I donated bl00d to save my boyfriend after his friends told me he had been in a serious ac:cid:ent. As I was leaving the hospital, I heard someone behind a door say, “I can’t believe she fell for it again.”

to your speech,” he said, lowering his eyes. “I was cruel to you, Chloe. Extremely cruel.”

I said nothing.

“I mistakenly thought I was just restoring balance after what happened to Scarlett,” he stammered.

“Restoring balance because I won a competition fairly?” I asked with a sharp laugh.

“I see how terrible it sounds now,” Brendan confessed quietly.

“It always sounded terrible, Brendan,” I countered. “You just had a group of friends enabling you.”

“I lost almost all my friends because of this,” he complained bitterly.

“That isn’t an apology,”