“You’re right.” My dad has a wry look on his face, the same one he always gets when Isla astounds him. “You don’t. Not everything.”

“Do you think I’m stupid?” I ask, and as soon as the question slips out, I realize there it is, my biggest fear laid bare for all to see. My mom is going to prison because she thought I was too stupid to get into college on my own. “Is that why you did this really?”

“Oh, honey, no, of course not,” my mom says. “We wanted things to be easier for you. School hasn’t been easy. That doesn’t mean you’re stupid.”

“Chlo. No. Never,” my dad says.

“I mean, listen, you aren’t the brightest bulb in the sea,” Isla says, and throws her arm around my shoulders.

“That’s a mixed metaphor,” I say.

“It’s time we all put on our big-girl panties around here and speak the truth,” Isla says, and I wait for my mom to step in, which is what she usually does when Isla’s about to get a little too real. “Chloe, you don’t deserve to go to SCC. That doesn’t mean you’re stupid; it means you didn’t care as much or try as hard as me. Because one day, I’m going to Harvard, like Shola.”

“Shola’s going to Harvard? Oh my God, that’s amazing,” I say. I’d been scouting Shola’s feed hoping for a clue as to where she’d be next year, and in true Shola fashion, she hadn’t dropped any hints. She’s not like Levi. She doesn’t need to brag.

I feel joy and grief in almost equal measure.

I wish I could tell her how happy I am for her. How I can’t wait to watch from afar as she takes on the world. How even though I lost her, I’ll always be proud of the fact that, for a while, at least, she chose me as a friend.

“Yup,” Isla says, smiling.

“Good for Shola,” my dad says, though I can’t tell if he really means it.

EPILOGUE

Fourteen months later

Four duffel bags sit by the front door, stuffed to capacity, though this is only half of it. A bunch of boxes were shipped to the dorms last week. We looked at pictures online, and the rooms looks dollhouse-sized, so I’m not sure how this will work. The roommate, who based on her texts gave off no serial killer vibes, is from Wichita, Kansas, like Dorothy, and we’ve decided she’ll hopefully be traveling a little lighter.

Apparently, you can take the girl out of Beverly Hills, but you can’t take Beverly Hills out of the girl.