Chapter 2

Maya' s smile faltered. "What?"

"I said, take it off," I repeated, my voice as flat as a dial tone. "It' s a bad fake, and it' s embarrassing."

The color drained from her face. She looked from me to Hailey, who was sitting at her desk, headphones on but clearly listening.

"Chloe, I don' t know what you' re talking about," Maya stammered, her hand flying to her chest in a gesture of wounded innocence. "I bought this at a boutique downtown. I saved up for it."

"You' re a scholarship student working twenty hours a week at the library," I stated, not as a question, but as a fact. "You can' t afford a dress from that boutique, let alone a cheap copy of a custom couture piece. The real one costs more than your entire tuition."

Tears welled in Maya' s eyes, perfectly on cue. "Why are you being so mean? Just because you' re rich, you think you can look down on people?"

Hailey ripped her headphones off. "Chloe, what the hell? It' s just a dress."

"It' s not just a dress," I said, my gaze locked on Maya. "It' s the first step. She copies my clothes, my coffee order, the way I talk. Last time, I let it go. This time, I won' t."

Maya burst into full-blown sobs, her shoulders shaking. "I just... I just admire you, Chloe. I thought if I dressed a little like you, maybe people would like me too. I didn' t know you hated me so much."

It was a masterful performance. Hailey rushed to her side, wrapping an arm around her.

"See? You' re making her cry," Hailey snapped at me. "She looks up to you, and you' re humiliating her. It' s disgusting."

I stood up and walked to my closet, pulling out the real dress. The silk flowed over my arm like liquid moonlight. I held it up. The difference was stark, comical. The vibrant, shifting color of mine next to the dull, cheap sheen of hers.

"This is admiration?" I asked, my voice dangerously quiet. "Or is it obsession? There' s a difference."

Hailey glared at me, her face a mask of righteous indignation. "You' re an elitist snob, Chloe. I can' t believe I ever thought you were a good person."

Maya peeked at me through her fingers, a flicker of triumph in her wet eyes. She had won the first round, just like before.

But this wasn't the same game. And I wasn't the same player.