Chapter 8

Selena had formed her clique, and together they bullied Madeline.

For the first two years, I hadn't even met Madeline. I had only heard Selena call her a "pretentious nerd."

We weren't at the same school, but I had never been fond of overachievers.

My deskmate was one. He came from a poor family, had no tutors, and was so thin from all the work he did at home. Yet, he still managed to rank first in our class while always leaving me in second place.

Later, my parents decided to sponsor him. They held him up as an example and used his achievements to criticize me. Resentment started to build.

To everyone else, I was a good student. But I despised good students. In the end, I forced the top student to drop out.

…

When Selena approached me to complain about Madeline, I even helped her come up with new ways to torment her. However, things changed when I ended up at the same high school as Madeline.

One day, while sneaking a smoke on the rooftop, I saw her. Her hair was a mess, a