Silvia was headed to class when she was blocked by a wide-eyed Olivia, red hair wild.

“Um, excuse me?”

“I have to talk to you.”

“Can’t it wait until lunch?” Silvia didn’t like the way she was nervously looking around. An uneasy feeling bubbled up in the pit of her stomach.

“No! Look, it’s about Tiff and Evie.”

And just like that, her blood ran cold. “What?”

“We have to talk now. Things are out of control, and…Lucita’s in trouble.”

“What?” God, when had she turned into a parrot.

“Privately, now.” Hugging her books, she continued to look around nervously before pulling Silvia into one of the stairwells, quickly emptying as everyone made their way to class. Tiffany was gone; she was gone and was not supposed to be making trouble for them anymore.

Once they were alone and the bell rang, Olivia took a deep breath, dropped her bag to the floor, and sat in her yellow springtime dress covered in daisies.

“Olivia, say whatever it is.”

The girl looked up at her, pulling her legs underneath her. Something unnerving about her eyes made Silvia’s skin grow hot.

“Okay, yeah.” She took a deep breath. “Remember how Evie and I just kind of inserted ourselves in your lives?”

Silvia already didn’t like where this was going. “Yeah.”

“Okay, well, that was Tiff’s idea. She used us and, well, look, I like Luci. She’s nice, and you guys are nice and…I like you, all of you.” Silvia didn’t miss how she quickly finished that, blushing and looking away. Silvia took a deep breath, sitting beside her.

“What did you do?” she asked quietly.

“Not me. I tried to keep Francis away from Luci, I really did.”

“No. Oh no.” Silvia clenched her fist. “What did he do?”

“You don’t understand. It’s already done, Vee, Tiffany, she’s winning.”

“What did Francis do, Olivia?”

Olivia wrung her hands together, pulling her hair to the side, mindlessly braiding it. “He kissed Luci. He…him and Evie…he’s cheating on Elizabeth with her. I mean, it’s not real, just, I mean, she bought a wig, and from behind, she looks like Luci—”

“Are you fucking kidding me? Why? What the hell!”

“It’s all Evie and Tiffany. He wants her back and, well, Evie convinced him that if they take pictures, if Luci doesn’t get back together with him, well, I mean.” She took a deep breath. “They’re not good people, Vee.”

“Who took the pictures, Olive?”

Olivia flinched. “I didn’t—I’m sorry, I know. It’s bad, it’s really bad.”

Silvia resisted the urge not to scream. “If it looks like Luci in those pictures…Jesus Christ. Jason has already cheated on her; he has already broken her heart, and Liz already hates Luci a little bit for that. We all knew he had feelings for her, and…god, this is a dumpster fire. God, he’s as bad as Tiff.”

“No, he’s worse. I know him. I’ve gotten to know him. Tiffany, she’s bitter, she’s angry. But Francis? He admitted to dating Liz to make Luci jealous. He kissed her over winter break. He made move after move on her, and she…Luci doesn’t want him. So now, now he wants to ruin her if he can’t get her back. He makes move after move on her. He’s a terrible person.”

Silvia nodded, thinking about what Francis was doing and what the pictures would imply. God, she could already see the shit storm approaching, could already imagine the way it would finally break Liz and Luci apart. And Luci was in no condition to deal with the fallout.

“Please tell me it was only one kiss.”

Olivia looked away. “No, he…they’re probably kissing. He…I’ve seen him. She always says no and tries to push him away, but…it’s like she stops being herself when he kisses her.”

Silvia sighed, leaning her head against the wall. “This is so fucked up.” Why Luci, she thought.

Lucita kissed Francis in front of the lesser-known used passageways that connected the buildings. It was wrong; it was all wrong. But she was so sad and lonely after everything; she just wanted to feel loved.

She wanted to feel wanted.

And Francis, he wanted her. And she liked feeling wanted even if she didn’t want him.

Weeks later, Cyrus’s words still rang in her ears, this blaring repeat of pain that made her heart ache.

“Francis,” she said, pulling away, “I have to get to class.”

“Yeah, I know.” He went down to kiss her again, but this time she stepped away. This had to stop; she had to stop. She didn’t even like him.

“Francis, stop. This has to stop.”

“I’ll break up with Elizabeth. I’ll do it today.”

She shook her head. She didn’t want that; she didn’t want any of this. She just wanted to disappear.

“No, I—Francis, I don’t want that.” She had to make him see, make him listen.

All he did was sigh like she was an idiot who didn’t understand. Luci hated the way his sigh made her feel small.

“Look, we’ll talk about it later.” He walked off, clearly upset with her. They were in this mess because of her. She was in this mess because of her actions. Because she was a stupid little girl who didn’t know any better.

First, there had been Jason, and even though nothing had ever happened, she let him get too close, closer than he should have, sleeping in her bed to keep the nightmares away.

Then there was Matthew. She had kissed him too the other day, an emotional wreck, wanting to feel anything other than the crushing heartbreak.

And then Cyrus. Cyrus, who she lost again. She should have been honest. She should have just told him it was Tiffany, and damn the consequences.

But he wouldn’t have believed her. He never believed her.

Now, this mess with Francis.

God, she was a mess. She was selfish and stupid. No wonder no one wanted her. No wonder the only boy who wanted her was someone she didn’t even want touching her.

Except when he did, it made her feel good; it made her feel nice to be wanted.

Luci collapsed against a door, unable to move or even think. Everything just hurt. She gripped her hair, wanting to scream, wanting to cry.

Instead, she held her hair in her fists and rocked back and forth, holding back the wave of anger and disgust she had with herself.

“I just want to not be broken,” she muttered.

“Oh, Luci.”

Luci stopped rocking and looked up at Olivia, who approached her with red hair braided over her shoulder, a stark contrast to her yellow dress.

“Olivia,” she said, wiping away at her tears, “I’m—”

“You’re not broken.” Olivia bent down to her, holding her hands tightly in hers.

“How would you know?”

“Because my mom used to cut herself. I’ve seen the scars on her arms. She’s not broken, and neither are you. You’re just sad right now, and that’s that. But you have people to help you and people who love you.”

“No one loves me.”

“No, your friends love you. And let me tell you this, Francis does not love you.”

Lucita’s head shot up, and she stared into Olivia’s firm gaze.

“Olivia—”

“I know. I’ve seen you two. Evie…she and Tiff pushed Francis towards you. They made me keep tabs on you guys. I know.”

“What?” Fear clutched her gut.

“I tried to keep Francis away from you. I tried so hard to make him see how wrong this was. But…Luci, he’s not a good person. He’s angry at you. He says he loves you, but you know he doesn’t. He…Evie made me take pictures of him making out with her, just in case. It looks like you in the photos. She made me do it, and he went along with it because if he can’t have you, he will ruin you.”

Luci sat there, letting the weight of her words sink in.

Of course. Of course, Tiffany had something to do with it all. She wanted to laugh at her own stupidity, her own weakness. Not only was he cheating on Liz with Luci, but he was also doing it with Evie to create stupid fake photos.

And she was stupid enough to play a part in all of it.

Of course, he didn’t want her. Of course, it was all fake.

Luci pulled her hands away from Olivia, rage fueling her up. How dare he. How dare Francis manipulate her; how dare he take advantage of her. How dare he kiss her when she said no. How dare he make her feel like she was a stupid, shallow little girl.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you’re a good person. You’re an emotional wreck right now, and Francis and Evie are taking advantage of that, and it’s not okay, Luci. I want you to be okay. You messed up, but you can still fix this.”

“How?”

“End things. You know the truth now. You know the full truth. So end things with him. Be harsh, be cruel.”

“But those pictures—”

“I’ll admit my part in those pictures. I won’t let them get out. I will admit they are fake.”

Luci let out a weak laugh. There was nothing that could save her now. “Tiffany has already won, hasn’t she? She has Cyrus.”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“I tried telling him the truth about her, but he ignored me.”

“Then tell him something more. She’s cheating on him.”

Luci stared at her, eyes wide. “What?”

Olivia nodded. “She’s cheating on him. She started before he got kicked out. I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know how, and I didn’t know if you would believe me. I’m not really good with all this underhanded stuff. I like being, as Evie puts it, dull.”

“You’re not dull. You just don’t have what they have.”

“Which is?”

“The manipulative bitchy spark.” Luci was angry now, angrier than she had been before. She clenched her fists tighter, her nails digging into her flesh. “How dare she.” She knew what Cyrus had said, but she couldn’t stop caring about him; she couldn’t stop loving him, couldn’t stop wanting him.

“Luci?”

“It’s one thing to mess with me, but it’s another to mess with Cyrus. I’m going to do something I should have done months ago. I’m going to end her. Even if Cyrus hates me forever, I will end her.”

She looked up at Olivia, meeting her smiling gaze. “Okay, count me in. What are we going to do?”

“Tell me more about Tiffany’s life over there. Start with her boyfriend.”