Elodie had mentioned sending me three million because I had my eye on a luxury yacht near the seaside campus. This was to be my reward after successfully entering college.
I had planned to reserve it during summer vacation and invite my classmates for a joyride.
Hence, Elodie sent the money early, as new luxury yachts required customization.
However, when I called, Elodie was enthusiastically trawling with fishermen, providing Jennifer the perfect opportunity to concoct stories about me.
She blithely spread rumors around school, dubbing me a fishmonger's daughter and accusing me of selling a fake upper-class image, labeling me shameless.
Soon, the story of my fishmonger heritage spread throughout campus, with discussions about the extent of my family's poverty, wondering how impoverished we must be to need to sell fish to cover tuition and living expenses.
"So, Lillian isn't the real deal. She looked so innocent, yet so fake," they'd say.
"Even her designer labels are fakes. She's so vain."
"Or maybe she's actually using genuine goods, just letting a sugar daddy foot the bill."
"So materialistic at such a young age, her mom selling fish for her education, and she's out there glomming onto sugar daddies."
After a period of time, I became synonymous with superficiality and avarice, the object of scorn and whispers in school.
Even a maliciously Photoshopped picture of me appeared on the school forum.
But I'd never been one to concern myself with such matters. Consequently, I remained ignorant of this popularity-gone-awry.
When I showed up for gym class, I noticed my classmates looking at me with strange expressions.
The teacher allowed us to form groups, but no one wanted to be paired with me.
Even the few girls who had been friendly with me now looked at me with disdain and disgust.
Confused, I grabbed one of the girls by the arm and asked, "What's going on? Why is everyone acting like this?"
As soon as I touched her arm, she screamed and shoved me away.
"Get away from me! I don't want to catch any of your dirty diseases from a girl like you who can't keep her dignity!"
Fury flared inside me. I was about to fire back when a familiar voice cut through the tension.
"Lillian."
The voice belonged to my boyfriend, Lawson Pirelli, whom I'd been dating for a month.
I turned around with a smile, my anger subsiding a little.