You fidgeted on the red couch, looking around to see if you could catch Marie, but she was nowhere to be found. She had run off to wherever after a guy had hit on her; probably liking the bit of attention she was getting. But it made you the only fresh meat available for Cate.

You had no idea why you had accepted to go out with the group in the first place. Andre had been so nice since you had gotten to Godolkin University, taking you under his wing kind of thing — he was your first friend here and you couldn’t be more grateful.

And you knew that Luke; Golden Boy, was the entire talk of the campus, making him really popular. And you — you were there, with them, like you were someone important.

Cate couldn’t accept that. No, because, who the fuck were you? Laughing with Jordan, drinking shots with Andre, being all nice and sweet. It was her role, her friends, her life and you had nothing to do here.

So Marie wasn’t here to hear, Andre and Luke were arguing over alcohol and Jordan was on their phone. It was just you and her on the red couch, music echoing in the club, lights flickering for a better ambiance. She looked at you, her mind full of thoughts about you — how to ruin your reputation.

“So ─ tell me more about yourself?” she suddenly asked you with a smile that didn’t meet her blue eyes. “Are you having fun tonight?” she added before taking a sip of her drink. Of course she had to be two-faced with you — yet, easy to talk to.

Because Cate was smart, and manipulative, and you wouldn’t steal her popularity so easily. Shetty saw something in you that Cate didn’t.