"Let's do matching hairstyles!" I suggested as I applied eyeshadow to my eyelids. "I saw these two girls do a two ponytail/two braid look and they looked really cute."

"Sure," Tracy replied as she put on a burgundy vest. It was actually my vest, but I let her wear it for today. "Um, so do you wanna do the ponytails or the braids?"

"I think I'll do the ponytails, and you do the braids," I decided, as I began to comb my hair. "It'll look better that way."

"Okay," Tracy agreed, starting to part her hair and braid it.

Tracy seemed a little unenthusiastic ever since yesterday. I think it was after Mel asked to speak with her? Maybe it was about Brady or something and it upset her.

Tracy started doing her make-up in the mirror and she had now become really good at using an eyeliner, so she didn't need my help.

Today, our outfits were pretty cute. I was wearing flare jeans as usual, a dark-colored top with pink lace, hoop earrings and my usual bracelets. Tracy wore my burgundy vest, a jacket, flare jeans and her converse. We both wore cross necklaces.

After we were dressed, we went to the kitchen to see Mel had prepared some toast for us. Mel, Brady and Mason were already sitting down and eating.

"Good morning, ladies," Mel greeted. "Ooh, your hair looks really cute."

"Thanks Mel," I said as I sat down and started eating.

Breakfast was a little more quiet than usual, and it seemed as if everyone was keeping some kind of secret from me. Deep inside, I kind of had a feeling what it was, but I guess my brain didn't want to know. I ignored my feelings and continued to act as I always did.

After we ate, Tracy and I brushed our teeth and fixed our make-up as usual. And then we went outside and got inside Mel's car.

Mel dropped us off at school and drove off. Merida approached us as soon as she saw us.

"Hey," she greeted, giving us both hugs. "You guys look really cute today."

"Thanks," I said with a small smile, before Tracy and I walked away. Merida, not getting the hint, followed us.

I decided to just ignore her as much as I could and went to talk to some of the girls.

"Um, I'm gonna go talk to Javi," Tracy declared, gesturing to Javi and his friends a few feet away from us. "See you."

"Bye," I replied, hugging her. "Say hi to Javi for me."

"Okay," Tracy agreed, before walking away to Javi's group. I turned to the girls.

"Evie, you look so hot today!" Rachel complimented, grinning at me.

"Thanks Rach," I replied with a small smirk. "How's Brandon?"

"Ugh, he's way too romantic," Rachel complained, causing us all to laugh. "I'm starting to wish I never left Gabe."

"Damn, sucks for you, girly," Astrid replied a little mercilessly. "Should've used your brain and not left him."

"Yeah," Rachel responded, frowning slightly. Oh yeah, Astrid had an argument with Rachel yesterday—I guess she still hadn't gotten over it.

"So, do you guys want to skip?" I suggested with a mischievous grin, trying to change the subject because I wasn't in the mood for drama right now. "We don't have to skip the first lesson, we can skip third period or maybe we can completely ditch after lunch."

"You know I'd love to, but I can't," Audrey voiced, pouting. "My teachers are all watching me and if they notice I skipped, they'll call my dad."

"Aw, that sucks," Kylie replied, before turning to me. "I can't either, I think I'm going to start focusing on school more."

"Um, okay," I answered. As if I cared whether Audrey or Kylie came. Kylie was really starting to annoy me, and I didn't care much about Audrey.

I turned to Astrid and raised my eyebrow. Astrid was the one I really wanted to skip with.

"I want to, but I have a play today," Astrid told me remorsefully. "I'll get extra credits if I participate."

"Oh, okay," I said downheartedly. "Um, good luck."

"Thanks babe," Astrid replied, enveloping me in a hug before walking away.

Was I the only one who didn't care about school? Why was everyone starting to care about school? Like, hello? What happened to sneaking out of class and selling drugs?

"I can skip," Rachel said eagerly. "Maybe we can smoke in the dumpsters or something."

"Um, sure," I replied a little unenthusiastically. "Let's skip second period."

"Okay, I'll meet you in the dumpsters," Rachel replied, before strutting away.

I really wanted to hang out with Astrid. I'd usually want to hang out with Tracy, of course, but she kept trying to have dates with Javi. Honestly, I don't know why she doesn't just dump him and date Conrad. Then we could all be happy.

The first class was painfully slow. I had that class with Audrey, and the only thing she wanted to talk about was Britney Spears. Like, I love Britney too, but I'm not gonna spend a whole hour talking about her.

I skipped second period to smoke with Rachel, and all she talked about was Astrid, which made me even more miserable.

"You know I love Astrid," she began, "but she's really starting to piss me off. I mean, I forgave her yesterday, and she's still acting like a total bitch."

"Mhm," I replied disinterestedly. Even Rachel, whom I initially liked, was starting to get boring. Maybe if her and Astrid got over their stupid fight, I'd like her again.

At lunch, I finally met up with Tracy, but she seemed really upset. Since I actually cared about her, I listened to her rant without a single complaint.

"Ugh, I hate Noel and Yumi!" she exclaimed, looking extremely vexed. "I hate Noel, and Yumi, and our stupid project, and my teachers."

"Well, I never liked them either," I told her comfortingly. "They're total losers, I mean, do you see the kind of clothes they wear?"

"Yeah," Tracy replied with a sour little laugh. "They're just jealous I'm not a complete dork like them."

"For real, girl," I replied. "Like, okay, obviously they wanna be you, but that doesn't mean they have to let you get in trouble for the project."

Finally, Tracy managed to smile, and we hugged. I changed the subject and asked her about Javi.

This was evidently the wrong thing to do. Her smile instantly dropped off her face, and she started complaining about him.

"Ugh, he's so annoying," she whined. "He's nice and everything, but he keeps canceling dates."

He's probably canceling them for me—he's been texting me all the time now, and I just can't resist replying. But I can't really tell her that, can I?

"Well, um," I answered awkwardly, "maybe you should just ditch him for Conrad?"

"Yeah, you're right," Tracy said with a sigh. "But, I don't know, I wanna give him another chance."

"Okay, well, dump him when you're ready," I told her, rubbing her back reassuringly.

"Okay," Tracy replied, rubbing her forehead. "Ugh, I can't wait for this day to be over."

"Yeah, me too," I sighed. I guess Tracy and I were both having a bad day.

Just then, the bell rang.

"I'll see you after school, I guess," Tracy said, before walking away.

"See you," I called back after her, before walking to class.

I don't know how everything suddenly went downhill. I mean, we were the queens of this school, everyone wanted to be us, and now that school's about to come to an end, everything's falling apart. My clique is drifting apart, my friends are getting boring, my grades are bad—should I say more, or is that enough?

The last few classes felt like an absolute hell. One minute felt like a whole hour. I kept staring at the watch the guy next to me wore, waiting for school to finish.

Once the final bell rang, I came out of school completely miserable. Astrid ran up to meet me before I could leave.

"Hey babe," she greeted, grinning as she went through her purse. "Look what I stole from the make-up store!"

She dug through the purse for a couple more seconds before pulling out a scarlet shade of lipstick that she had wanted for a while now.

"It costs sixty dollars!" she squealed, jumping up and down happily. I hugged her back with false enthusiasm.

"That's amazing!" I exclaimed, although deep inside I felt horrible. I don't know why, but since breakfast this morning, something's been nagging me all day long. "Listen, I gotta go 'cause Mel—I mean Tracy's mom—is probably waiting for me, but I'll call you later, okay?"

"'Kay, see you Ev," Astrid said, giving me a kiss on the cheek before departing.

"Bye," I called back, before running to the place Mel always waits for us in.

Mel was already parked and Tracy was in the car, both of them waiting for me. I felt a little guilty for making them wait, but oh well.

I got inside the car, glancing over at Tracy, who was staring out of the window dejectedly. I looked over at Mel, who I think was starting to figure out that Tracy and I were lying about our grades. She had that grave 'I-talked-to-your-teacher' look on her face that made me feel pretty bad for Trace.

"I can't even remember how to spell 'photographer'," Tracy announced glumly, staring out at all of the happy students outside.

Mel started the car. Panic seized me, and I had a feeling I knew where we were heading.

"Where're we going, Mel?" I asked before I could stop myself, and Mel stared at me for a couple of seconds in a dumbfounded manner before starting to drive.

"I think it's time we pay a visit to Brooke," she proclaimed softly.

I swallowed, knowing what was about to happen. But I couldn't make myself think it, or say it out loud. Maybe there was still hope for me—maybe we were just visiting Brooke to say hello, or maybe she was just going to get her payment from Brooke before officially adopting me.

I held on to that thought. I couldn't afford to be pessimistic, and there was no way Mel wasn't going to adopt me. I mean, she's been acting like she was going to adopt me this whole time. I think.

We finally parked near Brooke's house and got out.

That whole ride, Tracy stared out of the window determinedly, trying to avoid any eye contact with me. Or maybe I was just imagining that she was trying to avoid eye contact with me. Right?

Tracy and I followed Mel to Brooke's house slowly. My heart was thundering against my chest like a hammer, and I took deep breaths to calm down.

"Brooke!" I heard Mel exclaim in astonishment as she finally walked inside Brooke's house. My house. "Wow—I've been calling for two weeks."

"All right, sweetie," Brooke said, gesturing for the guy next to her to get out. "Sorry—sorry, I just—didn't want you to see me like this."

She covered her face in her hands, seemingly ashamed as she whispered, "Mel, my ear."

"What?" Mel asked, as my brows furrowed in slight confusion.

"They—cut—off—my—ears," Brooke answered, taking off her bucket hat dramatically.

Tracy clapped her hand against her mouth and I stared at Brooke, shocked.

"Okay, girls, please go out to the car, okay?" Mel commanded, spinning around to face our horrified expressions. "Please. Please, go out to the car."

Tracy and I shared concerned looks and backed away, but we didn't head out to the car. Instead, we just looked out of the window and eavesdropped on the conversation.

"I had that little kind of turkey neck thing, you know?" Brooke began to explain as Mel sat down next to her. "I mean, all of a sudden I had a kid to support. I mean, fuck."

"You—You had plastic surgery?" Mel questioned, causing Brooke to nod.

"Why, Brooke? You were so pretty," Tracy said sadly, peeking out at her.

"Evie knows what I'm talking about—you know that little kind of flap thing that was in the pictures?" Brooke said, fixing her gaze in my direction. I did know, actually. Brooke's ear has always looked a little strange, and she's wanted to get a surgery done for a while now. She had taken multiple pictures of her ears to show a plastic surgeon. "Oh, my ears hurt so bad! Look."

She tucked a stray of blonde hair behind her ear to show Mel her bloody ear. Tracy and I shared another horrified glance.

"So, is this, like, a standard procedure?" Mel whispered, staring at Brooke's ear curiously.

"Yeah, I guess, I mean, you know," Brooke replied with a small shrug of her shoulders, "they had to tuck the skin somewhere, I guess. It's just...I didn't realize they had to do the whole, you know...fuckin' crop circle."

Brooke sniffed a little, seeming utterly crestfallen. Mel exhaled a bunch of smoke and put down her cigarette.

"So everything's okay, then?" Mel questioned as Brooke looked up at the ceiling, something she usually does when she's holding back tears.

"Yeah," Brooke replied, sniffling. "Oh, sorry."

"It's okay," Mel replied, holding her hand calmingly.

"Excuse me," Brooke said, reaching over the table to pick up her mirror. She took a look at herself and her damaged ear. "Oh God, I'm a mess. Oh, dear."

Brooke stood up from the couch slowly and started walking to the kitchen. "Can I get you a beer?"

"No, that's okay, we're gonna split," Mel declined politely, as Tracy and I sauntered inside. "So, Evie, we'll bring your suitcase over later, okay?"

These simple words made my heart sink, and then shatter into a thousand tiny pieces of glass. I stared at Mel in saddened disbelief.

"You're not gonna adopt me, Mel?" I asked slowly, staring at her and then at Tracy, expecting her to say something.

"Evie, I mean..." Tracy replied reluctantly, shrugging her shoulders. "Brooke's back, so..."

I stared at her in shock. I had expected her to beg Mel to adopt me, or scold her at least. These last few days, she'd been acting as hyped as I was about being sisters. She was always hugging me and grinning and making me believe that it was actually possible that we would be sisters. Mel had been really nice to me, and would always make my favorite foods. So was Tracy just acting this whole time, and Mel was being kind to me out of sympathy?

I felt completely betrayed. Tracy made me actually believe that Mel was going to adopt me and that we were going to be family. Now she was here shrugging her shoulders and acting like there wasn't anything else she could do?

I stormed away—I couldn't handle all of these emotions at the same time. Grief, shock, betrayal. A huge lump had settled in my throat and no matter how many times I swallowed, it wouldn't go away. My eyes began to water, my nose felt salty, and I walked as fast as I could to the backyard.

I leaned against the old fridge and let myself cry. Hot tears spilled from my eyes and traveled down my cheeks as I tried to come to terms with the fact that I wasn't going to live a normal life, and I wasn't going to have a normal family, like I thought I would for weeks.

They, especially Tracy, had lead me on, made me believe I was about to become one of the Freelands, and then completely betrayed me.

I mean, Tracy and I put on matching outfits for today, for fuck's sake! She had treated me like a sister, and made me believe I was about to become her sister.

I made her popular! I helped her stop being such a total loser and let her start dating the guy that I liked! All just so she could betray me.

I gripped the fridge, sobbing quietly, my mind unable to process this. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement, and I looked over to see Tracy staring at me pitifully.

I didn't need her stupid pity. Her stupid, fake pity. She just wanted me to think she felt bad for me so we could continue being friends.

I glared at her before looking away. I couldn't stop crying.

I heard her footsteps, so I glanced over at her to see that she was slowly backing away. She wasn't even gonna try comforting me. Thanks a lot, Trace.

My hands slid down the fridge as I continued to cry. The tiny glass shards that remained of my broken heart had settled in the pit of my stomach, and they were cutting my insides mercilessly.

After what felt like hours but was actually minutes of my mental breakdown, I heard Brooke calling out for me. I merely ignored her; I couldn't deal with her right now.

I heard the door creaking open and then Brooke's sigh of relief as she saw me leaning against the refrigerator.

"Fuck, Evie!" Brooke exclaimed. "You scared the shit out of me, I couldn't find you anywhere."

"Leave me alone," I muttered, my voice hoarse after all of that sobbing. I tilted my head slightly to look at her.

Brooke, upon noticing my expression, sighed and walked over to embrace me.

"I'm sorry, Evie," she said quietly, as I sobbed into her shirt. "I know you really wanted them to adopt you, but Mel's got her own problems."

I didn't reply; I continued to cry ceaselessly, and Brooke took me inside, where I continued my sobbing session on the couch. I laid down, my head on her lap as she started smoking.

I bet I looked like shit at that moment. Maybe my make-up was waterproof, but that didn't stop my face from being hideous. Tears and snot covered nearly every inch of my puffy face, and I started to feel a pounding in my head. You know the headache you get after a mental breakdown? Yeah, exactly.

"You want a beer?" Brooke suggested, gesturing to a pack of beer bottles on the table in front of us. "Have as many as you like."

I took her up on the offer, and took a bottle of beer and opened it. I gulped it down, hoping all of that liquor would make the terrible feelings go away.

I finished it, and fell asleep. I was actually planning on finishing the whole pack, but I was too exhausted.

However, even in my drunken and drained state, I knew exactly what I was gonna do. Tracy had betrayed me without a second thought, and she was going to pay.

I was going to get revenge, and I would make her really sorry for what she did.