Dorothea always seemed distant. She was quiet and reserved, and Carmen was her one real friend.
The Clark family’s driver pulled up to get Dorothea. Carmen waved at her from the back seat.
“Dorothea, get in!”
Dorothea smiled, opened the door, and slid in beside her.
“Guess what? I spent forever yesterday looking for our old class photo from freshman year. Look, we’re in the last row with all the girls. You were so chubby and cute back then, so soft... You don’t feel like that anymore.”
Dorothea’s cheeks turned pink. She gave Carmen a playful nudge. “Stop making things up.”
“I’m serious. But even with a little baby fat, you were always our school beauty.”
“Did you know Jasper wanted to confess to you when we graduated? But there were too many people chasing after you, so he gave up.”
Dorothea frowned, trying to remember. “Really? I don’t remember that at all.”
Carmen rolled her eyes. “Of course you don’t. They were all too scared to say anything to your face, so they’d give me gifts to try to find out how you felt. I turned them all down.”
“Dorothea deserves only the best. I rejected all the not-so-good-looking ones for you.”
Dorothea laughed, wrapping her arms around Carmen’s shoulders. “Love you. You’re the best.”
Carmen grinned. “If you acted like that with Latham, he’d probably melt. If I were a guy, I’d be fighting him for you.”
Dorothea blushed at Carmen’s teasing, and the two of them joked and laughed all the way to the school.
The moment they stepped out of the car, a voice called out, “Well, look who it is, our school beauty.”
It sounded like a compliment, but the tone was sharp. Carmen slipped in front of Dorothea. “And there’s Zack. Tell us, where are you making your millions now?”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: When My Ex's Worst Enemy Became My Sanctuary