My BFF Loved Him, I’ll Let Them Burn

Chapter 3

All eyes in the dorm turned to me.

In my past life, I'd taken the blame for everything. Lied and said the voice message was mine, and Maya was just sticking up for me when she hit our roommate.

Ended up writing a letter of apology and scrubbing the school bathrooms for a whole week.

And when I came back to the dorm after all that scrubbing, she'd wave her hand in front of her nose and say I stank.

This time, I completely ignored the look Maya was shooting me.

"Maya was in the wrong."

Molly shot me a surprised glance. Maya's eyes went wide from the corner.

"Zoe, what are you saying? You're not taking my side?

"She started it by banging on my bed! That's why I hit her!"

The RA frowned and shot her a death glare.

"Oh, so you throw hands and you're the victim now? Keep this up and I'm sending you straight to your advisor tomorrow!"

Maya shut her mouth real quick and shrank back.

But those hateful eyes she threw my way? Not an ounce of restraint there.

We all got a verbal warning in the end.

Maya's punishment was the same as mine had been in my past life.

I'd barely climbed back into bed when Maya yanked my curtain open.

Her face all twisted up as she grabbed at my clothes.

"Zoe, what the hell was that?

"Are we even besties anymore? You took some stranger's side over mine!"

I kept my cool and pried her fingers off my shirt.

"You started it, okay?"

Maya stared at me in disbelief, then let out a cold laugh.

"Miles was right about you. You never really saw me as a friend. Finally showing your true colors, huh?

"First you told me to stay away from him, then you were all for us getting back together, and now you won't even say one word in my defense. And I actually thought you were my bestie."

If I didn't lay it all out now, Maya would lose her mind in a few weeks when she caught Miles making out with another girl.

Back then, I got so fired up about it that I went to his trade school all by myself to confront him.

But Miles had been running with street punks since middle school. The guy was no joke.

I embarrassed him in front of a whole crowd, so he had his boys drag me into some alley, stripped me naked, and took photos.

That same night, Maya and Miles made up like nothing happened. She begged me not to go to the police, swore they'd deleted the photos.

I trusted her. I let it go.

But the very next day, those photos were all over the student forum.

The school got wind of it. My advisor said expulsion was on the table.

I broke down crying, went to Maya for help, asked her to figure something out.

She just rolled her eyes.

"It's not like I asked you to go stick your nose in my business. You brought this on yourself."

I thought that was it. Then my dad found out.

He rode a train twenty hours to get there and spent the whole day on his knees outside the dean's office. That's the only reason any of it went away.

Before he headed home he took me out to eat. I still think about that.

He could see what it was doing to me, so he smiled and said it was fine. Said there was nothing shameful about a man on his knees for his daughter's future.

Then my future turned out to be calling home for rent money.