Tiffany liked Cyrus, but she hated that he smoked pot whenever they were together. The smell of it clung to her clothes and grated on her nerves. It was bad enough that her roommate smoked, but why did he have to? Ever since that stupid party off campus, he had started smoking more, carrying it around with him shoved into his pockets. Didn’t he care about getting caught? Didn’t he care about her getting in trouble by association? Her parents would kill her. Would his? Why was he even here?

“Cyrus, can you please put that joint out?”

“It cost me twenty bucks.”

Tiffany rolled her eyes. “I don’t care. I hate the smell of it, and I don’t want to get in trouble because you’re smoking it. Right now, I don’t want to do anything that will get me in trouble.”

“You snuck off to that party. That was kinda risky and asking for trouble.”

“You’re right, and it was stupid of me. I shouldn’t have gone.” But why had she? For Cyrus or for Ryan?

Cyrus sighed, tossing the joint to the ground, stomping on it, and putting it out.

“Okay,” he said, lacing his fingers through hers, “I won’t smoke around you.”

She smiled, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. “Thank you.” Despite her smile, though, she didn’t want to be around him anymore after she had worked so hard to get him to ask her out. However, according to Evie and her eavesdropping, it was driving Lucita nuts. The thought of Lucita seething was enough to make her happy.

“So,” she said, changing the subject, “are you ready for midterms next month?”

He shrugged. “I guess, what about you?”

“For the most part. I might have some trouble with chemistry. The formula’s always trip me up.”

“I can help you. I have an A in the class so far. It’s pretty easy for me.”

“Cool. Honestly, I prefer Biology. Although, I’m kinda excited for Physics next year.”

That made Cyrus laugh, and she tried not to feel offended. “Really, Physics. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone be excited about physics. Why are you so excited about it?”

She shrugged, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears. “I like math and science. It’s like two of my favorite things.”

“You know what’s funny? My friend Luci has said the same thing. Not about Physics, but about math and science being two of her favorite things.” He looked away wistfully, and she resisted the urge to clench her fist. “She wants to be a writer, though.”

Wrong thing to say, Cyrus. “You talk about her a lot.”

He looked back at her, eyes wide. “Yeah? Sorry, I don’t…she’s just one of my oldest friends, and we’ve been through a lot together. I’ve just been worried about her after everything that happened this summer with her dad.”

“Right, her dad. How is she holding up after that?”

He shrugged, picking at some of the grass in the courtyard. “Luci says she’s okay. But, I don’t know, something is up with her. You know, she’s setting up her best friend, whose boyfriend cheated on her, with her ex. That just screams all kinds of stupid. But she won’t listen. I don’t know why she’s dead set on it.”

The lightbulb went off in her head. “Wow. Well, you don’t see that happen often, people setting up their friends with their exes.”

“Yeah, Lu has always been a weird one.”

Lu. “I bet,” she muttered under her breath. She had to text Matthew and devise a plan to make Lucita’s life hell. But how?

“Oh shoot! I have to go. My parents said they would call me, and I left my cell in my room.” She kissed him lightly on the cheek before running off without another goodbye.

Back in her room, she rolled her eyes at the sight of her roommate smoking out of vape while she did her toenails a bright neon pink. Seriously, could the girl be any more trashy?

Her roommate eyed her with what looked like judgment. As if she was in a position to judge.

“Hey there, girlie.” She let out a puff. “How was your study date?”

“It was fine. Cyrus was smoking a joint. I’m guessing your boyfriend sold him.” It wasn’t a question. Caroline just shrugged.

“I don’t keep track of his activities.” She cocked her head and looked at her. “You should try it, loosen up a bit. Maybe it’ll even make you like your boyfriend more.”

“I like my boyfriend plenty, thank you very much.” She was tired of this discussion with her. Who was she to judge her? She had no idea what Tiffany had had to deal with.

“Sure you do.” She smirked. “Has he figured out you’re the Tiffany? Has his ex told him yet?”

“They are not exes.” She said more forcefully than she intended. Caroline’s eyebrows shot up, and she stared at her amusedly. God, Tiffany hated this girl. “And to answer your question, no, she hasn’t.”

“Hmm, that’s interesting. If it had been me, I would have blown up and told him everything.”

Which is what I had been counting on, she thought. “I need to make a call.” Grabbing her phone, she made her way out of the room towards the stairwell for some privacy.

The phone rang, and a sleepy voice finally picked up. “Hello?”

“Seriously, Matthew, you were sleeping?”

“I like to squeeze in a nice afternoon nap every once in a while. I had soccer practice earlier.”

“Whatever.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Do you know why Lucita hasn’t told Cyrus about me?”

“I’m not exactly her favorite person. We don’t really hang and braid each other’s hair, ya know. But you know what, I’ll try to figure it out next time we grab coffee.” He yawned.

“Don’t be obnoxious.”

“What’s the problem, Tiff?” She hated how he used the nickname so nonchalantly. “I thought you were glad she hadn’t said anything.”

“I was…and then I thought about it.”

She heard him sigh over the phone. “Look, I’m not her favorite person. It’s not like I can just go over to her place and say, ‘Hey, wanna go out for a walk?’”

“Have you even tried?”

“You don’t know Luci like I do.”

“Look, can you just maybe not be a dick to her and play nice.”

“Wow, you really are desperate. Come on, Tiff, just think about it for a moment. We have too much bad blood between us.”

“I. Don’t. Care! Call her, stalk her, just do something. I need to know what Cyrus knows before he knows it. I need to ruin her!”

Tiffany listened to him laugh on the phone. “Shit, and I thought Luce was crazy. You know revenge is not a pretty sight, and I can’t even see you.” He laughed again, and she resisted letting him get to her. “Look, I’ll see what I can do. Just take a chill pill, or else you’ll give yourself up. You’ve got yourself a great guy. Try to enjoy it.”

He hung up on her, leaving her seething. It took all her restraint to not scream into it.

“So, who’s Matthew, and who’s Lucita?”

Tiffany jerked around, finding herself face to face with Ryan coming up the stairwell. Fuck, how much had he heard?

“Where you eavesdropping on me?”

Ryan shrugged. “If you wanted a private discussion, I would suggest your room. I was here studying.”

“There’s a library for that.”

He took another few steps toward her. She could smell his cologne now. “I hate libraries. There’s quiet, and then there’s too quiet. Besides, the view here is perfect.” Ryan gestured to the large window at the landing, looking over the quad.

“And what about your room?”

“My roommate wanted some alone time with his girlfriend.”

Tiffany rolled her eyes. “Boarding school. My parents sent me here to learn morals and discipline. If only they knew it was exactly the same except twice as much.”

“Parents think they know everything, but they’re trying their best.” He took another step closer to her, his light brown hair brushing the top of his forehead. “So, who’s Lucita?”

“She’s the reason I’m here! Her friends, my ex, all chose her and set me up. So my parents sent me here after we got into a fight. They sent me off during the summer to hang out with my very Christian and very strict aunt, then shipped me off here, hours and miles away from home.”

“Don’t you think blaming her is a little extreme?”

“They chose her, so no. I’m dating the love of her life, so I get to win here and slowly ruin her.” Wait, no, why had she said that? A grin slid onto his face.

“So that’s why you’re dating Cyrus. I knew you were too pretty for him.”

“Excuse me? You know, I happen to like Cyrus. It’s not all fake. And he is plenty cute.”

He chuckled. What was it with obnoxious guys laughing at her today?

“You may like him, but I’m pretty sure you like him more as a friend. You’re just using him to get under someone else’s skin, and the fact that it doesn’t seem to be working bothers the hell out of you.”

Tiffany slapped him, the sound echoing through the stairwell. “You are an asshole.”

“Then why are you still talking to me?” Fuming, she spun on her heel and stormed from the stairwell, slamming the room to her dorm shut once she returned.

“What’s wrong?” asked Caroline, who was, for once, doing her schoolwork, books on the bed, notebooks on her crossed lap, and eyes bloodshot.

“Nothing,” she said, slumping down into her bed and burying her head into her pillow. She needed to regroup, she thought as the heaviness pressed down on her eyes.