chapter846

Actually, Lydia's outfit was nothing out of the ordinary. Sandy was just running her mouth, saying whatever would sting most.

"If your eyes are acting up, go see an eye doctor. If it's your brain, maybe try a neurologist. Stop acting like you've lost your mind."

"You..." Sandy's face was twisted with anger.

Lydia didn't even bother to respond. She just walked away.

Sandy wouldn't have bundled herself up like that for no reason. If she was hiding something, it was pretty clear she didn't want anyone to notice.

As she watched Lydia's bold stride out of the room, Sandy clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles went white.

No one had any idea what she'd been through these past two days. It felt worse than death. But she swore to herself, Frank, Lydia, Luke, anyone who'd ever hurt her, she would make sure they paid for it-twice as much.

Lydia pushed open the door to her dorm, and Fiona and Monica immediately looked up. The moment they saw her, both of them grabbed gift boxes from their desks and handed them to her.

"Lydia, these are for you."

Lydia raised an eyebrow. "What's this? Why are you giving me gifts?"

Fiona scratched her head, looking a little embarrassed. "Well, you've helped us out so much since the semester started. You even treated us to meals. We don't really have anything fancy, but we wanted to thank you, so we picked out a little something."

Monica chimed in, just as shy. "Yeah, Lydia. It's nothing expensive or anything. We just hope you don't mind."

Lydia caught the awkwardness between them and wondered if her real identity was putting pressure on them.

"You two still see me as a friend, right?" she asked.

Fiona and Monica answered together, "Of course!"

"Then just forget about my background, okay? Just be like before.

Back then, they said whatever came to mind around her. They laughed, joked, and

hung out without a care. But now... Lydia could feel the tension.

She wasn't wrong.

Actually, most of Fiona and

Monica's nerves weren't even

because of Lydia herself. It was the thought that Lydia's boyfriend was

Conno That made them feet

them feel like

Lydia was on a whole different level

from them.

Monica spoke up in a small voice. Lydia, we just get kind of nervous because you're engaged to Connor."

Lydia laughed. "What, is he going to eat you or something?"

Both girls shook their heads. "Of course not."

"So what's there to be scared of? It's not like he's got three eyes or a second head."

Fiona could tell Lydia truly thought of them as friends. She'd never acted stuck-up or made them feel less than. That meant a lot.

"Lydia, as long as you don't mind us, we'll always be friends."

.n

Lydia smiled, then dug into her bag and pulled out two tickets. She handed them over. "Here, these are f?r you. Think of them as my thank you for your gifts."

They took one look at the tickets and immediately started squealing.

"Oh my god! These are tickets to Elliot's concert!"

"Lydia, there's no way I could ever turn down a gift like this. Thank you, thank you,

thank you!" Monica was literally bouncing with excitement.

Everyone knew how impossible those concert tickets were to get. It didn't matter

how much money you had-if you weren't fast, you were out of luck.

Lydia had just given them the best surprise ever.

Fiona looked closer at her ticket and screamed even louder. "VIP seats right up front! We're actually going to see him up close! This is unreal. Lydia, seriously, thank you so much."

Lydia grinned. "You're welcome. And thank you for your gifts, too."