her to study in a local college while he and the female lead went away to college together."

She tilted her head and looked at me innocently. "What do you think of this storyline?"

I looked into her eyes. They were beautiful and framed with long, thick eyelashes. They would curve into crescents when she smiled.

"I think both of them are messed up," I said plainly.

Her smile froze.

"If a guy can't make his own girlfriend feel secure, then he's nothing but a pathetic little man. And if he has to ruin someone else's future to prove how devoted he is, then there's something seriously wrong with the guy.

"Also, the female lead is no better. Instead of dealing with her own issues with her boyfriend, she goes after someone else because she's insecure. People like that would treat even the most worthless piece of trash like a prize."

I rambled on as I watched Rachel's expression slowly darken, "And if the female lead thinks her boyfriend's going to cheat, then doesn't that mean that the boyfriend's the problem?"

I bared my teeth in a facsimile of a smile. "If you ask me, those two deserve each other. They should stay together forever and stop making everyone else's lives miserable."

Rachel pressed her lips together.

"And if I were that supporting character, I'd keep the evidence and sue both of those idiots."

She didn't get a chance to respond.

Silas came out of the bathroom, drying his hands with a towel. He looked at me, and then at Rachel. "What are you two talking about?"

Rachel forced a smile on her face. "Nothing."

I leaned back against the couch as I replied, "We were talking about whether secretly changing someone else's college application is illegal."

Silas' expression changed instantly.

He frowned at Rachel. She turned her head away and dug her nails into the orange peel until juice ran all over her hand.

A moment later, Silas spoke. "Um… we should get going. We've got something to take care of this afternoon."

As he was putting on his shoes at the door, he glanced back at me.

I didn't look at him.

The moment the door closed, I heard Rachel say something in the hallway, her voice barely above a whisper.

I couldn't make out the words, but I had a feeling it wasn't anything nice.

Over the next two days, Silas sent me several messages every single day.

"Sonia, you finalized your college application, right?"

"You submitted it already, right?"

"It's nothing serious. I'm just looking out for you."

Eventually, I replied, "Why are you asking?"

Chapter 3 The Truth

Silas didn't reply until 30 minutes later. "Nothing. I was just wondering."

…

Two days later, it was our graduation dinner. After dinner, everyone headed to a karaoke bar.

I sat quietly in the corner with a glass of juice.

After a few songs, Rachel suddenly stood up. She picked up the microphone and turned the volume down. "Why don't we all share where they're going to college? Maybe some of us will end up in the same city and can look out for each other."

The room instantly came alive. Everyone started calling out college names and cities over one another.

I leaned back against the couch without saying a word.

After more than half the class had shared where they were going, the class athlete suddenly shouted, "Our academic trio hasn't gone yet!"

He wiggled his eyebrows at the three of us. "Sonia, Silas, Rachel… You all applied to Bradford University, right?"

Rachel lowered her head shyly as everyone teased them.

Then, she reached over and took Silas' hand right before everyone in class and announced, "Silas and I both applied to the same school. Otherwise, we'd have to do long-distance."

The room fell silent for a moment. Then it erupted with deafening cheers.

"No way! You two have really kept it under wraps!"

"So, when did you start dating? You hid it so well!"

A few girls secretly glanced at me amid all the cheers and shocked gasps. There was sympathy in their eyes.

Someone joked, "So, does that make Sonia your third wheel now?"

That was exactly the opening Rachel had been waiting for. She turned toward me, her gaze cutting through the crowd until it landed squarely on my face. Her beautiful eyes were filled with unconcealed mockery and smug satisfaction.

"Sonia couldn't be a third wheel. She applied to the local community college."

The room went dead silent the moment those words left her mouth. Everyone stared at me in disbelief.

They all knew I'd always ranked first in our grade. So, me applying for a local community college? That was beyond ridiculous.

I turned on the voice recorder on my phone and stood up. "Rachel, what are you talking about? When did I ever apply to a community college?"

The smile in Rachel's eyes grew even wider.

She covered her mouth, pretending to panic. "Oh, no. Did I say something I wasn't supposed to?"

She bit her lip and put on the guiltiest expression imaginable. "I'm sorry, Sonia. A few days ago, Silas and I were playing Truth or Dare, and he lost.

"So, his punishment was… secretly logging into your account and changing your college application to the local community college."

She'd wrapped an act that destroyed someone's future in the harmless words Truth or Dare.

I turned and fixed Silas with a stare sharp enough to cut. "Silas, is what Rachel said true?"

He shifted uncomfortably under my gaze and guiltily looked away.

Then, he ran a hand through his hair and let out a heavy sigh. "Sonia, I honestly didn't think you'd be this careless."

His brows were tightly knit, and there was even a hint of blame in his voice. "Choosing a college is such a big deal. I figured you'd check your application on the last day. Who knew you wouldn't even look at it?"

I looked at the boy I'd known for 18 years. Every word out of his mouth was another attempt to wash his hands of responsibility.

That was when I truly knew that once someone who was rotten to the core had gotten what they wanted, they couldn't even be bothered to keep up the act anymore.

The phone in my pocket continued recording the entire exchange. Thus, I'd gotten the most important piece of evidence I needed.

I nodded calmly. "Okay. I understand."

I picked up my bag from the couch and walked straight toward the door.

As I passed Rachel, I stopped and left her one parting shot. "By the way, Rachel, do you remember what I said to you the day you told me that story?"

Chapter 4 The Results

The gleeful smile on Rachel's face froze.

I didn't spare her another glance as I pushed open the KTV room door and strode out.

My phone started blowing up with messages from Silas as soon as I left.

"Sonia, what did you mean by what you said before you left?"

"What are you trying to do?"

"I told you it was just a prank. Did you really have to get this upset?"

I didn't reply. I blocked both Silas and Rachel on WhatsApp. Still, I'd underestimated just how persistent they could be.

…

Two days later, my parents had just left for work when the doorbell rang. The moment I opened the door, I saw Silas and Rachel standing outside.

"Sonia, what exactly are you trying to do?"

Silas stepped forward, his brows knitted tightly together as he glared at me. "Why did you block us? And what did you mean by what you said at the KTV room?"

I leaned against the doorframe and crossed my arms. "I meant exactly what I said."

Rachel's face turned pale.

"Sonia, we really didn't do it on purpose. If you really don't want to go to that community college, then you can just repeat your senior year and apply again."

She bit her lip, putting on a patronizing expression. "Don't worry. My family can pay all of your tuition while you retake the year."

I couldn't help but laugh at her face. "Drop the act. It's disgusting. Keep your money and buy yourself something to boost your brain cells."

"Sonia, you've gone too far!" Silas immediately stepped in front of Rachel and glared at me.

"Yeah, I changed your college application. Regardless, none of this would have happened if you weren't so lazy. If you'd just logged in and checked your application before the deadline, you could've changed it back."

The more he talked, the more self-righteous he became. In the end, he even acted as if he were a victim in this scenario.

"When you really think about it, isn't this all your fault for not paying attention? So, why are you blaming everything on us?"

I looked at the face that was somehow both familiar and unfamiliar to my eyes. The sight of him made my stomach turn in revulsion.

"Get out." I couldn't be bothered wasting another word on these two lunatics as I slammed the door right at their faces.

Silas pounded furiously on the door, but I ignored him and went back to my room.

…

Half a month later, the admission results were officially released.

The "Benjamin-Free Zone" group chat was flooded with messages. Everyone was enthusiastically sharing where they'd been accepted.

Not long after, Silas posted a screenshot. It was his Bradford University admission page. Rachel immediately posted an identical screenshot.

The chat was instantly flooded with congratulatory stickers and messages celebrating the two academic stars.

Silas replied with a smug grinning emoji.

Rachel then sent a long voice message.

"Thanks, everyone. Some people are just too lazy. They couldn't even be bothered to double-check something as important as their college application. Then, when things go wrong, they start blaming everyone else.

"Even a good university wouldn't help an attitude like that."

A few people in the group awkwardly chimed in. After all, everyone knew she was taking shots at me.

I didn't even tap the screen. Instead, tossed my phone aside.

The main class group chat suddenly came alive at 8 p.m. Our homeroom teacher, Benjamin, started posting the admission announcements.

"Congratulations to Silas and Rachel on being admitted to Bradford University!"

"Congratulations to Brandon on being admitted to Westbridge University!"

As Benjamin kept posting admissions to prestigious universities, the smaller group chat got even livelier.

Rachel still wasn't done with her passive-aggressive remarks. "Seeing everyone end up somewhere great really makes me feel sorry for a certain someone."

Just then, Benjamin posted another message in the main class group.

"Congratulations to Sonia on being admitted to the Aerospace Engineering program at Defense Technology Institute!"