Betrayed By Friends I Choose To Close The Inn To Them Chapter 13

Betrayed By Friends I Choose To Close The Inn To Them Chapter 13

It wasn’t Chloe?

I went through every post, comment, and repost.

I didn’t find her name.

She hadn’t posted.

She hadn’t commented.

She hadn’t even liked anything.

It was like she had completely disappeared from the whole thing.

On the day SAT scores came out, I was eating watermelon at home.

Scores opened at 3 p.m.

I was already sitting in front of the computer at 2:58, my heart pounding.

The first time around, I had only gotten a 1230 on the SAT.

Barely enough for a regular state school.

This time was different.

At exactly 3, I refreshed the page.

SAT Score: 1510.

Evidence-Based Reading and Writing: 750.

Math: 760.

I stared at the numbers on the screen for 5 seconds.

Then I screamed.

“Laura! David! Scores are out!”

Laura ran out of the kitchen without even drying her hands, oil spots still on her apron.

David rushed out of the home office, losing 1 slipper along the way.

“What’d you get?”

“1510!”

Laura froze.

The next second, she hugged me and burst into tears.

David stood beside us, his eyes red, his lips trembling several times.

In the end, he only said, “Good. That’s good.”

It was only 2 words.

But it was like they had taken all his strength.

I hugged Laura, and my tears fell too.

The first time around, I hadn’t been able to give them that relief.

This time, I did.

After scores came out, the senior class group chat went completely crazy.

Some people were thrilled.

Some broke down.

Score screenshots popped up one after another.

Someone posted a 1580.

Someone else only had a little over 900.

Sophie got a 1250 and sent a crying emoji in the group chat.

Ava got an 1190 and said she’d be lucky if any regular state college took her.

Tyler got a 1360 and seemed satisfied enough. He had already started checking scholarship eligibility.

Noah got a 1270 and only sent 1 sigh before going quiet.

Emma got an 1160 and left the group chat directly.

I scrolled for a long time and didn’t see Chloe post her score.

She didn’t say anything.

But someone tagged her in the group chat.

“Chloe, what did you get?”

“Yeah, Chloe. Didn’t you say you messed up Math? How did it go?”

“Chloe, say something.”

Chloe didn’t reply.

About 10 minutes later, Sophie sent a message in the group chat.

“I just called Chloe. She didn’t answer.”

A few minutes later, Ava said,

“I called too. Her phone is off.”

The group went quiet for a while.

Then people started guessing.

“Did she actually bomb it?”

“She said she wasn’t sure about the last few Math questions.”

“That still doesn’t mean she’d turn her phone off. What was the score?”

No one knew.

I wanted to know too.

Not because I cared about her.

I just wanted to confirm 1 thing.

The first time around, Chloe had scored a 1270 on the SAT.

It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t enough to ruin her future either.

But she told everyone she had bombed it, and that it was all Bennett Inn’s fault because of the noise.

This time, she hadn’t stayed at Bennett Inn.

She had stayed at an Airbnb 15 minutes from the test center.

So what did she score?

If she still bombed it, then at least it would prove the whole thing had never had anything to do with Bennett Inn.

It had been her own problem all along.

I waited 3 days for that answer.

3 days later, Chloe finally sent a message in the senior class group chat.

“I got a 1090.”

The group chat went silent for a full 10 seconds.

Then it exploded.

“Wait. 1090?”

“Chloe, weren’t your mock SAT scores always above 1300?”

“Could the system be wrong?”

“Should you request a score review?”

1090.

Almost 200 points lower than the first time around.

I stared at that number, unsure what I felt.

She had really bombed it.

No Bennett Inn noise.

No construction.

No excuse she could blame on someone else.

She still bombed it.

But I no longer cared.

I left the senior class group chat.

It wasn’t an impulse.

It was a decision I had thought about for a long time.

I didn’t need to stay in touch with these people anymore.

They didn’t need my help.

And I didn’t need their gratitude.

That was it for us.

Leaving felt much lighter than staying trapped inside.

That night, I lay in bed scrolling on my phone when a private message suddenly came in.

It was from Sophie.

“Maya, why did you leave the group today?”

I didn’t answer.

After a while, she sent another message.

“I know you’re upset with us, but we’ve been classmates for 3 years. There’s no need to do this, right?”

I still didn’t answer.

The 3rd message came quickly.

“Are you still mad about the hotel thing? We were just talking. It’s not like we actually forced you.”

I looked at that message, and the corner of my mouth lifted slightly.

Just talking.

You were just talking, and my family’s hotel was nearly forced to close after those complaints.

You were just talking, and David and Laura were almost crushed.

You were just talking, and my life had already been destroyed once.

“Just talking” really was the most convenient excuse.

I typed a few words, then deleted them.

Forget it.

There was no point.

I deleted Sophie’s messages, placed my phone on the nightstand, rolled over, and closed my eyes.

Tomorrow, I was going to visit a university.

A university very, very far away.

Far enough that I would never have to see those faces again.