The Bad Boy's Starving Pet

The school's notorious bad boy, Sebastian, chucked his half-eaten bagel at my head.

I caught it and chewed like a starved raccoon.

He rolled his eyes. A second later, a breakfast burrito sailed through the air. Then a double cheeseburger. Then an entire box of fried chicken.

I scrambled to catch them all in my plastic grocery bag. "Is it Christmas already?"

"Look closely, idiot. I am bullying you."

I blinked. "I get free food when I am bullied? Can you keep bullying me forever, then?"

He stared at me in absolute silence.

Chapter 1

First thing in the morning, my roommate rushed in. "Harper, you screwed up."

I was already seeing stars from hunger. My limbs shook. I was busy calculating what exactly a dollar fifty on my student ID could buy at the cafeteria.

I lifted my heavy head. "What now?"

Lauren leaned in close and whispered mysteriously. "Remember Samantha from the next class? The one you pissed off yesterday?"

"Her brother is best friends with Sebastian. You are dead meat. Sebastian swore he is going to get justice for her."

I stared at her. Seriously? This is what Samantha was pulling?

The second the bell rang yesterday, I sprinted toward the cafeteria like my life depended on it.

I clutched my plastic tray, my stomach practically caving into my spine, waiting in line. The cashier rang me up. Insufficient funds.

I stood frozen on the spot, fully prepared to sink into the linoleum floor and die. Swallowing my pride, I looked at the lunch lady. "Can you put some of this back?"

She gave me a withering look. "There is barely anything on your plate. You on a diet?"

I nodded frantically. "Yep. Diet."

"Skinny thing like you dieting," she grumbled, scooping the mac and cheese back into the metal pan. "Girls twice your size eat more. Nonsense."

The lunch lady was not targeting anyone. It was just a casual complaint. But unfortunately, Samantha was right behind me in line.

Samantha was notoriously insecure. She immediately assumed the comment was about her. She was not actually fat, just a bit curvy. But standing next to a walking skeleton like me, the contrast was sharp.

She hated it.

She slammed her hand under my tray.

My pathetic excuse for a meal went flying. It splattered across the dirty floor.

"Who are you calling fat?" Samantha shrieked.

I stared at the ruined food. Red-hot rage spiked through my chest. "Use your words. Why the hell did you touch my food?"

She scoffed. "So what if I did?"

My vision blurred.

I shoved her hard.

She hit the linoleum with a loud smack. I snatched the ID card from her fingers.

I turned to the cashier, ordered ten premium combos, and swiped her card. I tossed the plastic square onto her lap. "For my spilled lunch. Consider it compensation."

Samantha sat sprawled on the dirty tiles. Tears spilled down her cheeks. She shot me a lethal glare. "You are going to pay for this."

Chapter 2

I gave her absolutely nothing. I picked up my tray and walked away. That was the first decent meal I had eaten in weeks.

"Did you actually beat the crap out of Samantha in the dining hall? It is all over the college Reddit page. They are saying you mugged her for her student ID in broad daylight."

"Honestly? Icon behavior. Samantha walks around like she owns the place just because her brother Mason is tight with Sebastian. You did us all a favor."

I stared at them, completely lost. Beat the crap out of her? I pushed her. Once.

And I did not mug her. She literally dumped my lunch on the floor.

I crawled under my comforter and pulled up the app. The top thread was screaming at me.

[Local Badass Annihilates Queen Bee.]

The comments were an absolute warzone.

[Whoever this girl is, I worship the ground she walks on. Samantha had it coming.]

[Wait, isn't Samantha basically Sebastian's adopted sister? This girl has a death wish.]

[OP, if you are reading this, maybe transfer schools? Just a thought.]

[Word is Sebastian is already planning retaliation. Anyone remember when he shattered that townie's nose last semester?]

I locked my phone screen. Local badass. Right.

I was just a girl possessed by the vicious demon of extreme poverty and starvation. I had no choice.

My parents gave me a monthly allowance of exactly fifty dollars. And I had to bleed for every single penny of that.

My mother's voice constantly echoed in my skull. "The neighbor's kid survives on twenty bucks a month. He is doing just fine!"

"Your cousin does not even ask for money. She sends her paycheck back home!"

My dad was completely stuck in a time warp. "When I was in college, I lived on ten dollars a month. Look at me now."

"Your generation is entirely too entitled. Fifty dollars is more than enough."

My silence was deafening. It is 2026. Not 1996.

I tried bringing up inflation. Rent. The actual cost of a textbook. It only earned me screaming matches and worse financial restrictions.

I had sworn to myself I would get a job the second I stepped onto campus. Reality hit me like a brick wall. Campus jobs at the library or the dining hall were strictly reserved for students on federal financial aid.

My parents owned a house and two cars in the suburbs. On paper, I did not qualify for a single cent of need-based help. Off-campus jobs demanded insane availability. Or graveyard shifts.

As a pre-med student drowning in lab hours and lectures, I barely had time to sleep, let alone wait tables at 2 AM.

I had managed to scrape together some cash from a summer gig. My mom transferred it straight out of my bank account while I was sleeping. She called it my tuition contribution.

My throat closed up just thinking about it. I had mooched off my roommates a couple of times, but the guilt gnawed at me. I could never afford to treat them back.

Whenever they ordered takeout or went out for dinner, I swallowed down the acid in my empty stomach and used my favorite excuse. I told them I was dieting.

Surviving on fifty dollars a month was essentially extreme wilderness survival. Someone dumping my only meal on the floor? Anyone would have snapped.

Chapter 3

Of course I knew Sebastian. He was a walking disaster.

During halftime, he casually grabbed the hem of his jersey to wipe the sweat off his face. It put a deeply cut eight-pack on full display. The synchronized shrieks from the bleachers nearly blew out my eardrums.

I, too, found myself drooling embarrassingly.

Lauren shoved my shoulder. "Put your tongue away, Harp. You look feral."

Sigh. They all misunderstood. I was actually staring dead at the girl sitting three rows down. She was holding a massive slice of pepperoni pizza.

The edges were perfectly crisped. I just knew the grease would drip down her chin the second she took a bite.

Sebastian just happened to be standing directly in my line of sight.

The guy next to him elbowed his ribs and jerked his chin in my direction. "Look at that, man. Your charm is lethal. That girl up there is literally foaming at the mouth for you."

Sebastian cast a thoroughly unimpressed glare my way. He dropped his jersey back down.

A collective groan echoed through the gymnasium. I groaned with them. The girl had just finished the last bite of her pizza.

Every rumor I heard about Sebastian after that was pure chaos. He hospitalized some townie in a street fight. He trashed the Dean's office. He made a cheerleader cry just by looking at her.

His family had endless money. They could buy his way out of a murder charge. Nobody on campus dared to breathe wrong in his direction.

Mason, Samantha's brother, was Sebastian's right-hand man. They were inseparable. Sebastian once publicly declared that Mason's sister was his sister.

Samantha wore that statement like a titanium crown. She treated everyone else like dirt on her designer shoes. I figured her little threat in the dining hall was just hot air.

I did not expect her to actually run crying to Sebastian. And I definitely did not expect him to care enough to retaliate.

I sat in silence. But before the dread could truly set in, a vicious cramp ripped through my stomach.

I looked at Lauren. "I am going to the cafeteria for a bagel." Let him do whatever he wants. Honestly, I hope he slaps me so I can sue him for fifty grand.

I was not scared. I was actually a little thrilled. There were security cameras covering every square inch of this campus.

If he touched me, he could not run. I could finally get a decent settlement payout.

I clutched my student ID with its pathetic one dollar and fifty cents balance. I trudged to the cafeteria and secured a warm, plain bagel.

I barely took two bites before a freezing voice sliced through the noise.

"Harper."

I turned. Sebastian was sitting at the table behind me. One leg was casually crossed over the other, an arm draped lazily across the tabletop. His dark eyes locked onto mine.

A few guys flanked him, radiating aggressive frat-house energy. The one standing directly to his right was Mason.

Mason crossed his arms over his chest. He broke the silence first. "You are the one who put your hands on my sister?"

I shoved the rest of the bagel into my mouth and swallowed it whole. I stared back at them, entirely ready to meet my maker.

Mason shot a glance at Sebastian. "Samantha has been crying her eyes out since she got home. She said this psycho called her a fat pig, assaulted her, and mugged her for her ID."

Chapter 4

"Samantha has been crying her eyes out since she got home. She has refused to eat for days, claiming she needs to diet. She said this psycho called her a fat pig, assaulted her, and mugged her for her ID."

The sheer gaslighting. Were they giving out awards for creative writing?

I stated the cold, hard facts. "She dumped my lunch on the floor first. And I did not beat her up. I pushed her."

"I tossed her card right back to her. She ruined my food, so I took compensation. Basic math."

Mason sneered. "So you are saying my sister is a liar? She is the sweetest girl on earth. She would never lie."

I stared at this wall of delusional frat boys. I chose weaponized silence.

Sebastian picked up his half-eaten beef slider from the table.

He tossed it in his hand twice before launching it straight at my head.

When it comes to free food, my reflexes are Olympic-level.

I snatched the slider out of mid-air and shoved it into my mouth. Pure heaven. It was actual Wagyu beef.

Way better than the stale dollar-menu garbage I was used to.

Sebastian stared. Mason stared. The entire peanut gallery stared.

I swallowed the last bite. My eyes drifted to the remaining sliders on Sebastian's tray.

I licked my lips. "Got any more? That was actually fire."

Mason lost his mind. "Seb, this crazy chick is mocking you!" He grabbed another slider and chucked it at me.

I sidestepped, caught it perfectly, and took a massive bite.

Mason flushed dark red. He grabbed the rest of the plate and hurled the food at me in a rapid-fire assault.

I spun. Left hand snatched two. Right hand secured another two. I caught the last one squarely in my mouth.

A flawless victory.

The group of grown men stood completely paralyzed.

Mason's eyes practically bulged out of his skull. "How the hell did you just do that?"

I spoke around a mouthful of beef. "Easy. Try starving for two weeks straight. It does wonders for hand-eye coordination."

"Thanks for the meal. If we are done here, I have places to be."

They actually dared to throw premium meat at me? I would gladly show them what a point of no return looked like. I shoved the remaining food into my pockets and strutted out of the cafeteria like I owned the place.

My meals for the next three days were officially secured. I could finally stretch my budget until the end of the month. I was mentally calculating my savings with pure joy.

I genuinely thought the cafeteria incident was the end of Sebastian's petty revenge tour. I was dead wrong.

The very next day, I dragged my exhausted body out of the science building. A wall of bodies trapped me in the corner. Afternoon classes had just let out. Students poured down the steps of the lecture hall in droves.

Being boxed in by half a dozen massive guys made it impossible not to draw a crowd. Sebastian was campus royalty. Nobody messed with his circle.

Onlookers took one terrified glance at my situation and hurried past, frantically whispering to each other.

"Who is that? She is so dead. What did she do to Sebastian?"

"Wait, is that the girl from the Reddit post? The one who destroyed Samantha?"

"She is so tiny. They are going to crush her."

A few brave souls lingered at the edges of the courtyard, secretly lifting their phones to record.

Chapter 5

Sebastian delivered a single, freezing glare. The guy practically tripped over his own feet shoving his phone into his pocket and sprinting away.

Fine. You can run, but you can not hide. The second Sebastian threw a punch, I was calling a personal injury lawyer and cashing out.

Mason leaned against the brick wall, utterly arrogant. "Apologize to my sister, and we let this go. We are guys. We don't exactly want to hit a girl."

I tilted my chin up. "Why would I apologize?"

"She owes me one." Mason snatched the back of my collar. "You crazy chick. Do you really think we won't lay hands on you?"

I stiffened my neck and kept my mouth shut.

Sebastian raised a hand. One of his lackeys instantly passed him a black duffel bag. He unzipped it, pulled out a wrapped breakfast burrito, and hurled it at me. Then came a spicy chicken sandwich.

A box of fried chicken. Five packs of premium spicy ramen.

Mason still had me by the collar, so my arms were useless. I could not catch a single thing. Thankfully, Sebastian was throwing fully wrapped takeout. It hit the pavement completely uncontaminated.

My eyes went wide. Pure, unadulterated shock washed over my face.

Mason released my jacket and cleared his throat. "See that? That is what happens when you cross us. Getting pelted with food."

"You must feel so humiliated right now!"

The guys completely ceased to exist in my peripheral vision. The ground was littered with absolute culinary treasures. This was basically showering me in cold, hard cash. Please, humiliate me some more.

I whipped a plastic grocery bag out of my pocket, dropped to a crouch, and started sweeping the food into it like a madwoman. "Is it Christmas already?"

Mason stared. Sebastian stared. The rest of the frat wall stared.

I packed the bag to the absolute brim. I stood up, deeply satisfied, and turned to leave.

Sebastian shot his long arm out, blocking my path.

I looked up. His face was a mask of utter disbelief.

He grabbed the back of my collar and hauled me directly into his personal space like a stray kitten. "Look closely, idiot. I am bullying you."

I blinked. I clutched my bag of loot tighter against my chest. "I get free food when I am bullied? Can you keep bullying me forever, then?"

The silence that fell over the courtyard was deafening. Everyone was completely speechless.

He let go. I stumbled forward a couple of steps.

Sebastian crossed his arms. "Were you a starving ghost in your past life?"

"No idea about my past life, but I am definitely starving to death in this one." I dug into the plastic bag, unwrapped the chicken sandwich, and took a massive bite. "So are you chomp going to keep chomp bullying me?"

He gave me absolutely nothing. I took another aggressive bite and tilted my head at him.

Sebastian rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking profoundly defeated. "Yes. I am going to keep bullying you."

"Relax. Go. Go eat your food."

I hugged my haul tight and practically skipped away.

Behind me, Mason was having a full mental breakdown. "Seb, humiliating her with food is not working! You throw it at her, and she literally eats it off the ground! What if what if we"

Chapter 6

Sebastian's freezing voice cut through the tension. "So what exactly do you want to do? Are you suggesting I hit a girl?"

Mason immediately shut his mouth.

I kept my ears perked, eavesdropping on their exchange. Sebastian glanced at me, his tone incredibly lazy. "What, you still here?"

I turned around and offered him a sheepish smile. "Um, next time, I kind of want a massive bowl of spicy garlic tonkotsu ramen."

Mason exploded. "Are you out of your mind? Do you think Seb is your personal UberEats driver?"

I kept my eyes locked on Sebastian, asking carefully. "Can I?"

Sebastian let out a low, rough chuckle. His dark eyes narrowed slightly. "Sure."

The entire group of guys stared at him like he was possessed by a demon.

I happily hugged my massive bag of loot and headed back to my dorm.

The very next day, Sebastian actually brought me the spicy garlic ramen. He clearly hated the intense smell. His eyebrows were pulled together in deep disgust.

Seeing me, Sebastian snapped impatiently. "Hurry up and take this. It smells like a biological weapon."

He was not going to throw it at me? He was actually handing it over like a normal human being? I shuffled over in tiny steps and awkwardly took the heavy plastic bag from his hand.

"This is weird. Why aren't you chucking it at my head today? Handing it to me like this feels like you bought me lunch on purpose, not like you are bullying me. I feel kind of awkward."

Sebastian let out a sharp, breathless laugh. He leaned against the brick wall, raising a single eyebrow at me. "Harper, are you actually addicted to getting assaulted with takeout? This thing reeks and is ninety percent boiling broth."

"If I threw it at you, how the hell would you eat it?"

Fair point. Beggars cannot be choosers, and free food is still free food.

I popped the lid off the heavy takeout container and started slurping. The rich, spicy broth, the perfectly soaked noodles, the soft-boiled egg. It was absolute culinary heaven. I inhaled the entire bowl like a vacuum, tipping the plastic back to drain every last drop of the liquid.

Sebastian pinched the bridge of his nose, watching me with pure, unfiltered revulsion.

I let out a completely satisfied sigh and tossed the empty container into the nearby trash can. I turned around and realized he was still standing there.

I blinked. "Did you need something?"

Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck and stepped directly into my space. "From now on, at meal times, you come find me. You eat with me."

My eyes practically bugged out of my skull. "What?! With your entire frat pack, or just you?"

"Just me."

I frantically shook my head. "Absolutely not. Honestly, I would rather you just throw the food at me. I will be way too stressed to digest anything if we sit down together."

Sebastian scoffed. "You inhale my food and immediately ghost me?"

I shrank my neck down into my jacket. "No, it is just eating together feels a little too intimate."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

I thought about it for a second, literally counting the reasons off on my fingers to explain the logic to him. "Number one. People who constantly eat together are either best friends or they are dating. Obviously, we are not best friends."

"So people will definitely jump to the conclusion that we are a couple. Number two. Have you ever heard the saying that catching feelings starts from a thousand shared meals? Eating together is a huge red flag for crossing boundaries."

Chapter 7

"Number three. A guy and a girl spending every meal alone together is highly questionable."

Sebastian let out a sharp, breathless laugh. He reached out, his large hand brushing through my hair, his fingers lingering slightly against my scalp. "What exactly goes on inside that head of yours? I am actively bullying you."

"Can you not tell?"

I shook my head. "Not even a little bit."

He raised an eyebrow. "I recall you calling Samantha fat."

"I never said that." How many times did I have to explain this before someone actually listened? Honestly, I envied her figure. She was nicely curvy.

Sebastian smirked. "Doesn't matter if you said it. She compared herself to you, decided she was overweight, and is now refusing to eat." He paused.

The corner of his mouth ticked up. "If I feed you until you weigh more than her, she will magically feel better."

So he was doing this entirely for Samantha. Fattening me up as a form of psychological revenge. An incredibly innovative form of bullying.

But it worked perfectly in my favor. I would never have to worry about starving again.

"Deal," I caved instantly.

Sebastian smoothly slipped my phone right out of my jacket pocket. He tapped his number in. He flashed the screen at me, shoved his free hand into his pocket, and took a step back. "I will be waiting for you at dinner, little starving ghost."

My life had completely turned around. I had successfully secured a permanent meal ticket. And honestly, Sebastian ate like absolute royalty.

We did premium Wagyu Korean BBQ every other day, and high-end seafood towers on the weekends. The tabletop grill sizzled with melting fat. Thick cuts of marbled ribeye and brisket charred to perfection. I dipped the meat into sesame oil and inhaled it, convinced I could eat an entire cow.

The seafood spots were even better. Plump, juicy oysters, massive garlic butter lobster tails, and giant snow crab legs packed with sweet meat.

Whenever we ate, Sebastian would just prop his chin on his hand. He watched me devour my plates with this unreadable, lingering smirk. I highly suspected he was actively monitoring my weight gain.

I treated every single meal with him like a covert black-ops mission. The last thing I needed was campus gossip linking me to him romantically.

But playing with fire always ends in burns. Someone snapped a photo of us at a restaurant and leaked it straight to the college Reddit page.

The title was glaringly toxic.

[Campus Menace Looks Deeply Obsessed With His Food-Obsessed Girlfriend.]

Whoever took the picture knew exactly what they were doing. In the frame, Sebastian was staring at me with a completely soft, liquid gaze. His dark eyes looked dangerously affectionate. Meanwhile, my face was entirely buried in a massive bowl of food, looking feral.

The comment section was spiraling.

[She looks familiar. Hasn't she been on the sub before?]

[Wait, is that the absolute unit who destroyed Samantha?]

[Yes! Look at the side profile. She gained a little weight, but that is definitely her.]

[What the hell is happening? Did he accidentally catch feelings while trying to get revenge for Samantha?]

[Not gonna lie, this is giving major enemies-to-lovers energy. I am officially shipping them.]

My roommates immediately cornered me on my mattress the second I walked in. "Are you secretly dating Sebastian?"

Chapter 8

"No wonder you filled out a little and your skin is glowing. You are practically radiating new relationship energy. Spill it. How did you two hook up?"

I could not defend myself fast enough. "We are not dating. He literally just wants me to gain weight so Samantha feels better about herself."

One of my roommates stroked her chin. "That makes no sense."

"What makes no sense?"

She gave me a knowing look. "If he just wanted to fatten you up, why wouldn't he feed you high-calorie garbage? McDonald's is cheap. Instead, he is taking you out for premium dinners."

"That seafood buffet? It costs this much per head."

She silently held up five fingers.

"Fifty bucks?"

"Five grand."

Poverty had completely warped my brain. Hearing five grand, I had to physically count the zeros on my fingers to comprehend the amount.

My phone buzzed. I glanced at the screen. Sebastian sent a text.

[Come down. Time to eat.]

I squeezed my eyes shut. Enduring the physical pain of losing my meal ticket, I typed back.

[Not eating. I am never eating with you again.]

Sebastian replied instantly.

[?]

I fired back.

[You achieved your goal. I gained ten pounds. Back off.]

Then I blocked his number and deleted his contact.

I had been eating on Sebastian's dime all month. My parents' pathetic fifty-dollar disaster relief fund was still entirely untouched.

I ran the numbers. A plain bagel for breakfast, a dollar pizza slice for lunch, another for dinner. Surviving the rest of the month would be a breeze.

Ever since I blocked him, Sebastian never came looking for me. I figured his massive ego had taken a hit. Whatever.

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. Sebastian and I were completely different species anyway.

I sprinted to the cafeteria to secure my cheap lunch. Naturally, I ran straight into Samantha. She was clearly dieting. She looked significantly thinner than our last encounter.

Seeing me, Samantha actively extended her student ID toward me. "I am sorry. Last time was my fault. I apologize."

"Here. Take my card. Order whatever you want. It is on me."

I stood frozen on the linoleum, utterly dumbfounded.

Rumor had it that after our clash, Samantha's toxic superiority complex had practically vanished. She was no longer walking around like campus royalty. She was actually acting normal. The college Reddit completely credited me.

They claimed I literally beat the sense into her brain.

I had completely brushed it off as internet hyperbole. Turns out, they were right.

I took her plastic ID, highly suspicious. I pointed a finger at my own temple. "Um. Are you okay up there?"

Samantha flushed deep red. "What is that supposed to mean? Are you calling me crazy? If you don't want my card, forget it."

"I want it, I want it," I quickly pacified her. I swiped for two premium entrees and sat down across from her at a cafeteria table.

Samantha only grabbed a pathetic scoop of vegetables. She was definitely hardcore dieting.

I took a bite of my food. "Why the massive personality shift?"

Samantha chewed on a piece of celery. "After I blew up on the college Reddit, I finally realized everyone absolutely hated me. They were just too terrified to say it out loud."

Chapter 9

"Mason spoiled me rotten since we were kids. Sebastian treats me like royalty. Everyone else just bowed their heads to me. Nobody ever told me the truth."

"I literally had no idea I was such an insufferable person."

I chewed on my braised pork belly, my words slightly muffled. "Whatever. Realizing you messed up is half the battle. You aren't even big."

"I would kill for your curves."

"I am only skinny because my body is literally cannibalizing itself. I survive on fifty dollars a month. It is physically impossible to keep weight on."

"Fifty bucks?!" Samantha's eyes went completely wide. "How the hell are you still breathing?"

I let out a breath. "It is what it is. My parents refuse to give me a dime. My dearest mother claims the neighbor's kid lives on twenty bucks a month and still sends money home."

"My wonderful father constantly brings up the Stone Age, bragging about how he survived college on ten dollars."

Samantha furrowed her brows. "I am just gonna say it. Do you have a younger brother?"

I nodded. "Yeah. But Preston has it just as bad. He only gets fifty bucks too."

Samantha shook her head in immediate denial. "Absolutely not. Your parents aren't stupid. They know exactly what things cost."

"If they are starving you out, they are funneling your cut to someone else. Really look at the lifestyle gap between you and your brother."

I froze. I remembered asking Preston about his allowance. He swore he only got the bare minimum. But he never once fought with our parents about cash.

Whenever I screamed about bills until my throat bled, he just stood quietly on the sidelines. Sometimes he even played the peacemaker.

His major was a joke. He had endless free time for a part-time job. I naturally assumed he was hustling for his own money.

Samantha's words buried a toxic, creeping seed of doubt deep into my chest.

That weekend, I endured a grueling seven-hour Greyhound bus ride back to the suburbs just to save on train fare.

The second I walked through the front door, my parents launched into their usual lecture. They aggressively listed out everyone else's highly successful, completely self-sufficient children. They actually called my trip home a blatant waste of gas money.

I tuned out the noise. When my mother turned her back, I quietly slipped her phone off the kitchen counter.

The passcode wasn't her birthday. It was Preston's. I tapped into her text thread with my brother.

The oxygen evaporated from the room.

While I was surviving on fifty dollars, the bank transfer receipts in their chat stared back at me. One thousand dollars. Every single month.

My mother's texts were sickeningly sweet.

[Mom will buy your groceries and supplies separately, honey. Just text me what you need.]

Preston's reply was completely lazy.

[Cool. Buy these for me then.]

A link dropped below the text. Limited-edition sneakers. Fifteen hundred dollars. She bought them immediately.

[Preston: My sister asked about my allowance last time.]

[Mom: What did you tell her? You didn't blow your cover, right?]

[Preston: I told her I get fifty bucks too.]

[Mom: Exactly. Keep it that way. If your sister finds out, I won't have any extra money to spoil you with.]

[Preston: Yeah, yeah. I got it.]

I stared at the glowing screen.

A violent shudder ripped through my spine, turning my blood to ice