Chapter 2

A hot afternoon. Callum and I were studying at his place when there was a knock at the door.

A girl with braided hair and a bright, easy smile. She said she'd just moved in next door. New to the area. Her voice was light — it cut through the summer heat. Something in my chest went uneasy.

Maybe it was how pretty she was. Maybe it was the way she looked at Callum.

That unease wasn't wrong. It would define the rest of my time at the academy.

The next day I found out Vivienne had not only moved in next door to Callum — she'd transferred into our academy.

We'd just finished a round of assessments. The instructor had been in the middle of praising my score when the classroom door opened.

Everyone turned. The praise died mid-sentence.

"Is that a transfer student?"

"She has to be. We'd have noticed her before."

Vivienne walked in. I learned her name a few minutes later. And I learned she'd be seated next to me.

"I only know you here," she said, smiling at me. "You'll help me out, right?"

"And since you and Callum are close — can I tag along sometimes?"

Her smile was warm. I couldn't find a reason to say no.

From then on, there were three of us.

I didn't have many friends at the academy. Once Vivienne arrived, people started saying she and Callum were the obvious pair. That I was in the way.

"The Pack's top girl and the Pack's top guy. Why does Hazel keep inserting herself?"

"Honestly. She should know better. And Vivienne's still nice to her somehow."

At the time, I actually considered Vivienne a real friend. I even asked her once whether I was really not good enough for Callum.

She smiled and said: "Of course not, Hazel. You're not the most beautiful, but Callum doesn't care about that."

"Oh, by the way — Callum wants to take you to the amusement park this weekend. He was too nervous to tell you himself, so he asked me to let you know. Don't forget."

We'd been in an unspoken relationship for a while, but a proper date had never happened. I was excited.

I left school early that day, walked far in the rain to a mall, and bought Callum a tie. The clerk asked if it was for a boyfriend. I nodded, embarrassed.

The day of the date, I put on a pale yellow dress. I let my hair down instead of pulling it back. I stood outside the amusement park entrance and worried the whole thing was too much.

I waited until dark. No Callum. My messages went unanswered.

I was sick with worry, afraid something had happened to him.

It was dark by the time I made my way to his place. My yellow dress was covered in mud. I'd tripped somewhere along the way. The tie had flown out of my hand.

When I pushed open the door, Vivienne was lying in Callum's bed. Callum was beside her, mixing cold medicine into a glass of water.

"Where have you been? I've been looking for you all day."

"You know Vivienne caught a cold yesterday. She collapsed this morning — if I hadn't been right next door she could've been in real danger."

He wasn't explaining the missed date. He was furious at me.

Vivienne looked at me with wet eyes.

"Hazel, I know you must have had something urgent come up. But it was raining so hard — you didn't have to take my umbrella."

"I didn't have any medicine at home. My parents are away. I kept messaging you and you blocked me. Thank goodness I made it to Callum's before I passed out. I don't know what I would've done."

Her voice broke. "Hazel, you're my best friend here. Why would you do this to me?"

Callum reached over and wiped her tears. "That's enough," he said. "You don't have to say anything more."

I stood frozen in the doorway.

So that was the version of events she was giving him.

My eyes burned. I waited a long time before I could speak. I reached out with the tie.

"I didn't — I only—"

Callum didn't look at me. He turned back to pass Vivienne the water.

I was a stranger standing in his home.

I left.

That was our first real silence. The first time the distance between us felt like something solid.

When term started again, I moved my seat without saying anything to anyone. I stopped sitting next to Vivienne.

The way people looked at me changed. Vivienne had told others I was targeting her because of Callum. She built herself into the victim.

Wherever I went at the academy, I heard it.

"Told you she wasn't right for him. Always in the way."

"Vivienne's so patient with her. I couldn't take it. And Hazel acts like she's too good to even bother."

I felt hunted. Even though I had done nothing wrong.

Callum stopped acknowledging me.

At sixteen, that kind of thing breaks you.