Chapter 25

Chapter 25  

Her own childhood had been… different. Birthdays were kind of alien to her—sometimes just her, her grandmother, and Justine sitting at the tiny dining table with a single cupcake between them. No extravagant cakes, no mountain of presents. Just the three of them and the quiet understanding that love didn’t need to be expensive.  

She pulled her gaze away from the screen and stared at the ceiling.  

It wasn’t fair.  

But then again, life had never really been fair.  

She exhaled and reached for another chip, chewing slowly as she stared at the dim glow of her phone screen. Maybe it was pointless to dwell on things like this.  

From a comment on the page, she stumbled upon a picture that looked familiar. She clicked on it and knew she was right in an instant—it was the mean girl she had to give all her savings to.  

Lana.  

She, too, seemed the wealthy type, but nothing close to Katrina, as her page was filled with pictures of her at all sorts of parties, drinks in hand. One thing about the pictures was that the other guy with her seemed to be in all of them.  

Sophia became even more pissed as she scrolled through more pictures of Lana. Clearly, this was someone who wouldn't have an issue raising $60 but had taken all her savings.  

She tagged Ryan on one of the posts. They looked like they were drunk. They seemed to be in a lot of pictures together.  

Out of curiosity, she clicked on Ryan's page. She didn’t know what pushed her, but she sort of found him attractive.  

It wasn’t like her to go through a guy’s page, but something about him yesterday piqued her interest.  

She went through more photos of him. He also looked like he was from an affluent family. She thought he seemed decent from his behavior, but little did she know about him.  

**Argh, what am I doing? I am literally getting myself distracted by these strangers,** she said to herself. **I really need to get myself together.**  

**What is wrong with me?** she said, this time out loud.  

Whatever these people had going on in their lives was none of her business. She should focus on herserf Maybe she should just focus on what she could control—her grades, getting a job so she can have little saved up her future, the things that actually mattered.  

Yet, as she set her phone aside and curled up under her blanket, she couldn’t shake the feeling that no matter how much she tried to ignore it, the world would always be divided into two kinds of people: those who had everything handed to them and those who had to fight for every single thing they had.  

And for now, all she could do was keep fighting.

Lana saw Ryan and Jessie walking together, all smiles and giggles.  

**Really?** Lana said to herself as the two of them approached her. She wondered how far Ryan was willing to go just to get a love interest. She also wondered what was going on between them.  

"Hey, you!" Ryan said with a big smile as he approached Lana. "Would you believe we ran into each other after class? Crazy fate! And to think I was all around the place telling you I needed to speak to her." Ryan flirted with Jessie as he spoke, and she seemed to blush.  

"I saw him in the hallway fuming after being embarrassed by a lecturer. It was so funny! He was all about plotting his revenge and all," Jessie said with a smile.  

"Then she stepped in and made me realize how dumb it was," Ryan added, also smiling.  

Lana carried a look of disgust on her face, then rolled her eyes sarcastically.  

"Well, good for the both of you then," she said half-mindedly. "Can we leave now, Ryan? I heard Zach and the guys want us to meet."  

"So early? It's just afternoon. I was thinking we could all go grab a snack and soda. Bills on me, of course," Ryan said, clearly unwilling to leave.  

"But it's Zach. You know we haven't seen the guys since we got in. He claims he has a nice place outside of school and would love for us to check it out," Lana insisted.  

"Typical Zach, always wanting to show off a thing or two. Alright then, Jessie, let's go," Ryan said.  

"Umm, Ryan, he invited *us*—like, the both of us. I'm not sure he would be cool with us bringing another person along," Lana pointed out.  

"Man, who cares what Zach thinks? If I'm going to sacrifice my afternoon with her just for him, I might as well bring her along," Ryan said.  

**So they’re like a thing or something? Well, that is just convenient. Typical Ryan,** Lana thought to herself.  

"Well, sure thing then, let's all go together," she said under her breath.  

"That's great! I'll go get my car. You both can wait here, right?"  

"Oh wait, you have a car?" Jessie seemed impressed.  

"I haven't mentioned that, have I? I'm just a simple guy, don’t like to mention or overcomplicate things," Ryan said with a grin. "It's parked right over there," he added, motioning to the parking lot.  

"Just get the car, Ryan," Lana said, already getting pissed.  

Ryan smiled as he jogged over to his car.  

"So, you two are like a thing now?" Lana asked Jessie as soon as Ryan was out of earshot.  

"A thing? How? I barely know him, and we just managed to stumble into each other. He seems nice and knows how to hold a good conversation, that’s just about it," Jessie responded.  

"Well, it's nice then. I wanted to know if—"  

She was cut short by Ryan pressing his horn.  

"Come on, ladies!" he called out to them.  

Lana walked over and tried to sit in the front, but Ryan declined and told her the seat was for Jessie. Then, like a gentleman, he stepped out and opened the door for Jessie.  

Lana sat in the back seat, fuming. She couldn't believe her eyes—just two days in, and Ryan was already moving weird, sidelining her for someone they had just met yesterday. It didn’t sit right with her at all.  

"So, you ever been in a car like this?" Ryan asked Jessie as he took a turn outside the school.  

"Don't flatter yourself, big boy. I’ve been in a lot of cars," Jessie replied.  

"Well, none of those belong to Big Ryan, my dear passenger princess."  

"Oh, really?”

The laughing and giggling in the car were starting to get on Lana’s nerves. She clenched her jaw and stared out the window, watching the trees blur past. Jessie’s high-pitched laughter rang out again, followed by Ryan’s deep chuckle, and Lana felt her irritation spike.  

It had been like this since they picked Jessie up—Ryan, effortlessly charming, laughing at everything she said, and Jessie, twirling her hair and giggling at every little comment. Lana wasn’t even sure what was so funny, but the way they kept exchanging glances made her stomach twist in a way she didn’t want to acknowledge.  

She sighed and turned to Ryan. "Could you drive a little bit faster so we can get there on time?" she muttered, trying to keep her voice neutral.  

Ryan barely glanced at her in the rearview mirror before smirking. "Not really," he said, stretching his arm out across the steering wheel. "I’m actually enjoying this ride with Jessie. It’s the first of many, and I have to make sure it counts."  

Lana felt her stomach drop.  

First of many.  

She regretted speaking the moment the words left Ryan’s mouth. It was obvious now—he was into Jessie. And Jessie, with her effortless charm and perfect smile, was clearly into him too.  

Lana swallowed down whatever it was bubbling inside her and turned away, sliding on her headphones. She didn’t care. Or at least, that’s what she told herself.  

She scrolled through her playlist with slightly trembling fingers and blasted

the music as loud as possible, letting the heavy beat drown out their voices. 

It was going to be a long drive