My mouth creases, knowing that isn’t a good sign. “What’s up?” I say when I’m close enough for her to hear me. “You wanted to talk?”

Rosie’s chest moves up and down with a deep breath before her eyes meet mine, blazing with determination. “You’ve been a horrible friend lately, Samina.”

The words are like a slow train wreck. I watch it happen, unable to stop the collision, though I dearly wish I could. “What?”

I wasn’t expecting this. Maybe I should have.

“You’ve been prioritizing the Golden Ivy competition above the people in your life, and it’s really fucking shitty. We all care about you and know what winning this competition means to you, but that’s not an excuse to treat us like we’re expendable as long as you somehow win.”

“Rosie,” I start to say, but I’m not sure how to finish that sentence. Still, I try helplessly. “That’s not true—”

“Isn’t it?” Rosie’s voice is quiet, which is worse than if she were screaming. “Then can you explain all your little snide remarks? Your unhealthy obsession with winning? Why you judge the rest of us for not making this competition our everything, as if we can’t care about more than one thing at once?”

“I didn’t mean anything by any of those comments,” I say, swallowing past the lump in my throat. “You know I was joking. I would never try to hurt you on purpose. You know that. You know me.”

“Well, these days, it feels like I don’t know you,” Rosie says, but her lips are quivering. “And it’s not just me. Anam thinks so, too.”

And just like that, all the hopes I had of fixing this today dash out the window.

“What?” I ask, my voice growing sharp. “You’ve been talking to my sister behind my back? What the fuck, Rosie?”

“We’re worried about you,” Rosie says, but her eyes are almost unsure now, as if she’s only just realized she’s crossed a line. “You’ve been acting—”

I sneer, taking a step back. My heart feels like it’s breaking in my chest, and anger is the only thing I have in the face of this betrayal. “Worry about yourself, Rosie.”

There’s so much more I want to say. I want to scream at the top of my lungs, demand to know why she betrayed me, why she and my sister are colluding behind my back, but I don’t have it in me. All my energy has been depleted, sucked in by a black hole that never fucking ends.

Some days are better for my mental health, and some days are worse. Unsurprisingly, today is the latter.

I turn around, ignoring Rosie’s protest. If I stay a moment longer, I’m going to start bawling, and I can’t—I won’t do that here.