Betrayed By Friends I Choose To Close The Inn To Them Chapter 03

Betrayed By Friends I Choose To Close The Inn To Them Chapter 03

Low whispers rose behind me.

I didn’t look back.

As I stepped out of the classroom, I heard Sophie say, “What’s wrong with Maya today? She looks awful. Did she not sleep?”

Then came Chloe’s voice, soft and gentle.

“Maybe she’s just stressed about the SAT.”

Listen to that.

So considerate.

The corner of my mouth twitched, and I walked faster down the stairs.

The cafeteria was crowded.

I got a chicken sandwich, fries, and a carton of milk, then found a corner table.

Eating lunch alone felt strange.

Before, I always ate with Chloe.

We would sit across from each other, talking nonstop like we had endless things to say.

Now that I thought about it, how much of that was friendship?

And how much of it was her setting things up?

I took a bite of my sandwich.

The bread was dry and cold. It barely tasted like anything.

When had I started being so nice to everyone the first time around?

Probably freshman year field day.

I brought cookies Laura had made and shared them with everyone. They all said the cookies were amazing.

Being liked by everyone felt so good.

So good that I started getting used to being nice to everyone.

Buying lunch.

Giving birthday gifts.

Buying coffee for people before exams.

Bringing classmates to Bennett Inn on weekends.

David and Laura never stopped me.

They even encouraged it, saying classmates should look out for each other.

And because of that, everyone naturally assumed I should help them this time too.

But the problem was, I had always been the one helping.

No one had ever looked out for me.

I helped for 3 years.

In the end, not one person defended me.

After lunch, I returned my tray and took out my phone to call Laura.

She answered after 2 rings, her voice warm.

“Maya, did you eat lunch?”

“I did, Laura.”

I leaned against a pillar in the cafeteria and lowered my voice.

“I wanted to ask. Have the rooms at Bennett Inn for SAT weekend been booked?”

“They have.”

Laura sounded cheerful.

“You have no idea. The second we released them, they sold out. All 50 rooms. We still have people calling to ask. I asked David whether we should open up the staff room too, but he said no. The staff still needs a place to rest.”

All 50 rooms were booked.

I froze for a second.

Then I couldn’t help smiling.

The first time around, those 50 rooms had been set aside and given to my classmates for free.

This time, every single one had been booked at full price.

Not one room left.

“What’s wrong, Maya?” Laura asked.

“Do your classmates need rooms? If they do, I can try to work something out and see if there are any cancellations.”

“No.”

“Don’t hold rooms for them.”

“Not one.”

Laura went quiet for 2 seconds, probably trying to process what I had just said.

After all, she knew exactly how I had treated my classmates for the past 3 years.