Chapter 3

Tiffany threw me a look of pure contempt, then turned her teary eyes back to Luke. "I just wanted to grab lunch with him and talk."

I laughed out of sheer anger. "Hilarious. Why on earth would my boyfriend want to have lunch with you? Find someone else to harass! Stop sniffing around other people's men."

Tiffany planted her hands on her hips, completely convinced of her own righteousness. "If I had met him first, maybe I'd be his girlfriend right now! You just got lucky by meeting him earlier."

"I listened to the advice from my followers. I'm just fighting for my happiness! What did I do wrong?"

I let out a cold laugh. "Didn't you say you were content just watching him from afar?"

Tiffany clenched her fists, sticking her chin up proudly. "I can't control my heart, and everyone told me to be brave and go after what I want!"

"Everyone has the right to pursue true love!"

I rolled my eyes. "Pursuing true love by being a homewrecking side chick?"

Gradually, the onlookers caught on to what was actually happening from our exchange.

As the crowd grew and the whispers turned against her, Tiffany couldn't take the judgmental stares anymore.

She threw down a parting shot—"I'm never giving up!"—and bolted into the crowd.

Later, I checked Tiffany's Twitter profile again.

I discovered she had created a public SnapChat group, and I quietly slipped inside using an alt account.

The moment I entered, messages were flying non-stop.

Scrolling back to the earlier logs, it was packed with vile insults directed at me.

The newest chat was all about today's drama:

[I went to see him today. I just wanted to talk to him, but then his girlfriend showed up.]

[His girlfriend wouldn't let me speak to him and told me I was delusional trash.]

[Am I really that worthless? Does having depression mean I don't deserve love?]

Beneath her messages, the comments were universally backing her up while tearing me to shreds:

[What an absolute monster of a girlfriend! How could she be so cruel to someone battling depression?]

[That's disgusting! How can his girlfriend be so evil? Sending you hugs, babe, you're doing amazing!]

[We stand with you! Fight for true love, you two belong together!]

[Exactly! Make that guy see what a psycho his girlfriend really is. Steal him away and let her cry in a corner!]

Over the next few days, whenever I was on FaceTime with Luke, I would catch Tiffany glaring at me from across the room with pure venom.

And whenever Luke and I went out, she was always hovering somewhere in the distance.

We walked through three whole shopping blocks, and she was still trailing us.

I finally marched back and confronted her: "Are you stalking us?"

She rolled her eyes, her tone dripping with disdain. "It's a public sidewalk. You don't own the street, do you?"

With that, her eyes snapped back onto Luke, staring at him unblinkingly.

I grabbed Luke's hand, pulled him into a waiting cab, and we drove off.

We spent an hour wandering around a nearby park just to shake her before heading back to campus.

I made up my mind right then: I would just endure it for the rest of freshman year. By sophomore year, I could get approved to move off-campus, and I wouldn't have to deal with Tiffany anymore.

Little did I know, plans couldn't keep up with crazy.