From His Maid to Mate

I sat in my small room, heart pounding, staring at my phone like my life depended on it. The anxiety twisting in my chest was unbearable. I kept refreshing the page, hoping my SAT result would pop up - some of my classmates had already gotten theirs.

My name is Lily Serena.

I had just graduated from high school, and now, I was dying inside, waiting for this result.

I shouldn't have been so worried. I was the best student in school - always at the top, the face of every competition, an ambassador, the girl with a shelf full of awards. But still, I was scared.

It wasn't about whether I passed.

I knew I wrote the exam well - I crushed it.

It was about something bigger.

Scholarship.

If I could score 1400 or higher, I had a real shot at getting a full scholarship to New York University, my dream school. Without it, I had no chance. My mom couldn't afford NYU's fees - she could only maybe cover rent and food. The rest was up to me.

And NYU wasn't just any school. It was the school for law, as far as I was concerned. It was a little far from Beacon City, but that didn't matter.

"We live in a small rented flat - just a sitting room, two bedrooms, and a kitchen. It's not much, but it's home."

The longer I waited, the worse my anxiety grew.

I wished someone was here to calm me down, but Mom was at work. I didn't have any friends either - not because I was weird or anything. It was because of where I came from, who I lived with.

In this community, a single mother was treated like she carried a disease.

Their judgment was a knife that never stopped cutting.

Sometimes it felt sharper than any blade could ever be - slicing through my pride, my hope, my sense of belonging.

I had been bullied countless times for it, so many times that eventually... I stopped caring. Maybe it made me stronger. Maybe it just made me numb.

The only thing that could still make me feel weak was this SAT result.

I sighed and flopped onto my bed, opening Netflix. Maybe if I found a good romantic or action movie, I could distract myself for a while.

That's when the notification popped up:

"Your SAT Results Are Ready."

I froze.

Panic gripped me.

I stood up and paced, my entire body trembling. Sweat beaded my forehead even though the fan spun loudly overhead.

"You did well. You did well, right?" I whispered to myself.

Finally, I forced myself to sit back down and log onto the College Board website.

My fingers were shaking.

The page loaded painfully slowly, each second stretching forever. My heart thundered in my ears. My hands slipped off the mouse, they were so sweaty.

Then - the numbers appeared.

I blinked.

Was I seeing things?

No - it was real.

It was real.

1500.

Not just the 1400 I needed. 1500.

I gasped. My body froze. Tears blurred my vision.

All the sleepless nights, the silent crying, the moments I wanted to give up...

It all led to this.

But then reality hit.

A good score was just the beginning.

I still needed the actual scholarship.

I stood up, pacing, trying to calm down.

"I can still do this." I whispered to myself over and over.

Without wasting time, I grabbed my phone and typed frantically:

"Where to find SAT scholarship forms?"

Before the result even came out, I had gotten a message that I hadn't checked yet.

It was from Emily Rivera:

> "Hi dear, this is Emily, your classmate. I'd like to invite you to a get-together party, if you don't mind - to celebrate our result and also give me a chance to make up for my wrongdoings. I'll be expecting you, dear Lily."

I stared at the message in disbelief.

Emily.

The same Emily who led the group that bullied me all through high school.

The same Emily whose dad basically owned half the school with his donations, letting her get away with everything.

The rich, beautiful girl everyone worshipped.

Why was she texting me now?

It didn't make sense.

Still... maybe it was a good sign.

Maybe - just maybe - my life was finally turning around.

Good SAT score. New friends. A fresh start.

I smiled for the first time in hours and quickly changed clothes.

I slipped into an off-shoulder dress Mom had bought for me months ago - a dress that clung a little tightly to my hips and curved around my chest.

I felt exposed, uncomfortable, like I was pretending to be someone else. But tonight was about new beginnings, right?

I took a taxi to the address Emily sent me:

"230 Fifth, near Madison Square Park."

When I arrived, I saw them immediately - Emily, two guys, and two other girls, Olivia and Michelle, all standing near the entrance.

"Hey, Lily! You look beautiful! Your dressing really surprised me!" Emily said, flashing a bright smile.

"Thanks. My mom picked it out for me," I said shyly.

"Really? Wow, your mom's got good taste," she said sweetly - and then Olivia added with a light laugh, "Of course, she would. She's had a lot of men, right?"

The words hit me like a slap.