Chapter 10: State U

I finally took the SATs.

The room was cold, the proctor’s heels tapping on linoleum as I filled in bubbles. Every question felt like the last chance I’d ever get.

During the exam, I vaguely heard there’d been an incident at school—a student had been beaten and crippled, and even the gang outside the school had been caught up in it.

The hallways buzzed with gossip. I kept my head down, pretending not to listen, but I filed every detail away. It felt like justice was coming for someone, even if it skipped me.

I thought, maybe karma finally caught up.

I wanted to believe it. Some days, it was all that kept me from giving up.

After the exam, I kept my rented room and went to the police station whenever I could to ask about my mom.

I’d wait in hard plastic chairs, watching cops eat donuts and fill out paperwork. Every time, I left disappointed.

Nothing. She seemed to have vanished from the world.

It was like she never existed—no missing persons reports, no calls, no witnesses. I wondered if she’d really run, or if someone made sure she stayed gone.

Two months later, I scraped together enough for tuition and got into State University.

The email pinged on my phone, and for a second, the world froze—State U. wanted me. I almost dropped the phone.

My acceptance letter felt like a golden ticket—a fresh start, if I could believe in such things.

When I checked my student records, I frowned. My legal guardian was still listed as part of the Evans family—even my last name was Evans.

It felt like a joke—a reminder that no matter how far I ran, their name clung to me like a stain.

Back then, after my mom married in, she’d moved my records over too. When we were kicked out, we never got a chance to change it.

There was no easy fix. Every form I filled out, every official letter, reminded me I still belonged to them on paper.

I didn’t know why Jason hadn’t had it changed. Maybe it was just like he’d said that night—he didn’t want to dirty his hands with my affairs.

It stung. I told myself I’d change it soon—maybe after the first semester, when I had my feet under me.

I thought college would be my new beginning, but instead, old wounds were torn open again.

The campus was big, but gossip traveled fast. Whispers seemed to follow me from orientation to the dorms.

During orientation, I ran into a girl from my high school—Samantha Foster.

She was standing with a group of friends, laughing too loud. When she saw me, her eyes narrowed, and I knew something bad was coming.

"So it’s you."

Her voice dripped with contempt. Before I could dodge, she hurled her iced coffee at my face, the cold stinging worse than a slap.

Cold liquid ran down my shirt, sticky and sweet, as the crowd gasped.

Samantha threw her iced coffee in my face in front of everyone.

The whole quad went silent for a heartbeat, everyone staring.

"You shameless bitch."

Her words rang out, echoing through the crowd. My cheeks burned with humiliation and fury.