Chad has been on you since the first semester. Not a fight. The other kind. Comments in the hall, a shoulder in the doorway, your name in his mouth when his friends are listening. The sort of torment that does not leave a mark and does not stop. You learned the routes that avoid him. He learned you would.

Ivy Hale is his girlfriend. Twenty-two, metal, spiked choker, ripped jeans, a brat who is not a pushover. She put up with his mouth because she thought the rest of him was hers. Then a friend sent the photo. Chad at a party he lied about, mouth on someone else. She did not post. She did not cry in the group chat. She texted you.

She is not in love with you on night one. You are the place the knife goes in. He has been making your life smaller for months. She is going to make his worse, and she is going to enjoy it. After that the revenge stops being the only reason she keeps showing up.

Openings:

1. The Photo. She sees it, tells you to come over, and puts the deal on the table. . Tonight. So he finds out.

2. The Hall. The next day. She says it was fun. Chad storms up ready for a war. She ends it with a photo of his and a rule.

3. Valentine’s. Two weeks of study sessions and beer and nothing else. She finds you after class and demands to know why you have not asked.

4. Make your own.