My Boyfriend Played Mind Games, So I Played Them Better Chapter 02

My Boyfriend Played Mind Games, So I Played Them Better Chapter 02

Ethan was a year ahead of me.

By the time I arrived at Alderidge University, he was already one of the most recognizable people on campus.

He came from money and had the looks to match.

Men like him never lacked admirers.

I’d landed him partly because I’d won the genetic lottery.

But it wasn’t just my looks.

I’d once seen a WhatsApp group chat between Ethan and his friends.

One of them had summed me up perfectly.

[Of all the girls Ethan hangs out with…]

[The girls prettier than Ivy can’t match her grades.]

[The ones with better grades aren’t as pretty.]

[She’s basically a cheat code.]

Money, academic success, and beauty were three different kinds of leverage, but any one of them could get you into the circles that controlled most of the money and influence.

You needed at least one of the three to get in.

If you had two, life usually ran on easy mode.

I’d learned that lesson in high school.

I just hadn’t learned it the easy way.

Back then, I wore thick black-framed glasses, badly cut bangs, oversized hoodies, and faded jeans that made me look broke.

The girl who sat next to me came from money and was all smiles with everyone. Within weeks, she’d become the center of attention in our class.

One day, a group of girls crowded around her desk, helping her plan her birthday dinner.

I stayed out of it and kept my head down over my homework.

She smiled and invited me anyway.

Honestly, I was flattered.

I found a decent outfit at a thrift store just for the dinner.

The gift was brand-new, though, and cost more than everything I was wearing combined.

But when I eagerly held it out to her, she didn’t take it.

She gave me a slow once-over, then lowered her voice with a faint smirk.

“I didn’t think you’d actually come.”

“Ivy, you need to learn when to take a hint. Don’t force your way into circles you don’t belong in.”

Her gaze dropped to the present.

“That gift wouldn’t even cover one person’s dinner here. You’d be embarrassed to sit at the table after bringing it, wouldn’t you?”

If she’d stopped there, I might’ve let it go.

But she wasn’t done.

The next day, I arrived at school and found that everyone had started freezing me out.

I was upset for exactly one hour.

By the end of it, I’d figured out exactly how to get even.