Chapter Twenty-Five

n.

"Hello? This is Solei Stryker speaking".

I take a deep breath, feeling nervous all of a sudden. It wasn't about what I was calling for, but who I was talking to. This woman was known for being the world's biggest sweetheart, until it came to her children. Peyton's mom didn't stand a chance.

"It's Nastassia Petrov, daughter of Annika Petrov. We met at your charity ball some years ago. It was absolutely beautiful, by the way".

We'd more than met, actually. She kicked my mom out of the ball for the way she'd heard her speaking to me, and played mother goose to me for the rest of the night. That day hurt more than any other, since it showed me just how amazing having a mother like her could be. And that it would never be the case for me.

My mom hasn't been invited to any Daley event since then, which gives her even more of a reason to hate me. But I, on the other hand, was encouraged to come to ICBS, as a way to escape from my mom. It's been my safe space ever since.

"Oh, yes. The beautiful young woman with the bright smile. It's been ages since I've seen you last, Nastassia. How have you been?".

I fight hard against the tug that makes me want to spill my guts to her, but it's a battle I wish I'd lost. "Great" I lie, pacing back and forth on the stage of Du Pont Hall. I needed to be good and alone for this call, and there was no reason for anyone to come here over the weekend.

"That didn't sound like the truth to me, but I won't push. Is there a specific reason you've called, if not to have a heart-to-heart?".

"Yes, actually. It's about Selah".

"Is my baby okay? The staff would be calling if something was really wrong. She's not off campus yet, I'd know. So what's the matter with her?".

"No, she's fine. It's just that her and another student here, Peyton Gutierrez, don't get along. And well...Peyton had her mom-".

"The doctor, yes? Xiomara Gutierrez, isn't it?".

"Exactly. Peyton had her type something up stating that Selah had herpes, in order to spread it around the school".

She's silent for a moment, making me shuffle around nervously until she speaks again.

"I'm not going to ask why my daughter's not the one calling me, because she likes to deal with things on her own. But, Nastassia, why are YOU?".

I go through at least five scenarios where I lie, and none of them end well, so I go with the truth. "Peyton and I were best friends, but she betrayed me. So, I'm doing it right back".

"Of course. My assistant will be there in ten minutes to pick up that paper. Leave it in the office with Susan. And Nastassia, I'm going to tell you something, since I'm aware that your mother couldn't care any less. You're going to regret this decision for the rest of your life".

Her last words ring in my head on my way to the office, for the time it takes the letter to get to Solei, and watching the Dean head to our dorm to inform Peyton that she'd been expelled. Her eyes bring the point home on her way out, piercing into my very soul as she turns around at the Ivy covered archway, looking back at everything she'd lost.

sky.

"I know the two of you are 'sort-of' aware of why you're here. Would either of you like to say?" Nastassia asks with a deadly look in her eyes, looking down at us from her perch on the stage. She'd brought us to the dimly lit DPH, saying something about a necessary meeting.

"Obviously because of the article. How did THAT end up with you getting HER expelled?" Blake speaks up, carelessly leaning back in her seat.

"Have you forgotten who I am, B? About what I can DO?".

"No, but you're going to do it, anyway. It's not like I can change that fact".

"Oh, you don't want to. I'm giving you another chance. You've been loyal to me since you got here, all of the way up until I did you wrong. I apologize for that, and ask that you can forgive me as well".

Her voice sounded insincere, with a tiny hint of desperation. There was no one else for her to fall back on with Peyton gone. She was coming to take Blake away from me. But she wouldn't just leave like that. Her and I were genuinely good friends.

Or, at least I thought, until Blake sits up in her seat, looking like a dog with a steak being waved in front of its face. "Of course, Stassi. I'm really sorry, too".

I grab her arm, feeling sick to my stomach as she goes to stand up from her spot. "What are you doing, Blake? I thought that we were friends".

She laughs, pulling herself from my grasp. "Thanks for helping me say my piece, but I don't even know you that well. Don't take this too badly, Skylar. Her and I go way back" she says happily, skipping onto the stage to stand next to 'Stassi'.

I couldn't have been more angry. I was sure that her and I knew one another way more than the two of them ever would. She told me how she was a twin, but her brother passed away in a car accident when they were toddlers. And how her dad left her family for a nineteen year old a couple of years ago. We even talked about how she's still a virgin, and wants to wait until marriage. Yet, we didn't know each other that well.

"For you, Skylar Compton, I wanted to take you under my wing. Yet, you betrayed me. So, as of today, you are no longer an Alpha. Have fun moving all of your things into that tiny Gamma dorm for the entire weekend".

I can't stop the swell of tears that spring into my eyes, or the heat that reddens my cheeks. But they don't seem to notice, or care.

"We, on the other hand, will be at Gray's cabin! Kennedi invited me, so now I'm inviting you" Blake tells her, without a single thought for how I was feeling.

And she hadn't even told me about the party. She really didn't care at all.

They both cheer excitedly, before heading back to CA to get ready, and leaving me all alone.

Somewhere along the way, I'd made a huge misstep in my plan.

I was back at square one.

Damien hated me, Blake used me for the blog, I 'betrayed' Nastassia, and Selah barely cared about the people around her, so she definitely didn't have any room for me.

What was I going to do, now?